Iran's Revolutionary Guards unveiled an intermediate range ballistic missile Tuesday capable of travelling at hypersonic speeds of up to 15 times the speed of sound, state television reported.

President Ebrahim Raisi hailed the new missile's hypersonic capability, saying it would boost Iran's "power of deterrence" and "bring peace and stability to the countries of the region".

The official IRNA news agency published photographs of the ceremony in a closed area it did not identify. Several top military commanders were present, including Guards chief General Hossein Salami.

Oil prices slid Tuesday as dealers mulled the weak demand outlook after having rallied the previous day on output cuts from key crude producer Saudi Arabia.

Europe's Brent oil contract and US counterpart WTI crude fell more than two percent before trimming losses, one day after bouncing on news that Riyadh slashed daily output by one million barrels for July in a bid to prop up prices.

The announcement came at a weekend meeting of the 23-nation OPEC+ oil producers' alliance, which also agreed to continue its current production cuts until the end of next year.

Kuwaitis cast their ballots Tuesday in the Gulf state's seventh general election in just over a decade, following repeated political crises that have undermined parliament and stalled reforms.

Polling stations closed at around 8:00 pm (1700 GMT), with the results expected to be announced the following day.

Voter turnout was at 50 percent one hour before polls closed, according to Kuwait Transparency Society, an NGO. In the last polls in 2022, the total voter turnout stood at 63 percent.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Monday for the normalization of relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel on the eve of his visit to the Arab power.

"The United States has a real national security interest in promoting normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia," Blinken said in a speech to the powerful pro-Israel lobby AIPAC.

"We believe we can and indeed we must play an integral role in advancing it," Blinken said.

The United States and seven other countries are responsible for torture and illegal detention of a Saudi prisoner awaiting a death penalty trial at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility, a UN watchdog has ruled.

The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention also hinted that the systematic use of Guantanamo to hold suspects rounded up in Washington's "war on terror" after the September 11, 2001 attacks, might in some cases amount to crimes against humanity.

Saudi fashion designer Mohammed Ashi announced Monday he had joined France's haute couture federation, becoming the first couturier from the Gulf region to join the prestigious roster.

His eponymous label Ashi Studio will have its first show as part of the official line-up of Paris Fashion Week's haute couture shows on July 6.

"This appointment is the highlight of my career," Ashi said in a statement.

"This recognition brings me the greatest emotion, it offers me the opportunity to share with you who I am."

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told a powerful pro-Israel lobby group Monday that Saudi-Israeli normalization is deeply important for Washington and pledged that Iran would never be allowed to obtain nuclear weapons.

"The United States has a real national security interest in promoting normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia. We believe we can and indeed we must play an integral role in advancing it," Blinken told the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC.

Qatar's labour minister was on Monday appointed without a vote to head the International Labour Organization's annual decision-making conference, despite union criticism amid concerns over labour conditions in Qatar.

Asian and Pacific nations, which according to a regional rotation had dibs this year on selecting the president of the two-week International Labour Conference, had proposed Ali Bin Samikh Al-Marri.

A three-year-old Palestinian boy shot by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank last week died of his wounds on Monday, Israeli and Palestinian officials said.

The Israeli Sheba hospital, where he was being treated since he was shot on Thursday, said the child "died... despite extensive efforts of the medical team".

In a statement, the Palestinian health ministry said it was informed of the "death of the child Mohammed Haitham al-Tamimi, 3, from the village of Nabi Saleh."

Iran is set to reopen its embassy in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday following a seven year closure, Tehran and a diplomatic source said, sealing a Chinese-brokered rapprochement deal announced in March.

Saudi Arabia severed relations with Iran in 2016 after its embassy in Tehran and consulate in the northwestern city of Mashhad were attacked during protests over Riyadh's execution of Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr.