IRAN’S PRESIDENT SAYS SUPREME LEADER URGES UNITY AS WAR, SANCTIONS DEEPEN ECONOMIC CRISIS. (PHOTO).

 Iran’s president says supreme leader urges unity as war, sanctions deepen economic crisis

Iran’s president said Monday that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei is urging unity as the country faces mounting economic pressure, U.S. sanctions and the continuing fallout from its war with the United States.

President Masoud Pezeshkian described a nearly seven-hour meeting with Khamenei during an interview with Iranian state television. The discussions focused on the economy, including people’s livelihoods, market conditions, employment, housing and problems created by U.S. sanctions.

Pezeshkian said Khamenei emphasized the need to prevent divisions within the country, warning that Iran’s enemies are seeking to exploit internal disagreements.

“All of the enemy’s plans are aimed at creating division,” Pezeshkian said. “What we have to do is prevent divisions from emerging.”

The meeting was reportedly only the second time Pezeshkian has met with Khamenei since the younger Khamenei became supreme leader in March after a U.S.-Israeli strike killed his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The new supreme leader was also reportedly injured in the attack and has not appeared publicly since.

Meanwhile, Iran continues to demand major concessions from the United States before allowing normal shipping to resume through the Strait of Hormuz.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said Monday that Tehran will not reopen the strategic waterway until Washington ends its blockade, compensates Iran for war-related damage, lifts economic sanctions and releases frozen Iranian assets.

Iran has also been negotiating with Oman over possible transit arrangements through the strait, including a temporary shipping corridor. However, Iranian officials have said any full reopening remains dependent on negotiations with the United States.

The Strait of Hormuz normally carries about one-fifth of the world’s traded oil supplies, making its closure a major concern for global energy markets.

Elsewhere in the region, Israel’s military announced Monday that the Christian-majority town of Taybeh in the occupied West Bank had been designated a closed military zone. The measure is intended to prevent Israeli settlers and other non-residents from entering the community, which has faced repeated incidents of arson, vandalism and trespassing.

Palestinian residents and journalists will generally be permitted to enter unless soldiers determine they pose a security threat. Israeli forces said they will detain suspects and disperse gatherings when necessary.

The move comes amid continuing violence in the West Bank. Palestinian health officials say at least 87 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli settlers or soldiers in 2026. Residents of Taybeh have complained that security forces have been slow to respond to attacks by extremist settlers.

In Yemen, Iran-backed Houthi rebels attacked the Red Sea port town of Mokha on Sunday, killing seven people and injuring 30 others, according to Yemen’s internationally recognized government. Four military personnel and three civilians were among those killed.

The attack is part of an escalating series of Houthi strikes against military positions and territory controlled by the Saudi-backed government, despite a truce that began in 2022. The renewed violence has also increased attention on shipping routes through the Red Sea and Bab el-Mandeb Strait as commercial traffic through Hormuz remains severely restricted.

In Gaza, beekeepers are beginning to rebuild an industry devastated by more than two years of war.

Before the Israel-Hamas conflict began, much of Gaza’s beekeeping activity was concentrated in agricultural areas near the territory’s perimeter. Those areas are now largely under Israeli military control, but some beekeepers have returned to locations near the Yellow Line and found enough surviving hives to resume honey production.

Beekeepers say rebuilding remains difficult because of restrictions on goods entering Gaza, including equipment and supplies needed to maintain hives.

Industry leaders say restoring beekeeping could help support agriculture, environmental sustainability and the local economy as Gaza attempts to recover from the destruction caused by the war.