• Funeral ceremonies: People have gathered in Tehran for the start of days long funeral processions and mourning for slain Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several members of his family. Millions of people, including foreign dignitaries, are expected to attend across multiple locations in Iran and Iraq until July 9.

• Security threats: Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps warned against any attempts to target the country in the coming days. President Donald Trump said the US has given Iran “a week off” for the funeral “because we’re nice”, claiming they “want to settle so badly.”

• Assassination warning: Elsewhere, US officials attempted to warn Iran of fears they had that Israel would assassinate Tehran’s parliamentary speaker and foreign minister during talks this spring, two officials said. Iran paused talks ahead of the funeral.
Allcatch up
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41 min ago

How talks between the US and Iran have been progressing

By Catherine Nicholls
In a speech made at Mount Rushmore yesterday, US President Donald Trump claimed Iran is “dying to settle,” adding: “We gave them a week off for a funeral, because we’re nice.”

Earlier this week, officials from Tehran and Washington traveled to Doha, Qatar for indirect talks on the war. These discussions were paused by Iran ahead of the funeral of the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed when the US and Israel began their attacks on Iran on February 28.

Here’s the latest on the talks:

The separate indirect meetings between US and Iranian negotiators in Doha earlier this week made “positive progress,” Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari said Wednesday.
Al-Ansari also said that that the next meeting between negotiators would be scheduled “at the earliest possible time” after funeral processions for Iran’s former supreme leader.
US Vice President JD Vance said on Wednesday that the talks were “going well,” though added that it was “still pretty early.”

Meanwhile, officials from Lebanon and Israel signed a US-brokered agreement last week. Despite this agreement, fighting has continued. Two days after signing the agreement, Israel approved continued military operations in southern Lebanon.
Earlier this week, Syria’s foreign minister visited Beirut for talks with Lebanese officials, marking his first official trip since Trump raised the possibility of Syrian intervention in Lebanon.
CNN’s Mohammed Tawfeeq, Hira Humayun, Haley Britzky, Xiaoqian Lin, Tal Shalev, Charbel Mallo, Eugenia Yosef and Oren Liebermann contributed to this reporting.
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1 hr 57 min ago

With Khamenei’s funeral processions underway, catch up on other regional developments

By Catherine Nicholls

A woman holds a poster of the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as she attends the dayslong funeral ceremonies for him and his family at the Imam Khomeini Mosalla Grand Mosque in Tehran, Iran, on Saturday.
Vahid Salemi/AP
As funeral processions for Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei are underway, here’s a look at recent developments related to the conflict in the Middle East.

US officials attempted to warn Iran of fears they had that Israel would assassinate meditators during talks this spring, two US officials told CNN.
Iran warned the United Kingdom and France against any military movement in the Strait of Hormuz, after the countries said they were ready to send their militaries to support freedom of navigation in the critical waterway.
In a speech at Mount Rushmore in South Dakota yesterday, US President Donald Trump said his country “knocked the hell out of Iran.” Referencing the current funeral processions being held for Khamenei, he said: “They’re dying to settle, they want to settle so badly. We gave them a week off for a funeral, because we’re nice.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a phone call with Trump yesterday, the prime minister’s office said, adding that the leaders agreed to meet soon in the US.
CNN’s Kevin Liptak, Katie Bo Lillis, Alayna Treene, Laura Sharman, Jeff Zeleny, Kit Maher and Eugenia Yosef contributed to this reporting.