US holds fire on Iran after 2 days of strikes; Khamenei buried after funeral procession

A coalition of conservative foreign policy experts, Iran hawks and digital freedom advocates is urging Congress to include measures protecting internet access in Iran in the 2027 National Defense Authorization Act, according to The Hill.

The group is backing the Iran Human Rights, Internet Freedom, and Accountability Act and the FREEDOM Act, which are aimed at helping Iranians bypass government censorship and communicate during internet shutdowns.

“Internet shutdowns have become one of the regime’s most powerful tools of repression, facilitating violence, mass arrests and grave human rights abuses while preventing Iranians from communicating with one another and the outside world,” the coalition wrote in a letter to Senate leaders and the bipartisan heads of the Armed Services Committee.

The grandson of Islamic Republic founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini said Friday that any negotiations between Iran and the United States should not be viewed as a path to peace, arguing the Islamic Republic’s identity is rooted in refusing compromise with America.

“If you see that the Islamic Republic talks about negotiations, it is not about peace negotiations. Can we make peace with criminal America?” Ali Khomeini said, according to Iran International English. “Our identity is non-compromise with arrogance. Negotiation means war; war has different forms.”

Khomeini went on to say that “anyone who wants to negotiate in order to reach peace with America is a traitor,” adding that “anyone who sends a message of friendship to America, their mouth is impure and unclean.”

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and President Donald Trump discussed U.S.-Iran talks and security in the Strait of Hormuz during a phone call Friday, according to Saudi Arabia’s state-run news agency SPA, as reported by Anadolu.

The leaders also reviewed U.S.-Saudi cooperation and exchanged views on regional and international issues, including the latest developments in negotiations between Washington and Tehran.

According to SPA, the two agreed upon the importance of protecting freedom of navigation and maritime security, expressing support for efforts aimed at promoting stability across the region.

Iranian officials privately told Trump administration advisers they “made a mistake” by attacking commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz and want to continue negotiations, according to CBS News, citing senior U.S. officials.

“They came back to the table and said, ‘We screwed up. We made a mistake. Let’s keep talking,’” one U.S. official told CBS News.

According to CBS, the White House wants Iran to publicly acknowledge the attacks violated the ceasefire and commit to keeping the Strait of Hormuz open. The report said President Donald Trump has directed Vice President JD Vance, special envoy Steve Witkoff, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Jared Kushner to continue negotiations, with talks expected in Oman on Saturday.

U.S. officials told CBS the administration would respond with military and economic measures if Iran resumes hostile actions.

Israel’s leaders are publicly signaling that their country is prepared to strike Iran for a third time, while a U.S. official tells Fox News Digital that Washington remains closely coordinated with Jerusalem.

"The IDF is on high alert and prepared to resume the campaign, regain air superiority, and carry out an independent Israeli strike against Iran to eliminate threats — even for a third time," Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Minister Israel Katz said Thursday at a graduation ceremony for the Israeli Air Force’s newest pilots.

"If we have to return, we will return with even greater force," Katz added.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also warned Thursday that Israel’s campaign against Iran was not finished and said Tehran would not be permitted to obtain a nuclear weapon, regardless of any agreement reached with Washington.

"The war has not yet ended," Netanyahu said at the air force ceremony. "Alongside the old challenges, new challenges are emerging. Axes are falling, and axes are rising. We are paying attention to this. We are prepared for every scenario."

Two Israeli sources told CNN Friday that the Trump administration does not currently want Israel to participate in the latest U.S. strikes against Iran. "Netanyahu would really want to join the U.S. strikes, but the U.S. doesn’t want Israel involved at the moment," one of the sources told CNN.

A U.S. official denied the report, telling Fox News Digital, "This is fake news. The United States has a strong relationship with Israel, which contributed to the resounding success of Operation Midnight Hammer and Operation Epic Fury. We remain in close coordination with our Israeli partners."

This is an excerpt of an article by Fox News Digital's Efrat Lachter.

Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations (UN) said Friday that Tehran may no longer consider itself bound by the U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding if the United States continues what he described as violations of the agreement.

“Iran remains committed to the faithful implementation of the memorandum of understanding, provided that the United States fully and faithfully complies with its own obligation,” Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani said, according to Iran International English. “However, should the United States continue to violate its obligations under the MoU, Iran will no longer be bound to fulfill its obligations.”

