By Frank Andrews
Updated on: June 30, 2026 / 8:49 AM EDT / CBS News
What to know about the Iran war today:
- An agreement signed four days ago between Israel and Lebanon links an Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon to the Iranian-backed group Hezbollah being disarmed. Analysts say that could mean Israel occupying southern Lebanon indefinitely, which could continue hampering efforts toward a full U.S.-Iran peace deal.
- Iranian and U.S. officials have given mixed messages over plans for — and the importance of — an expected new round of talks in Qatar. President Trump said Monday that a meeting in Doha would be “perhaps important, perhaps not,” while Iran’s foreign ministry said Iranian experts would travel to Qatar, but not for direct talks with U.S. officials.
- Commercial ships are unlikely to ever move through the Strait of Hormuz or the Bab el-Mandeb Strait as freely as they did before the Iran war, a senior analyst at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace told CBS News on Monday.
No frozen assets have been transferred to Iran, says Qatar
No frozen assets have been transferred to Iran, Qatar said Tuesday, after Iran’s president said $6 billion would be released under the memorandum of understanding signed by Iran and the U.S. about two weeks ago .
“So far, no funds have been transferred,” foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al Ansari said Tuesday.
“Qatar is not the owner of these funds,” Al Ansari added. “It only plays the role of a financial mediator managing these accounts within the framework of this agreement between the parties.”
“The matter of transferring funds or not is carried out according to mutual agreement between the two parties and according to the progress of negotiations, which has not yet taken place,” he said.
On Monday, Iranian state media quoted President Masoud Pezeshkian as saying the country was set to receive $6 billion in frozen assets currently held in Qatar. The unfreezing of Iran’s financial assets is one of the conditions in the U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding.
Vice President JD Vance said last week that Washington would ensure any Iranian funds released as a result of the ongoing negotiations would not finance terrorism.
“If we ever unfreeze Iranian assets, we can ensure that … Iranian money goes to help the people of Iran and not to fund terrorism,” he told reporters a day after the first, and so far only, round of direct talks with Iran were held as a result of the MoU.
By Frank Andrews, Khaled Wassef
Ambassador Mike Huckabee says Israel and U.S. “will continue to be partners as long as we exist”
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee again compared the relationship between the two countries to a marriage, saying “we will continue to be partners as long as we exist,” in remarks reported by Israeli news site Ynet.
Speaking at an Israeli-American Council (IAC) event commemorating 250 years of American independence, Huckabee said: “When people ask: ‘Is it possible that the U.S. and Israel will split and no longer enjoy this extraordinary partnership?’, I say: ‘No. I hope we will never be that foolish. We will continue to be partners as long as we exist.'”
“It’s like a marriage,” he added. “If we separate, neither country will be able to afford the alimony.”
Huckabee said in February that Israel had a right to much of the Middle East, telling Tucker Carlson “It would be fine if they took it all.”
His comments prompted condemnation from the governments of numerous Arab and Muslim majority states.
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