Iran to allow Afghans to enter through land border for Khamenei funeral, official says

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf called on the public on Thursday to attend the funeral of slain Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, saying the ceremony should send what he called the nation’s demand for blood vengeance to the world.

Ghalibaf said people should show that they would not remain silent in the face of arrogance and would not forget “the blood of their imam.”

He described the funeral as a renewal of allegiance to Khamenei’s path and to the values of the Islamic Republic.

Pakistani and Qatari mediators concluded separate meetings with US and Iranian negotiators in Doha on Thursday with "positive progress" on issues linked to the MoU, Pakistan’s foreign ministry said.

The statement said the meetings built on the Switzerland summit and focused on aspects of implementing the memorandum of understanding.

It said the parties agreed to continue discussions with the next meeting to be set as early as possible after a funeral for former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

US resumes some air shipments of dollars to Iraq months after suspending them to pressure Baghdad to distance itself from Iran, The New York Times reported, citing two aides to Iraq’s prime minister.

“The dollar shipments to Iraq have resumed,” Haider al-Aboudi, a spokesman for Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi, said, adding that “the problem has been resolved.”

The report said US security cooperation and funding for Iraqi security services remained suspended.

The Trump administration halted the shipments in April, withholding Iraqi funds earned from oil sales as Washington pushed Baghdad to rein in Iran-linked militias and block prime ministerial candidates seen as close to Tehran, the report said.

Former US national security adviser H R McMaster said on Wednesday Iran is benefiting from indirect US-Iran negotiations, adding Tehran is “getting everything that they wanted.”

McMaster said sanctions relief and eased oil restrictions were providing Iran with “big paychecks,” which he argued could help it rebuild its military capabilities and regional proxy networks, speaking on CBS.

"They're getting the infusion of cash they desperately needed to get themselves up off the mat," he added.

Former hostage Siamak Namazi said on Wednesday Iran's calls for "national reconciliation" are contradicted by recent detentions, adding that environmental activists Houman Jowkar and Sepideh Kashani, along with Kashani’s sister, Sima, were detained during a security raid.

"According to their lawyer, Hojjat Kermani, who was also my lawyer in Iran, no one has said which security agency made the arrests, where they are being held, or what charges, if any, they face. The arrests were carried out just before a long holiday, when the courts are effectively closed and families have nowhere to turn," he posted on X.

"The Islamic Republic speaks of the need for "national reconciliation." Then explain this to me. Explain how dragging away two of Iran's finest people, along with a woman with MS who was caring for her recovering father, without charges, without transparency, and without due process is reconciliation," Namazi added.