DUBAI, June 13 (Reuters) - Funeral for Iran's late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei will begin in Tehran on July 4 and conclude with his burial in the northeastern city of Mashhad on July 9, state media reported on Saturday.

Khamenei, was killed in Israeli and U.S. strikes on Iran in February. His death marked the end of more than three decades at the helm of the Islamic Republic.

(Reporting by Ahmed Elimam, Eman Abu Hassira and Mohammed Gebaly, Editing by Louise Heavens)

Lebanon reported Israeli strikes in the country's south on Saturday, as the Israeli army issued evacuation warnings for the city of Nabatieh and more than 20 other locations ahead of raids.

The latest strikes came as the US and Iran indicated they were close to reaching a deal on ending the Middle East war that could also include Lebanon, drawn into the conflict when Hezbollah attacked Israel in support of its patron Tehran.

The state-run National News Agency (NNA) said Israeli airstrikes had hit several areas, particularly around the southern city of Nabatieh.

By Ben Blanchard

TAIPEI, June 12 (Reuters) - Somaliland has a right to choose its own relationships and pressure tactics from Beijing and Mogadishu have not succeeded in altering its friendship with Taipei, its top diplomat in Taiwan said on Friday at the opening of a new office.

Strategically situated on the Horn of Africa, Somaliland has enjoyed effective autonomy - and relative peace and stability - since 1991, when it broke away from Somalia as that country descended into civil war.

By Parisa Hafezi, Phil Stewart and Steve Holland

DUBAI/WASHINGTON, June 12 (Reuters) - The United States and Iran signaled on Friday that an agreement to endtheir warwas close, with a senior U.S. administration official saying both sides had agreed on a text and that Washington expects to sign an initial deal in the coming days.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said that while changes in the deal were still possible, the tentative agreement showed his country had emerged stronger from the conflict.

By Emily Green

MEXICO CITY, June 12 (Reuters) - FIFA President Gianni Infantino has failed to deliver on promises to secure full access for the Iranian soccer federation to attend the team's three games in the United States, Iran’s World Cup team supervisor told Reuters.

Mahdi Mohammad Nabi, who also served as Iran’s supervisor in charge of squad operations at the 2018 and 2022 World Cups in Russia and Qatar, is among 15 Iranian soccer federation members denied a visa to travel to the U.S. for the World Cup games.

WASHINGTON, June 12 (Reuters) - The U.S. says it is close to signing a peace deal that would end the three-month-old war with Iran, though terms have not yet been made public.

It is not clear at this point how any agreement would stack up against the 2015 deal with Iran, which lifted sanctions in exchange for restrictions on its nuclear activities.

By Andrew Mills, Marwa Rashad and Ahmad Ghaddar

DUBAI/LONDON, June 12 (Reuters) - The United Arab Emirates has agreed to unlock billions of dollars for Iran, four sources said, in a tactical shift after weeks of Iranian attacks on the wealthy Gulf Arab state during the U.S.-Israeli war with the Islamic Republic.

By John Irish

PARIS, June 12 (Reuters) - Israeli and Palestinian civil society groups delivered an appeal in France on Friday to urge the international community not to abandon a two-state solution, as Paris seeks to keep the issue alive amid the Middle East war.

Palestinian and Israeli civil society groups urged support for a two-state solution, saying "the window of opportunity" was closing, as they met in Paris on Friday.

The government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, one of the most right-wing in Israel's history, vehemently opposes the emergence of a sovereign and fully independent Palestinian state in the occupied West Bank and Gaza, and is working on the ground to undermine the possibility of a two-state solution.

WASHINGTON, June 12 (Reuters) - The United States and Iran are not quite at the finish line, but are very close to a deal to resolve their conflict, a senior U.S. official said on Friday, adding that Washington expects to sign a deal in the coming days.

"The negotiating team has got us in a very good spot, but let's see here, we're not quite at the finish line yet, but we are very close," the U.S. official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told reporters.