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Iran, Oman to study charging service costs for Hormuz

Oman and Iran will study the future administration of the Strait of Hormuz and the costs to be charged for services provided, they said in a joint statement Tuesday, insisting on sovereignty over the vital waterway.

The two countries emphasized "their sovereignty and sovereign rights over their territorial waters in the Strait of Hormuz" and "agreed to maintain their dialogue on this issue through a joint working group between the two foreign ministries in order to reach agreement on the future administration of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz and the services that will be provided in this regard and the costs associated with them in accordance with international standards".

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Netanyahu says Israel should 'break free' of US military aid

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called again for his country to increase its military autonomy and reduce its reliance on support from the United States, according to a statement released on Tuesday by his office.

"I deeply appreciate the support we have received from our American friends, but we need to break free from dependency and build our own independent armaments network," the premier told reserve officers on a training course in the occupied West Bank.

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Netanyahu says fight against Iran and allies not over

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday said that Israel is "standing against Iran and its proxies."

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Iran's president heads to Pakistan as US-Iran teams work to finalize ceasefire deal

Iran's president was traveling to Pakistan on Tuesday for talks with officials who have been mediating negotiations between Tehran and Washington on a permanent end to the war in the Middle East.

President Masoud Pezeshkian's visit to Islamabad comes as technical teams are working on details of the deal, following high-level negotiations in Switzerland on Monday led by US Vice President JD Vance and Iran's parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf.

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Iran says UN watchdog will not be allowed to inspect bombed nuclear sites

Iran said Tuesday that the United Nations nuclear watchdog's inspectors would not be given access to the country's key nuclear sites that were bombed during the war with Israel and the United States last year.

"We have not had a meeting with the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, nor do we have any plans for the agency to inspect Iran's nuclear facilities damaged by the U.S. and Zionist military aggression," said foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei.

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Israel's 'deliberate targeting' of children part of ongoing Gaza 'genocide', UN says

Israel is deliberately targeting Palestinian children in what has become a key factor in an ongoing "genocide" in Gaza, United Nations investigators charged on Tuesday.

The U.N. Independent International Commission of Inquiry said it had found evidence that "Palestinian children have been deliberately targeted and killed by Israeli security forces", which it called a key factor in establishing "the genocidal intent of the Israeli authorities and security forces to destroy the larger Palestinian group in Gaza".

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Hormuz future unsettled even as more ships venture through

Ship traffic has picked up in the Strait of Hormuz since Iran and the U.S. signed an interim deal to end a war that constricted global oil supplies and fueled inflation, but questions surrounding control of the vital waterway and whether vessels will be charged tolls to cross it could interfere with negotiations to forge a lasting peace.

Tehran and Washington clashed over the Strait of Hormuz again this past weekend. Citing Israel's latest attacks on Lebanon, Iran declared that it reclosed the strait. The U.S. was quick to contest that. Maritime tracking data showed that dozens of ships passed through on Saturday and Sunday, though far fewer than the daily average before the war.

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Rubio heads to UAE, Kuwait and Bahrain as efforts intensify to end Iran war

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will travel to the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Bahrain this week as the Trump administration has stepped up efforts to end the war with Iran while Gulf countries remain uneasy about a proposed deal.

The State Department announced Monday that Rubio would visit the three countries for bilateral meetings with leaders to discuss the memorandum of understanding reached last week between the U.S. and Iran, weekend talks in Switzerland between senior Iranian and U.S. officials as well as security for American allies and partners in the Middle East, including the status of the Strait of Hormuz.

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Iran says technical talks with US in Switzerland have concluded

Technical talks between Iran and the United States in Switzerland have concluded, with negotiating groups to be set up on nuclear issues and sanctions, Iran's state media reported Tuesday.

The negotiators "decided that four working groups would be established: Sanctions Termination, Nuclear Affairs, Reconstruction and Economic Development, and Monitoring and Implementation," said IRNA state news agency, quoting Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi.

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Vance says US-Iran talks laid 'very good foundation for successful final deal'

U.S. Vice President JD Vance said Monday that a first round of U.S.-Iran talks in Switzerland had laid a good foundation for reaching a final deal on ending the Middle East war.

"We laid a very good foundation for a successful final deal," Vance told reporters at the Burgenstock resort in central Switzerland, following negotiations that started on Sunday and went on into the night.

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