Israeli newspaper: Mojtaba Khamenei agreed to negotiate and end the war on Iranian terms

On Tuesday, the Israeli newspaper Yediot Aharonot revealed the contents of a “secret” message exchanged between Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and US envoy Steve Wittkopf.

The newspaper said the message included that Tehran had obtained the “approval and blessing” of Mojtaba Khamenei to end the war quickly, if Iranian conditions were met.

The newspaper also reported that Araqchi secretly informed Witkov of Mojtaba Khamenei’s agreement to negotiate, according to sources cited by the newspaper, noting that these contacts took place away from Israel.

The sources added that Mojtaba Khamenei agreed to negotiate with America and reach an agreement, and also agreed to end the war quickly according to Iran’s conditions.

According to Yedioth Ahronoth, Israel remained outside these contacts, at a time when large gaps still exist between the parties.

Conflicting indications continue regarding unannounced contacts between Washington and Tehran, as international reports spoke of back-channel talks led by US envoy Steve Wittkopf with Iranian officials through regional intermediaries, amid US talk of “key points of agreement” that could pave the way for ending the war, while Tehran denied conducting any direct negotiations.

Meanwhile, the tit-for-tat military operations continue, with Iran launching new waves of missiles, while Washington postponed planned strikes to allow room for the diplomatic track, while major disagreements remain over the terms for ending the war and the role of the new Iranian leadership in making the final decision.

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Iran appoints Mohammad Baqer Zolghadr as Secretary of the National Security Council, succeeding Larijani.

The Iranian presidency announced on Tuesday the appointment of Mohammad Baqer Zolghadr as secretary of the National Security Council.

The Iranian presidency stated that the decision stipulates assigning Zulqadr the duties of the Secretary-General of the Council, succeeding Ali Larijani, who was assassinated in an Israeli bombing.

It should be noted that Israeli Defense Minister Yisrael Katz announced on March 17 the assassination of the Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran, Ali Larijani, and the commander of the Basij militia in Iran, Gholam Reza Soleimani, in raids on the Iranian capital, Tehran.

Mohammad Baqer Zolghadr was a former commander in the Revolutionary Guard, deputy chief of staff of the armed forces for Basij affairs, deputy for strategic affairs in the judiciary from 2012 to 2020, deputy for social protection and crime prevention in the judiciary from 2010 to 2012, advisor to the head of the judiciary, and secretary of the Expediency Discernment Council.

In the Revolutionary Guard, he served as an assistant and deputy commander-in-chief. In Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s government, he was appointed as an assistant to the Interior Minister for security affairs during Mostafa Pourmohammadi’s tenure, with the permission of Ali Khamenei. However, Ahmadinejad dismissed him in 2007. Mohammad Baqer Zolghadr is considered one of the fiercest opponents of the reformists in Iran.

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Yawar: False intelligence leads to targeting the Peshmerga

Military expert Jabbar Yawar confirmed on Tuesday that the targeting of Peshmerga forces in Soran district comes within the context of previous Iranian threats that preceded the outbreak of war with the United States and Israel, while stressing at the same time that it is based on false intelligence information.

Yawar told Shafaq News Agency that “Iran had announced before the outbreak of the war that it would target all areas where there is an American presence or interests, and it has already begun to implement this during the war, up to the present days.”

Yawar explained that “the presence of US forces in the Kurdistan Region dates back to August 2014, within the framework of an international agreement with the Iraqi government to fight ISIS,” indicating that “this presence was not by agreement with the regional government, but rather within the arrangements of the international coalition with Baghdad, which included the deployment of US forces and forces of other nationalities in several Iraqi regions.”

Yawar added that “the presence was not limited to field forces, but also included bases for American aircraft, and all of this was done in accordance with an agreement with the Iraqi government exclusively.”

According to him, after the strategic agreement between Iraq and the United States ended in 2025, a new agreement was signed stipulating that these forces would remain in the Kurdistan Region until the end of 2026, stressing that “this presence is not at the request of the region nor at its direction, but rather as a result of commitments and agreements with Baghdad.”

Regarding the attack that targeted Peshmerga forces this morning in the Soran administration, Yawar explained that “this targeting is part of the steps that Iran announced previously, which include targeting sites where it is believed that there are American interests, whether in Iraq, the Gulf states, Jordan and other areas.”

He added that “some of these attacks are carried out by groups known as (the resistance), which operate under Iranian direction, and have already carried out attacks in the Kurdistan Region within this context.”

