News and Analysis 7/3/26

Israel was intent “on killing as many high-ranking officials as it could” including “potentially more pragmatic leaders that the Trump administration had hoped to negotiate with”:

U.S. Officials Believed Israel Was Plotting to Kill Iranian Negotiators (NY Times)

“[T]he U.S. Treasury linked the Arista — under its former name, the Gauja — to a massive oil smuggling ring run by Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani, a son of Ali Shamkhani, who had been a top security adviser to the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei“:

FACT FOCUS: Iran Claims a Foreign Ship Got Stuck in Strait of Hormuz. But It Is Tied to Tehran (AP)

“The Gulf countries are pursuing reconciliation with Iran after its war with the United States underscored Tehran’s ability to threaten their security” …

Gulf Arabs Seek Reproachment with Iran as Regional Order Shifts (Alhurra)

… and “Iran and U.S.-allied Oman are moving forward with plans to collect payment for ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz, despite public American objections”:

After U.S.-Iran War, Oman Said to Propose Hormuz Fee Plan (NY Times)

The Zionist war on free speech — and the resistance — continues:

Human Rights Museum’s Palestine Exhibition Sets Off Feud Between Canadian Politicians (The Art Newspaper)
Pro-Palestine Protesters Who Blocked Golden Gate Bridge Convicted of Misdemeanor Charges (The Guardian)

“Huge scale of funeral for supreme leader across five cities is intended to relay message of resistance to rest of the world” …

Ali Khamenei’s Six-day Funeral Expected to Draw Millions in Iran (The Guardian)

… and “accounts describe a broad campaign of workplace directives, business closures and logistical mobilization in the days leading up to Khamenei’s funeral and burial”:

Khamenei Funeral Preparations Draw Complaints of Forced Attendance (Iran International)

Concern over Israeli war crimes continues to grow:

PCUSA Declares Israel’s Actions in Palestine Genocide (Baptist News)
How to Show That Israel’s Sexual Violence Against Palestinians Is Systemic — and Has Gone on for Decades (The Intercept)
Congressional Dems Shift to Overwhelmingly Oppose Involvement in Israel’s War on Lebanon (The Intercept)
Abdul El-Sayed Becomes First Senate Candidate Backed by Pro-Palestine Jewish Group (The Intercept)
Israel Approves 13 New Illegal Settlements as Palestinians Warn of Jerusalem’s Further Isolation (Andalu Ajansi)

Amnesty International says Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces systematically targeted civilians, including children, and carried out ethnic cleaning”:

Sudan Paramilitary Group Committed Crimes Against Humanity, Rights Group Says (Washington Post)

“When a government-backed body pre-loads an AI with approved rulings, the algorithm becomes a tool of ideological consolidation. Dissenting interpretations are not banned; they are simply absent from the database”: