AP: From Israel’s perspective, its airstrikes near Damascus were more about Iran than Syria: Tehran’s shipment of guided missiles destroyed in the weekend attacks would have posed a potent threat had the weapons reached Iranian proxy Hezbollah in Lebanon.

AP: The fighter’s body was collected at an Iraqi border crossing with Iran, then carried on Monday through the streets of this southern city as mourners hailed his sacrifice in protecting a revered shrine in Syria.

Reuters: Few Iranian presidential elections have been so unpredictable but the next few days will at least narrow down who will stand in the ballot on June 14, for which candidate registration starts on Tuesday and ends on Saturday.

Reuters: The United Arab Emirates criticized on Monday a visit by Iranian lawmakers to Gulf islands near the Strait of Hormuz at the center of a territorial dispute between the two countries, who are both trade partners and strategic rivals.

AFP: Kuwait’s supreme court on Monday upheld life terms on two Iranians, a Kuwaiti and a stateless person on charges of forming a ring to spy for neighbouring Iran.

Reuters: The United States and its allies are preparing for naval exercises in the Gulf energy export hub that will include minesweeping and escorting commercial ships in a region where Iran is seen as a threat both to trade and security.

AP: Iran says a moderate earthquake rattled a region near the country’s main nuclear reactor, but there were no reports of damage or deaths in the surrounding area.

AP: Israeli defense officials believe Iran has stepped up shipments of weapons to Hezbollah through Syria, including accurate longer-range Iranian missiles, as President Bashar Assad’s position weakens.

Wall Street Journal: An official briefed on the operation said the strike appeared to target advanced Iranian-made surface-to-surface Fateh 110 rockets that had arrived by air and that Israel suspected were to be driven to Lebanon and given to Hezbollah.