Iran, which has taken an "aggressive" stance, and Russia, which is imprisoning opponents of the war - daily digest

**Iran Moves to ‘Offensive’ Posture, Russia Imprisons War Opponents – Daily Digest**

**US-Iran Tensions**

Iran has declared a “full offensive” military posture after peace talks with the United States collapsed, a senior Iranian official told Reuters on Monday.

The Iranian official said Iranian forces should be prepared to escalate tensions in the Strait of Hormuz and the region, as Iran “will be forced to make difficult decisions and implement them.” He added that if diplomacy fails, Tehran will launch a “timely and precise” military strike to break the US naval blockade.

The US said yesterday that it had not raised the issue of extending a temporary ceasefire agreement. The interim memorandum signed on June 17 gave Iran and the United States 60 days to reach a final peace agreement, which expired on Monday. The agreement collapsed due to a disagreement over control of the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran insists that Article 5 of the memorandum of understanding gives it the right to control the strait with Oman. The United States has rejected this interpretation. According to an Iranian official, the US must fully implement all the provisions of the memorandum within a few weeks as a precondition for further negotiations.

The United States is unhappy with the Iran-Oman talks. In particular, Donald Trump has threatened to strike the sultanate if it obstructs the US blockade of Iranian ships: "If Oman stands in our way, we will bomb them mercilessly," Trump said.

Meanwhile, in a diplomatic flare-up, the Trump administration is reportedly negotiating with both Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps and its political elite.

**Anti-War Activist Jailed in Russia**

A senior member of Russia's opposition party, Yabloko, Lev Shlosberg, has been found guilty of "mass actions aimed at discrediting the military" and sentenced to 11 years and 1 month in a penal colony.

Schlosberg had called the war a disaster for Russia. The Kremlin says he is spreading slanderous lies about the military. In a court in Pskov on Monday, Schlosberg insisted on his innocence and said he was the victim of a political trial.

In his closing remarks, Schlosberg reiterated his call for an immediate ceasefire in the war in neighboring Ukraine. "Thousands of lives have been lost during this time. Sooner or later, the exact and complete number of those killed will be announced, and the entire nation will be shocked by this list," he said.

According to the BBC Russian Service and other publications, the number of Russian soldiers killed in the war exceeds 200,000-300,000. Russia does not publish the number of victims in the war.

The Kremlin does not like those who criticize the war, which it calls a "special military operation." Russia has harsh laws aimed at suppressing such calls.

"One person is imprisoned, but fear creeps into the hearts of millions," Schlossberg said in his closing remarks.

On August 10, Russia's Supreme Court banned Yabloko, the only official political party calling for an end to the war, from participating in the upcoming parliamentary elections. The decision was upheld in a higher court on Monday.

**Kushner-Netanyahu Meeting**

As the US-backed Gaza peace plan stalled, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hosted Trump's envoy and son-in-law Jared Kushner in Jerusalem.

Kushner arrived in Israel a day after meeting with Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya in Cairo. The meeting was also attended by the UN's Special Representative for the Palestinian Authority, Nickolay Mladenov, and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Kushner described his nearly four-hour meeting with Netanyahu as "good." "They [Hamas] could start removing some weapons in as little as 30 days. I hope we can see progress on burying some of the tunnels in the next 60 to 90 days," Kushner said.

Kushner said the United States would not limit Israel's right to self-defense if there were imminent threats. If Hamas "resorts to violence or attempts to rearm," Israel could act accordingly, the U.S. official said.

They also agreed at the Jerusalem meeting that "reconstruction work in Gaza will not begin until the group is disarmed."

The Israeli official said Netanyahu told the meeting that there would be no troop withdrawal and that the military would continue to act as it sees fit.

Earlier this month, Netanyahu publicly rejected Trump's proposal for Hamas to disarm and for Israeli forces to withdraw from Gaza. Hamas said it would accept the plan. But the deal stalled after Netanyahu's demands.

**Shooting Live in the Philippines**

A high school student opened fire on a private university campus in the Philippines on Tuesday; He killed one schoolmate and wounded two others before killing himself.

The shooting was reportedly live-streamed by a student wearing a body camera. The shooting occurred at about 7:50 a.m. local time at a university in the southern port city of Zamboanga.

Regional police said the ninth-grader, who is usually between 14 and 16 years old, brought "a pistol and a rifle onto the school campus" and opened fire in a classroom.

According to AFP, the video, which was broadcast live on Facebook, shows the killer moving the barrel of a gun down a hallway, like in a video game, before aiming it at a classroom.

"In the video, we see him first shooting at a teacher sitting at a desk. It seems he missed the target, then he went into another room and shot another student there," one official said. Other children can be seen screaming and running towards the exit in the video.

The investigation is ongoing. Police said they are also looking into how the suspect got the guns into the school.

Hours after the shooting, the suspect's Facebook account was deleted and classes were suspended at the university. Police said the situation was under control.

**Fires in Europe**

Firefighters across Europe battled a series of wildfires over the weekend. In Belgium, the country's largest nature reserve, the High Fens, is battling a third consecutive day of blazes.

The country's largest wildfire in recent history has more than doubled in size in a single day.

Earlier, at least one person was killed and dozens injured in a forest fire that swept across the Croatian coast. About 1,200 residents and tourists were evacuated.

Two people died in two simultaneous fires on an island near Athens over the weekend. Hundreds more were evacuated.

By Sunday evening, one of the fires was under control and evacuations were complete, with 500 people leaving the island by sea. Firefighters who went to put out the fire found two bodies at the scene. The mayor of the city said the dead were believed to be a couple.

Earlier, the European Union's climate monitoring service confirmed that June and July were the hottest months on record in Western Europe.