Iravani also claimed that under the Islamabad memorandum of understanding, responsibility for navigation and demining operations in the Strait of Hormuz “rests exclusively with Iran,” despite repeated U.S. and international assertions that Tehran does not control the strategic waterway.

The State Department on Friday said the Trump administration is working to cut off the financial lifelines of Iran’s ruling elite, highlighting newly announced sanctions targeting individuals and networks accused of enriching senior regime figures.

State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said the administration is targeting Dubai-based financier Ali Ansari and Iranian currency exchange networks that U.S. officials say help move money for the regime.

“While ordinary Iranians face inflation and shortages, the regime’s elites loot billions,” Pigott wrote on X. “The U.S. is cutting off Iran’s ruling elite’s financial lifelines.”

The State Department said the U.S. will keep imposing sanctions on people, companies and financial institutions that help fund the Iranian regime until Tehran changes its behavior.

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) on Friday released video showing sailors conducting nighttime flight operations aboard the USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) as the aircraft carrier continues operating in regional waters.

The video comes as the U.S. maintains a significant naval presence in the Middle East following renewed military strikes on Iran and amid ongoing efforts to protect commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said Friday that it eliminated a Hezbollah terrorist operating near an underground tunnel shaft in southern Lebanon.

According to the IDF, the terrorist was positioned at the Ali al-Taher Ridge inside the security zone where Israeli troops are operating and posed an immediate threat to soldiers.

The military also said a suspect traveling in a vehicle was killed in a separate strike after allegedly posing a threat to IDF troops in the security zone.

Iran, Pakistan, the United States and Qatar are expected to hold a four-way telephone call in the near future, according to Saudi-owned Al Hadath, citing informed sources.

The reported call comes as regional mediators continue efforts to de-escalate tensions and revive U.S.-Iran nuclear negotiations after the recent exchange of strikes following attacks on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.

Fox News previously reported that U.S. officials said technical-level talks with Iran remain ongoing despite Tehran’s violations of the memorandum of understanding.

The Treasury Department announced new sanctions Friday targeting an Iranian financier accused of managing assets for Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, as well as exchange houses that allegedly move billions of dollars for sanctioned Iranian banks.

The action follows Iran’s renewed attacks on international shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, Treasury said.

The department designated Dubai-based Iranian national Ali Ansari, accusing him of overseeing a global network of real estate and commercial holdings that benefit Khamenei, other regime elites and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

“The so-called Supreme Leader is hiding in seclusion while his regime crumbles,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said. “Treasury will continue using every tool at its disposal to isolate him and other regime elites from the global financial system.”

Treasury also sanctioned several Iranian exchange houses, their executives and front companies accused of moving and holding billions of dollars for sanctioned banks through shell companies.

The designations block any property or interests held in the United States by the sanctioned individuals.

An Iranian cleric publicly called for the assassination of President Donald Trump, urging “anyone with missiles or drones” to target the U.S. president in retaliation for the death of former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

According to Iran International English, Ahmad Reza Hajati, the Friday prayer leader in Ahvaz in southwestern Iran, called on supporters to “purge the earth” of Trump’s existence during Friday remarks.

The comments come one day after The Wall Street Journal reported that Israeli intelligence recently shared information with U.S. officials indicating Iran was considering a fresh plot to assassinate Trump. 

The U.S. has facilitated the successful transit of 825 commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz since early May, a senior U.S. official told Fox News.

The official added that almost 2,600 commercial ships have transited the Strait of Hormuz since Iran and the U.S. implemented an initial ceasefire on April 8th.

The official pointed out that it is possible to pass through the waterway without coordinating with the U.S. and that the Strait of Hormuz remains open.

Fox News' Liz Friden contributed to this post.

Iran's top negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said that the war between the U.S. and Iran "will never end with Iran's surrender," while speaking publicly with an Indonesian government official on Friday.

"Before the recent war, America, the Zionist regime, and NATO imagined they could force Iran to surrender in less than a few days, but they very quickly realized they would not achieve their goals, and the world saw that they failed in achieving their objectives against Iran," Ghalibaf said, reiterating the comments in a message posted to his Telegram channel Friday.

"During negotiations, I made it clear to the Vice President of the United States that we have absolutely no trust in you. From my point of view, only those who are prepared for war can negotiate with America. Therefore, we have never stopped preparing to defend our country, and the moment the Americans betray an agreement, we are ready for a full-scale defense; we will stand firmly against them and reclaim the rights of the Iranian nation," Ghalibaf, who is also Speaker of Iran's Parliament, continued.

