Iran/Israel Updates Tuesday June 30

- Despite Israeli opposition, the United Nations is pushing to maintain a military presence in southern Lebanon after the mandate of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) expires at the end of the year, Channel 12 news reports.

- Ghalibaf: There are disagreements within the US administration - Rubio is acting one way, and Vance another. Rubio tried to incite Gulf states against the MOU; HE IS OUR ENEMY, but we stand firmly behind the agreement. Rubio is trying to normalize relations between Israel and Lebanon, while our agreement preserves Lebanon's independence.

- Ghalibaf: In the first clause of the MOU, the US committed to guaranteeing the end of the war in Lebanon, the return of residents to their homes, and the implementation of Lebanon's national sovereignty over its entire territory. This is a very great victory, and we are now working to ensure its full implementation. Regarding the Strait of Hormuz, we are committed to ensuring that movement there proceeds as agreed in the MOU. If the US does not fulfill its obligations in the talks, we are ready for war

- An American citizen in his 20s was arrested on suspicion of maintaining contact with Iranian intelligence operatives and carrying out paid assignments that included photographing sensitive sites in Israel, the Israel Police and Shin Bet announced on Tuesday. He was arrested several weeks ago.  

- Iranian Foreign Ministry: Access of IAEA inspectors to damaged nuclear facilities is BLOCKED. We will NOT hold a meeting with the US in the coming days; we have emphasized this very clearly

- According to a security report from the Joint Maritime Intelligence Center (JMIC), the security threat level in the Strait of Hormuz has been raised to "imminent." The JMIC, led by the United States, is a multinational maritime advisory body based in Bahrain. The statement reported that vessels continued to pass through the Strait of Hormuz via both the southern Omani corridor and the northern route under Iranian control, and that commercial passages with US assistance continue.

- Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defense Minister Katz visited the security zone in southern Lebanon

- Former IDF Air Force Commander Amikam Norkin on the feasibility of a “blue-and-white “ operation in Iran: "We didn't hurt the Iranians enough to bring them to the right point in the negotiations, so there could be another show of some kind or another. But the military-strategic reality is that we won't be able to achieve many more achievements with more bombs, and so I think the State of Israel is at a very significant crossroads where policy decisions will be required"

- Kushner and Witkoff to meet in Qatar with Qatari mediators, NO high-level meetings planned between Iran and the US.

- Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson: "No negotiations, at ANY level, with the US side will be held in the coming days. The fact that US representatives are traveling to Qatar is not related to the Iranian delegation's trip," according to Qatar's Al Jazeera network

- WSJ reports that the Trump administration says that this is the United States' interpretation of the wording of the memorandum of understanding regarding Lebanon: "On this issue, the VP supports Secretary of State Rubio; no one on Trump's team is interested in forcing Israel to hand over all of southern Lebanon to an Iranian proxy, as Iran demands."

- Fox News Brit Hume: "So here we are. It’s hard to resist the conclusion that the President of the United States is being jerked around by an Iranian regime in much the same way that previous administrations have been

- Iran reported that Mohammad Akbar-Zadeh, a senior officer in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy and considered one of the "brains" behind Iran's strategy in the Strait of Hormuz, was killed in a car accident in the city of Kerman.

- A Hamas terrorist Jihad Al-Salami, who participated in holding hostages and commanded terrorists during the 10/7 massacre, was eliminated by the IDF.

- Representatives from the various US-led Board of Peace bodies involved in the postwar management of Gaza are meeting this week in Cyprus, as they seek to prepare a committee of Palestinian technocrats for entering the Strip in order to replace Hamas as governors of Gaza.