Syria's President Ahmed al-Sharaa said Tuesday that he is counting on an "active French role" to halt Israeli escalations against his country.

During a joint press conference with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron in Damascus, Sharaa condemned "systematic Israeli attacks", saying "we are counting on an active French role to stop this escalation and ensure respect for international agreements".

Gulf emirate Qatar on Tuesday condemned Iran for an attack on one of its liquefied natural gas tankers as was transiting off the coast of Oman.

"The targeting of the Qatari vessel 'Al-Rekayyat' while transiting near the Strait of Hormuz constitutes an unacceptable attack on the security & safety of international maritime navigation," foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al Ansari wrote on X adding Qatar holds Iran "fully legally responsible for this attack & for any resulting damages & consequences".

U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday he was "very disappointed" by the response of NATO allies in Europe to his war with Iran after arriving in Turkey for the alliance's summit.

"I was very disappointed with NATO," Trump told journalists as he met Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa said Tuesday that he wants France to be a primary partner for Damascus, which he said has regained its role as a transit hub after the Strait of Hormuz closure.

"After the Strait of Hormuz crisis, the world realized the value of safe and stable corridors... here the importance of Syrian geography is highlighted, which today has regained its vital role as an indispensable link in the global corridors market, and we want France to be our primary partner in this path," Sharaa said in an economic forum with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron and representatives from both countries.

Two explosions were heard in central Damascus on Tuesday as French President Emmanuel Macron visited the Syrian capital, AFP journalists said, with witnesses reporting smoke rising near a high-end hotel where the leader spent the night.

At least one blast was heard before ambulances rushed to the scene, while Macron, the first Western European leader to visit Syria since the 2024 fall of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad, held talks with Syrian counterpart Ahmad al-Sharaa at the presidential palace.

Iranian state television early Tuesday aired live images from a helicopter of hundreds of thousands of people walking toward Jamkaran Mosque, just south of Qom, for a funeral service for Khamenei. The mosque is believed by Shiites to have once hosted the Muhammad al-Mahdi, the 12th and last Shiite imam, who disappeared in the 9th century and will one day reappear to bring justice to the world.

Images of Khamenei and his son, Iran's new Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, were displayed on banners and posters held by mourners. Mojtaba Khamenei has yet to make an appearance in the funeral ceremonies, which are unfolding over several days. He is believed to be in hiding after reportedly being wounded in the airstrike that killed his father.

A tanker traveling off the coast of Oman in the Strait of Hormuz caught on fire early Tuesday morning after being struck by a projectile, the British military said.

The attack was the latest targeting a vessel moving through the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf, through which a fifth of all oil and natural gas traded once passed in peacetime. Iranian state television said the liquefied natural gas tanker came under attack after ignoring warnings but did not directly claim the assault.

Moroccan authorities said on Monday they had arrested 10 people, including a minor, involved in foiled "terrorist plots" across several cities.

The kingdom's Central Bureau of Judicial Investigations (BCIJ) said in a statement carried by state news agency MAP that the suspects were linked to the Islamic State group (IS) in the Sahel region.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday urged the United States not to sell its advanced F-35 fighter jets to Turkey, arguing it would "upset the power balance" in the region.

"I don't think they should be given F-35s or the engines for their fighter jets, because that'll upset the power balance in the Middle East which is ultimately guaranteed by Israeli air superiority and also by, I think, by America's posture in the Middle East," Netanyahu told Fox News morning show "Fox & Friends."

Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas announced Monday the dissolution of the body that has governed the Gaza Strip for nearly two decades, clearing the way for a technocratic committee to implement civilian rule.

"The head of the government's emergency committee Mohammed al-Farra has officially submitted his resignation. He has also decided to dissolve the committee to facilitate the administrative and governmental transition to the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG)," Ismail al-Thawabta, head of Hamas' government media office told AFP.