"They have tasted the flavor of Iran's military power and readiness, and they know we will not let go of America's collar. Of course, ending the war is a priority for the countries of the world, but everyone must know that this conflict will never end with Iran's surrender," he said.

Bahrain's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Jamal Fares Alrowaiei, warned Friday that Iran is exploiting diplomacy to buy more time.

“For Iran, diplomacy is not a path for resolving disputes but rather a means of managing crises and gaining time," Alrowaiei told a meeting of the UN Security Council on Friday.

The envoy for one of America's most crucial Gulf allies also added that the region has experienced "one of the most dangerous waves of escalation in its modern history."

He also stressed the need for Iran to cooperate with the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), something a U.N. official claimed was not happening.

The IAEA "has now lost continuity of knowledge across all of Iran’s declared nuclear facilities... extending to the production and current inventory of centrifuges, rotors and bellows, heavy water and uranium ore concentrate," U.N. Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo also testified during the meeting.

“The Agency also reported a significant deterioration in its situational awareness following the attacks against Iran by the United States and Israel that began on 28 February 2026," DiCarlo added.

Global shipping giant Maersk announced Thursday it was restoring use of Red Sea routes after suspending transit there in 2023 due to Houthi terrorist attacks on commercial vessels.

After the company's Majestic Maersk ship successfully transited the water body on Monday, Maersk announced it would open a second service to the Red Sea.

"Following the announcement of the structural change of AE15 and the successful transit of the Majestic Maersk through the Red Sea, we are pleased to inform you of structural changes to our MECL service. The service is solely operated by Maersk and will now transit via the Red Sea," the company wrote.

Maersk suspended service in the Red Sea, which is straddled by east Africa and the Arabian peninsula, in December 2023, after Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists in Yemen repeatedly struck commercial vessels with rockets.

While briefly resuming service in December 2023, the. company fully shut down Red Sea transit in January 2024 after another Houthi attack.

Monday's successful transit marked Maersk's first in over 18 months. The company claimed it "will continue to monitor the security situation in the Middle East region very closely," adding "the safety of crew, vessels, and customers’ cargo remains the highest priority."

"Should the security situation change, which may necessitate reverting individual sailings or the wider structural change of the service back to the Cape of Good Hope route, we have contingency plans in place," the statement concluded.

A senior official in New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani's administration planned to meet with Iran's ambassador to the United Nations, before the State Department reportedly intervened and the meeting was canceled.

Commissioner Ana María Archila, leader of the Mamdani administration’s Office of International Affairs, was scheduled to meet with Iran’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Amir-Saeid Iravani, Tuesday, the City Journal first reported.

A U.S. official familiar with the matter confirmed to Fox News Digital that the meeting had been scheduled. The State Department did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.

This is an excerpt from a story by Morgan Phillips.

President Donald Trump told Fox News' senior White House correspondent Peter Doocy in February 2025 that he left instructions to have Iran "obliterated" if the regime ever assassinated him.

The comments found new light Friday after a Thursday report from The Wall Street Journal revealed that Israeli officials informed Trump of a new Iranian plot to assassinate him.

"That would be a terrible thing for them to do… If they did that, they would be obliterated," Trump said in the Oval Office on Feb. 4, 2025. "That would be the end. I’ve left instructions. If they do it, they get obliterated. There won’t be anything left."

His remarks came about a year before Operation Epic Fury began. At the time, Doocy asked Trump about the possibility of Iran trying to assassinate him as retaliation for the 2020 strike that killed Iranian military commander Qasem Soleimani.

Just last week, signs held at the funeral procession of Iran's former Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed during the first wave of strikes when Operation Epic Fury began in late February 2026, had the message, "We Will Kill Trump."

One thing was clear from President Donald Trump’s appearance at the NATO summit in recent days: He believes Iran wants him dead.

"I'm No. 1 on the kill list for Iran," the president told reporters Wednesday. "I like being number one on TikTok better."

Trump returned to the subject repeatedly throughout the summit — with a level of candidness that might seem unusual for any other president.

A new report suggests U.S. officials may have had fresh intelligence to support concerns about the threat: The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that Israel recently shared intelligence with the United States indicating Iran had developed a new plan to assassinate Trump.

This is an excerpt from a story by Morgan Phillips.