Yawar explained that “the targeting of Peshmerga sites is often done under the pretext of the presence of American or coalition forces inside those headquarters,” noting that “this information reaches the implementing parties through spy elements, even though those sites only contain Peshmerga forces, and in some cases former advisors.”

He pointed out that “the attack that occurred today is not the first, as a site that included French advisors was targeted two weeks ago, who have no connection to the ongoing war between Iran, the United States and Israel,” stressing that “the targeted headquarters do not contain American forces or parties working against Iran at the present stage.”

In a related context, Yawar stressed that “the ongoing war in the region has had significant effects on the entire Middle East, especially after the events of February 28,” explaining that “its repercussions have extended to include wide areas, and its effects may reach Cyprus and Turkey.”

He pointed out that “the Kurdistan Region was also affected by these developments, although this was not the result of internal will, but rather came about by force as a result of the size and impact of the conflict in the region,” stressing that “the regional repercussions of the war have become a reality that imposes itself on various countries and regions.”

Earlier today, the Ministry of Peshmerga Affairs in the Kurdistan Region announced that 36 of its members were killed as a result of a ballistic missile attack that targeted military headquarters north of Erbil Governorate.

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Al-Karawi: Question marks surround the government’s failure to export oil through the Strait of Hormuz.

The head of the organizing body for the popular movement for the Belt and Road, Hussein Al-Karawi, questioned the reasons why the government has not exported Iraqi oil through the Strait of Hormuz.

Al-Karawi told Al-Maalouma, “There are question marks surrounding the Iraqi government’s refusal to export oil through the Strait of Hormuz, despite the Islamic Republic of Iran allowing the passage of ships and tankers carrying Iraqi oil, except for tankers going to the White House.”

He added that “the ongoing battle has provided an irreplaceable opportunity for Iraq to get rid of American hegemony, and therefore it is surprising that the government has not gone towards what the war has produced, and sold oil to all countries and allowed it to pass through on the condition that it does not go to the American devil and that its money is received by the Iraqi government in Chinese yuan or any currency other than the dollar.”

He pointed out that “the government’s failure to export oil through the Strait has only one implication: that it does not want to leave the anti-Islamic American camp, despite the call of Grand Ayatollah Sistani in his statement in which he condemned the aggression and called for support for the Iranian government and state.”

He pointed out that “this government and those behind it do not want to break free from Trump’s control, as they see it as the reason for their existence, their continued rule, and the achievement of their interests, even if it comes at the expense of the people’s interests and the country’s sovereignty.”

Almaalomah.me

Abdul Hadi: There are no Kurdish indications of a decision regarding the presidency.

On Friday, Coordination Framework member Uday Abdul Hadi confirmed that there were no positive signals from the Kurdish forces regarding the resolution of the presidential post, noting that the constitutional timeframe for determining the consensus candidate had been exceeded weeks ago.

Abdul-Hadi told Al-Maalomah that “the coordination framework sent many messages to the Kurdish forces, especially the presidential ones, in order to expedite the nomination of a consensus figure for the position of President of the Republic, but until this moment there are no indications that push towards making a decision on this matter.”

He added that “next week may witness an important meeting of the coalition forces to develop a roadmap for resolving this issue, given that a government cannot be formed and the candidate of the largest bloc cannot be appointed without first resolving the issue of the presidency and naming the candidate.”

Almaalomah.me

NATO withdraws its mission from Iraq due to the security situation.

Agence France-Presse reported on Friday that NATO had temporarily withdrawn its mission from Iraq as the war in the Middle East continued, citing security officials in the Iraqi Joint Operations Command.

A command official said that “the NATO mission has left Union III base except for a few who remain,” while another official confirmed that “the mission is temporarily withdrawing because they are concerned about the situation.”

He noted that the mission “informed the Iraqi government before the withdrawal and there is no disagreement” between the two sides.

The NATO mission in Iraq plays an advisory role to Iraqi forces and is non-combat. It is based at an Iraqi military base in the heart of Baghdad, near the US embassy, ​​which has been the target of several missile and drone attacks since the start of the war.

Since the outbreak of the US-Israeli war on Iran on February 28, 2026, areas in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region have been subjected to a series of missile and drone attacks, attributed to armed factions loyal to Iran in Iraq, as part of the regional escalation that followed the strikes on Iranian territory.

