Israel says Iran-backed Hezbollah has been weakened

Bandar Abbas International Airport in southern Iran resumed operations on Sunday after a four-month halt, with the arrival of its first passenger flight from Mashhad, Iranian state media reported.

The airport serves Bandar Abbas, a major port city on the Persian Gulf coast.

Flights linking Bandar Abbas to Tehran, Shiraz, Yazd and Mashhad will be gradually added to the airport’s schedule, the report said.

Quran verses recited for foreign delegations attending the funeral of Iran's slain Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei have sparked debate after Iranian media and social media users argued the passages were carefully chosen to send political and diplomatic messages to visiting officials.

Organizers did not explain why different Quranic passages were recited for each delegation. However, several Iranian media outlets portrayed the selections as deliberate rather than routine religious readings.

The news website Fararu wrote that the verses appeared to have been chosen "not randomly, but deliberately." Conservative outlet Tabnak described the practice as "an innovation in public diplomacy," saying the tailored recitations could be interpreted as ethical and political messages to each delegation.

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Maritime trade between Iran and Qatar resumed after Qatar’s Al Ruwais port reopened to Iranian goods following a roughly five-month suspension, Iran’s state news agency IRNA reported on Sunday, citing Iran’s commercial counselor in Doha.

The report said cargo shipments between Iran’s Dayyer port and Qatar’s Al Ruwais port had been halted for about five months.

The port began accepting Iranian goods again after follow-up by Iran’s embassy in Doha and coordination with relevant Qatari government officials, according to the report.

An Iranian lawmaker said on Sunday that the memorandum of understanding and the path of negotiations with the United States were separate from what he called the case for revenge against those behind the killing of former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

In a post on X, Meisam Zohurian said this was the main point of a recent statement by the majority of the Assembly of Experts.

The statement on the US-Iran memorandum of understanding prompted an extraordinary public rebuke from the body's own leadership within hours.

A cargo vessel sent a distress alert on Sunday saying it was under attack by unknown armed assailants about 30 nautical miles southwest of Hodeidah, Yemen, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency said.

UKMTO said local authorities were investigating the incident.

It advised vessels to transit with caution and report any suspicious activity.