News in Brief: Interrogation in the Supreme Spiritual Council, Financial Control, and Tensions in the Middle East

Brief and substantial news from the past hour:

• Several secular members of the Supreme Spiritual Council have been interrogated as witnesses by the Investigation Committee in the framework of a criminal case regarding non-compliance with a court ruling. Criminal prosecution has also been initiated against several clergymen and the Supreme Patriarch of All Armenians, who are subject to a prohibition on leaving.
• The State Revenue Committee announces that control over cash transported across the border will be tightened. Cash amounts exceeding $10,000 must be declared, and citizens are advised to prefer bank transfers.
• A spokeswoman from the Russian Foreign Ministry has stated that Armenia's refusal of Russian humanitarian aid sent to the residents of Nagorno-Karabakh is unclear. She noted that Moscow had previously offered assistance, which was also rejected.
• The new Supreme Leader of Iran has declared that the country will not renounce revenge and is targeting U.S. military bases in the region. He also mentioned that the Strait of Hormuz should remain closed.
• According to UN data, the number of internally displaced persons in Iran due to military operations by Israel and the U.S. has reached approximately 3.2 million. Most of the displaced have moved from major cities to the northern and rural areas of the country.
• About 30 oil tankers are heading to the port of Yanbu in Saudi Arabia to secure oil supplies by bypassing the Strait of Hormuz. The Kingdom is trying to utilize other routes for oil exports.
• India is conducting negotiations with Iran to allow at least 20 oil and gas tankers to pass through the Strait of Hormuz. However, the Iranian side has reported that such permissions have not yet been granted.
• Western sources indicate that Israel has begun military operations against Iran without a clear plan for regime change in the country. There are concerns that the attacks could provoke internal dissent.
• Reports have emerged that Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who has been arrested in the U.S., is being held in a solitary confinement cell in a Brooklyn jail. He is reportedly under nearly complete isolation.