US President Donald Trump has accused NATO allies of abandoning Washington during its confrontation with Iran, claiming European governments failed to support the United States despite decades of American military and financial backing.

The remarks came ahead of the NATO summit in Ankara, where alliance leaders gathered to discuss a major expansion of militarism and increased military spending.

Speaking alongside Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday, Trump said he had been “testing” NATO members by seeking their support during the US military aggression against Iran.

“In a way, I was testing people. I was testing to see whether or not they would be there because I have long said that we help them, but I am not sure that they would be there for us,” Trump said.

Trump accused several European governments of refusing to stand with Washington, naming Italy, Germany and France.

“Italy turned us down and Germany turned us down and France turned us down,” he said. “Why are we spending hundreds of billions of dollars, and they are not there for us, we are always there for them.”

He also questioned NATO’s ability to survive without US financial backing, reviving his longstanding demands that European allies spend more on military and contribute more directly to the alliance.

Washington has reportedly begun weighing punitive measures against allies based on their level of support during the war on Iran. Pentagon officials have floated the possibility of suspending Spain from the alliance after Madrid allegedly refused to allow the use of its military bases, ports and airspace for strikes on Iran.

Source: Presstv

Millions of mourners lined the streets of Tehran on Monday morning as the coffin of the martyred Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, was carried in a historic funeral procession to Azadi Square.

Mourners poured onto the streets of the Iranian capital as the funeral procession for the martyred Leader got underway, in what officials have described as the largest public gathering in the country’s modern history.

The procession, which drew millions of mourners from across the country, also carried the flag-draped coffins of several members of late Ayatollah Khamenei’s family, who were all martyred alongside the Leader on the first day of the recent US-Israeli war of aggression on February 28.

Dressed in black and beating their chests in mourning, large crowds packed the streets in Tehran as the funeral convoy made its way through the capital. Mourners chanted slogans calling for revenge for the Leader’s blood and resistance against adversaries, while waving Iranian flags and carrying his portraits.

Organizers expect the procession to last 10 to 12 hours, winding along a 10-kilometer route through Damavand Street, Imam Hossein Square, Enqelab Street, Enqelab Square, Azadi Street, Azadi Square, and Shahid Lashgari Highway, located near the Mehrabad airport.

Source: Presstv

The body of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was lying in state in Tehran’s Grand Mosalla religious complex Friday as foreign dignitaries, multi-faith religious leaders and senior officials paid tribute to Iran’s slain leader. Funeral ceremonies and processions will be held for a week across the country. Follow our liveblog for the latest updates.

In photos: Mourners pay respects to slain leader Khamenei at Tehran’s Grand Mosalla

Senior Iranian political and military officials, multi-faith religious leaders and mourners paid their respects to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as they filed past the caskets of the slain supreme leader and members of his family killed in airstrikes at the start of the US-Israeli war on Iran in Tehran’s Grand Mosalla religious complex Friday.

Foreign religious leaders and other mourners walk past the coffins of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his slain family members during a viewing ceremony at the Imam Khomeini Mosalla Grand Mosque in Tehran, July 3, 2026.

The casket of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s granddaughter, Zahra Mohammadi Golpayegani, is displayed alongside the caskets of family members killed in the first Israeli strikes at the start of the US-Israeli war on Iran.

IRGC members pay their respects on the esplanade of the Imam Khomeini Mosalla Grand Mosque in Tehran, July 3, 2026.

New IRGC chief Gen. Vahidi makes first public appearance since war

Iran’s new IRGC chief emerged from hiding to pay his respects to the slain Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as Tehran prepares Friday for the dayslong funeral ceremonies.

Photos published online by Iranian state media showed Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi attending a meeting about the funeral of Khamenei, 86, then sitting alongside his casket as the country held a smaller service for him Thursday night near the supreme leader’s former home in downtown Tehran. 

Vahidi has become a major player in formulating Iran’s tough stance in negotiating a possible permanent end to the war with the US, experts say. He is believed to be part of a small clique in direct contact with Iran’s new Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, who remains in hiding after being reportedly wounded in the Febraury 28 Israeli strikes that killed his father, the elder Khamenei. 

Vahidi himself hasn’t been seen publicly since February 8, weeks before the Iran war began.

Video published by Iranian state media showed the mourning ceremony for Khamenei near the husseiniyah at his compound in Tehran. 

Supreme leader’s body arrives at Tehran religious complex for funeral: state media

The body of Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed in US-Israeli strikes, arrived at Tehran’s Grand Mosalla religious complex ahead of his funeral, state media reported Friday.

“The body of the martyred Leader of the Islamic Revolution has arrived at the Imam Khomeini Grand Mosalla,” IRNA wrote on Telegram, using the complex’s official name.

Preparations for funeral of Iran’s supreme leader in full swing, 15-20 million expected

Preparations for the funeral of Iran’s slain supreme leader Ali Khamenei were in full swing on Friday, with authorities expecting millions and a coterie of foreign dignitaries to attend the official ceremony. Pakistan, a key mediator in talks between the United States and Iran on ending the Middle East war, said its Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif would be at the funeral in Tehran on Saturday. China, Afghanistan and Iran’s neighbours in the Caucasus region said they would also be sending representatives.

Tehran’s chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf had called on Thursday for a massive turnout at the event as a way to avenge the supreme leader’s death in US-Israeli strikes on the first day of the war. “The nation’s call for vengeance must ring in the ears of the whole world,” said Ghalibaf, who is also Iran’s parliament speaker.

Khamenei’s funeral, initially delayed at the height of the war, will take place as Iran and the United States observe a fragile ceasefire after signing a preliminary deal to halt the conflict. Khamenei, a spiritual figure for many Shias, was killed at the age of 86 in strikes on his compound in the centre of the Iranian capital. He will lie in state for three days at the colossal Grand Mosalla, which has been draped in banners featuring images and quotes of Khamenei. The bodies of his slain relatives will also be presented.

The ceremonies are expected to draw between 15 and 20 million mourners, according to officials, which would make it the biggest state funeral in the country’s history.

Source: France 24

Representatives from more than 90 countries, along with religious leaders, scholars and prominent figures from across the world, have expressed their readiness to attend the funeral ceremonies of martyred Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, according to an Iranian official.

Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, Ali Akbar Pourjamshidian, Iran’s Deputy Interior Minister for Security affairs and secretary of the funeral organizing committee, said that more than 30 countries have already submitted formal requests to send high-ranking delegations to the ceremonies.

Pourjamshidian went on to say that the funeral had been postponed to allow sufficient time for organizing a major national and international event amid the country’s recent circumstances.

He also noted that, in accordance with decisions by the office of the late leader and the guidance of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyed Mojtaba Khamenei, the ceremonies will be held over several days.

The official said the events have been planned under the supervision of the Supreme National Security Council, the Office of the Leader and a national headquarters established by the administration under First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref.

Specialized committees covering security, logistics, infrastructure, cultural affairs, media, universities and international relations have also been formed to oversee the ceremonies.

Funeral and farewell ceremonies will take place in Tehran, Qom, Mashhad and Iraq. Provincial headquarters have been established in Tehran, Qom and Khorasan Razavi Province, while coordinating committees have also been formed across the country to facilitate public participation.

Source: Presstv

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says only Iran is in charge of reopening the Strait of Hormuz under the Tehran-Washington Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), warning that any foreign interference will complicate the process.

Araghchi made the remarks on Sunday during a press conference with his Iraqi counterpart, Fuad Hussein, in Baghdad amid renewed tensions in the Strait of Hormuz, which has remained under Iranian control after the illegal US-Israeli war of aggression against the Islamic Republic.

“According to the MoU, the strait will return to its pre-war capacity within 30 days under the management that Iran will adopt and after the removal of obstacles by the Islamic Republic,” he said.

“These arrangements are being implemented, and the responsibility for them lies with the Islamic Republic … Any interference in this matter and any attempt to adopt new or separate arrangements compared to what is underway by Iran will only lead to more complicated situations and delays in the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, and will fuel tensions.”

Referring to fresh tensions in the Strait of Hormuz, the top Iranian diplomat called on all parties not to meddle in the arrangements that are being adopted by Iran for the reopening of the strategic waterway, and ensure that the MoU does not deviate from its intended course.

Iran has restricted transit through the Strait of Hormuz, responsible for a fifth of global oil demand, since the early days of the unprovoked US-Israeli aggression on the country that began on February 28 and came to a halt under a ceasefire on April 8.‌

On July 17, Iran and the US signed the Pakistan-brokered MoU, which calls for a permanent end to hostilities across all fronts, including Lebanon, as well as the removal of the naval blockade on Iran within 30 days, and the restoration of commercial traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.

Additionally, in his remarks, Araghchi voiced regret that Israel continues its attacks on Lebanon, saying under the MoU, the US should stop the Zionist regime’s strikes.

He further expressed his gratitude to the Iraqi government and nation for their solidarity with Iranians as victims of the illegal US-Israeli war of aggression.

Source: Press TV