Iran official calls for multimillion-dollar bounty to kill Trump

 

A member of Iran’s Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution called for a multimillion-dollar bounty to kill Donald Trump and urged Tehran-aligned groups in the United States to prepare attacks against American officials.

Speaking Friday night at a pro-government rally, Hassan Rahimpour Azghadi said: “When Trump proudly says I assassinated the leader of the Islamic Republic, we must also say we will assassinate you.”

He added: “Trump says every few weeks that I killed Qassem Soleimani. We can also say we will assassinate you, and we can do it.”

Rahimpour Azghadi said Iran should set “a reward of several million dollars” for killing Trump and “prepare our supporters in America” to activate cells against US officials.

He also called for attacks on regional oil infrastructure, saying: “We must hit the region’s oil.” He argued that damage to Iran’s own oil sector would be tolerable, saying the country would face “one or two years” of problems before recovering.

https://www.iranintl.com/en/liveblog/202606208803

'Iran, Oman customs chiefs propose joint committee to implement customs pact'

 

Iranian and Omani customs chiefs have proposed forming a joint committee to implement a bilateral customs agreement aimed at expanding cooperation and facilitating trade, Iran’s state news agency IRNA reported.

Foroud Asgari, Iran’s deputy economy minister and head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration, held talks with Saeed bin Khamis al-Ghaithi, head of Oman’s Royal Customs, on the sidelines of the World Customs Organization meeting.

The two sides emphasized the need to operationalize an agreement on mutual administrative assistance in customs affairs and discussed ways to broaden cooperation between the two countries’ customs authorities.

https://www.iranintl.com/en/liveblog/202606208803

Iran lawmaker tells GCC: missiles, drones and Hormuz are Tehran’s red lines

 

The head of the Iranian parliament’s National Security Committee warned GCC leaders that US military bases had made them less secure, saying Iran’s missile and drone power and its management of the Strait of Hormuz are Tehran’s “serious red lines.”

In a post on X, Ebrahim Azizi said the GCC states had “outsourced” their security and that this had made them “more insecure.”

“You have seen how US military bases in your countries, instead of providing security, have become a source of threat,” he wrote.

Azizi said the only reliable path to regional security was distancing from the United States.

https://www.iranintl.com/en/liveblog/202606208803

'Oman’s alternative Hormuz route angered Iran, prompting action - NYT'

 

Oman’s move to provide vessels with an alternative toll-free route through the Strait of Hormuz angered Tehran and undermined Iran’s control over the passageway, prompting it to act by launching drone attacks on civilian ships, The New York Times reported, citing an unnamed Iranian official.

The official said Iran viewed Oman’s role as a challenge to its authority over the strategic waterway.

According to the report, Tehran decided to respond after concluding that the alternative transit route weakened its leverage over ships passing through the strait.

https://www.iranintl.com/en/liveblog/202606208803

Tanker Rates Nearly Halve As Hormuz Shipping Normalizes

 The recent spike in the cost to hire a supertanker carrying 2 million barrels of crude from Saudi Arabia to China is now being sharply reversed, as more shippers send vessels through the Strait of Hormuz and normalization trends continue to improve.

Bloomberg reports that tanker rates for the Saudi Arabia-to-China route tumbled to about $287K on Friday, down 44% from more than $514K on Tuesday. That data came from the Baltic Exchange.

Rates remain elevated and still highly profitable for owners, but the sharp drop late in the week suggests the market is beginning to normalize after an interim U.S.-Iran peace deal reduced the war risk premium around the Hormuz chokepoint. Early movers certainly capitalized on lofty rates last week.

According to Bloomberg data, 48 vessels have transited the narrow waterway on Friday, though that does not include ships that switched off their transponders.

By the end of the week, Brent crude fell below $72 per barrel, while WTI traded around $69, hovering near pre-war levels.

A late Thursday note from Arrow Shipping & Energy said that 75 million barrels of crude have flowed out of the Persian Gulf via tankers since the U.S. and Iran signed an interim peace deal. Persian Gulf exports are now at about 75% of pre-war levels, according to Bloomberg estimates.

Related:

• Asian Refiners Swamped, Brace For Over 60 Million Barrels Of Oil Ready To Exit Hormuz

Tanker loadings are now resuming at Saudi Arabia's Ras Tanura terminal, yet another sign exports from allied Gulf countries are ramping up.

"Crude remains under significant pressure as the bearish narrative continues to center on improving flows through the Strait of Hormuz," said Rebecca Babin, senior energy trader at CIBC Private Wealth Group. "While transit numbers appear somewhat lower following yesterday's attack on a vessel, traffic has not stopped entirely."

HSBC analyst Kim Fustier said the reopening of the Hormuz waterway has created a "near-term supply overhang; Gulf exports rebound faster than the market can absorb them."

Fustier noted, "China remains key swing buyer," but said the "next inflection point when backlog of stranded vessels runs out and SPR releases end in July," may shift Brent back towards $80/bbl.

https://www.zerohedge.com/energy/tanker-rates-nearly-halve-hormuz-shipping-normalizes

China Ousts Six Military Lawmakers as Xi’s Purge Continues

 China stripped six military lawmakers of their seats in the national parliament in the latest sign that President Xi Jinping is continuing with a purge of key defense establishment personnel.

The country’s top legislative body has terminated the delegate status of the six military representatives, China’s state-owned Xinhua News Agency reported on Friday. The report cited a notice from the National People’s Congress Standing Committee that gave no reason for the dismissals.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-06-26/china-ousts-six-military-lawmakers-as-xi-s-purge-continues

CFTC is conducting an investigation into Polymarket

 The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has an ongoing, extensive investigation into prediction market platform Polymarket, according to a person familiar with the inquiry. 

The Wall Street Journal first reported the investigation on Friday.

A spokesperson for the CFTC and another for Polymarket both declined to comment. 

News of the investigation comes more than a week after a Wall Street Journal story revealed that Polymarket conducted a misleading marketing campaign, making content creators appear as though they were winning on the platform when in reality they weren’t putting any money down.

The person familiar with the inquiry, who was not authorized to speak publicly, did not disclose a timeline for when the commission’s investigation into Polymarket began. 

Polymarket reiterated to CNBC that it is taking steps in response to the Journal’s investigation into its marketing . 

“We are conducting a comprehensive audit of active promotional content to ensure it complies with our standards, as well as applicable regulatory and legal disclosure requirements,” a spokesperson said in a statement. 

The CFTC investigation marks a reversal for Polymarket’s regulatory fortunes over the past year. While the company was originally banned from allowing U.S. users in 2022 for not properly registering with regulators, investigations by the CFTC and the Department of Justice were later dropped in July of last year without charges.

Polymarket’s CFTC-regulated U.S. exchange launched in December, reopening access to domestic users, and had a waitlist to access the platform lifted six weeks ago.

The CFTC under Chairman Michael Selig has been aggressive in its support for prediction markets, but the investigation into Polymarket would mark the commission’s first high-profile inquiry into an event contract platform under his leadership. 

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/06/26/cftc-is-conducting-an-investigation-into-polymarket-source-says.html