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Iran announces assassination of Revolutionary Guard spokesman

Iranian television announced on Friday that the spokesman for the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, Brigadier General Ali Mohammad Naeini, was killed in an attack that took place at dawn today.

For its part, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, in an official statement, mourned Naini, indicating that the assassination of its spokesman would not affect its capabilities.

The Guard continued: “We will not allow our soft power and morale to be weakened after this crime.”

Earlier today, Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei urged the country’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, to fill the security vacuum left by the killing of Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib in an Israeli strike that targeted a sovereign headquarters earlier.

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Kurdistan’s oil exports to Türkiye stabilize at 250,000 barrels per day

Sources at the North Oil Company reported on Friday that exports from the Kurdistan Region via the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline have stabilized at 250,000 barrels per day, with pumping operations resuming after a period of suspension .

Sources within the company told Shafaq News Agency that “export operations are proceeding smoothly according to the specified rates, within the framework of the recent agreement between the federal government and the Kurdistan Regional Government .”

The North Oil Company announced in a statement received by Shafaq News Agency that it has begun exporting Iraqi oil from Kirkuk Governorate to the Turkish port of Ceyhan, confirming that the initial production is 250,000 barrels per day .

The company stated that “Kirkuk fields have made a strong return to the forefront of production and export, with the resumption of crude oil pumping operations through the Turkish port of Ceyhan, after a period of stagnation that posed a major challenge to the oil sector .”

She added that “this development is the result of the agreement between the federal government and the Kurdistan Regional Government, which contributed to reactivating one of the most prominent strategic export outlets and enhancing the flexibility of the export system .”

She indicated that the operation of the (Saralo) pumping station has begun, signaling the resumption of pumping and exporting Kirkuk oil, with an initial capacity of 250,000 barrels per day .

The company affirmed that the resumption of exports reinforces the pivotal role of the Kirkuk fields in supporting the national economy and stabilizing the oil market .

For its part, the Kurdistan Regional Government had previously announced an agreement with the federal government to export oil from the Kirkuk and regional fields together via the (Kurdistan Region – Ceyhan) pipeline to global markets .

The Ministry of Natural Resources in the region had explained that there were multiple reasons that led to the previous halt in exports, while the Federal Ministry of Oil called for the resumption of exports quickly to reduce financial losses, proposing the export of about 300,000 barrels per day via the pipeline .

This comes at a time when Iraqi oil exports have declined in the recent period, making the reactivation of the northern export lines an important step to enhance stability in the oil market .

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State of law: Government formation “postponed” until the end of the Zionist-American aggression

Jassim Mohammed Jaafar, a leader in the State of Law Coalition, confirmed that the current regional circumstances, represented by the American-Zionist aggression against the Islamic Republic of Iran and the targeting of the Popular Mobilization Forces, necessitate a delay in the formation of the new government.

Jaafar told Al-Maalomah News Agency, “Talking about resolving the government formation issue at this critical juncture is unrealistic. It is not in the interest of the political forces to proceed along this path under the pressure of threats and the Zionist-American aggression targeting the Iranian heartland and the resistance.”

He added, “Attempts by some to push for the formation of a new government ignore the magnitude of the security and political challenges imposed by the targeting of the Popular Mobilization Forces and the ongoing violations.” He explained that “the coordination framework and the rest of the national forces will resume resolving the issue after the situation stabilizes and this round of conflict ends.” He pointed out that “this American-Zionist aggression against Iran will not last much longer; estimates indicate it will not exceed ten days. After that, the atmosphere will be conducive to completing the constitutional requirements, away from the noise of aircraft and treacherous attacks.”

Almaalomah.me

US intelligence confirms Mojtaba Khamenei was injured in an Israeli attack

US intelligence confirmed on Thursday that Iran’s new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, was seriously injured in an Israeli military strike.

US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said in a press statement that “Mojtaba Khamenei was seriously injured in an Israeli attack.”

Gabbard noted that “Mojtaba Khamenei is more hardline than his late father,” adding that “the decision-making process in Iran is unclear due to Mojtaba Khamenei’s injury.”

For his part, the director of the US Defense Intelligence Agency, James H. Adams, said that “the objectives set in Iran were fully achieved.”

Last Monday, US President Donald Trump expressed doubt about the survival of Iran’s new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, suggesting he may have been killed in the opening strike that killed his father, Ali Khamenei, at the start of the war.

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