Tehran alone will decide how to use its frozen assets once they are unfrozen under a US-Iranian deal towards ending the Middle East war, an Iranian ambassador said Tuesday, contradicting US claims.

As part of the deal under negotiation, Washington has agreed to release $12 billion in frozen funds to Iran, Iranian state media reported on Tuesday, and temporarily suspend sanctions on oil from the Islamic republic.

By Olivia Le Poidevin

GENEVA, June 23 (Reuters) - Israeli authorities and security forces deliberately targeted Palestinian children, resulting in genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Gaza, and war crimes in the occupied West Bank, an independent U.N. inquiry said on Tuesday.

The report by the U.N. Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel examined violations against Palestinian children since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas on October 7, 2023.

By Isaac Anyaogu

LAGOS, June 23 (Reuters) - Global gas flaring rose to a six-year high in 2025, driven by increases in Russia and Iran, according to World Bankdata, hindering efforts to end by the end of this decade the routine burning of gas produced alongside oil.

Flaring climbed for a third consecutive year to 167 billion cubic metres, wasting an estimated $54 billion worth of gas and outpacing growth in global oil production, according to the World Bank's Global Gas Flaring Tracker.

By Emily Chow and Florence Tan

SINGAPORE, June 23 (Reuters) - Two stranded supertankers passed through the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, while seven empty Qatar-linked liquefied natural gas tankers have entered in recent weeks in an early sign Gulf gas shipping may be resuming, ship-tracking data show.

Israel is deliberately targeting Palestinian children in what has become a key factor in an ongoing "genocide" in Gaza, United Nations investigators charged on Tuesday, in a report slammed by Israel.

The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry said it had found evidence that "Palestinian children have been deliberately targeted and killed by Israeli security forces".

This, it said, was a key factor in establishing "the genocidal intent of the Israeli authorities and security forces to destroy the larger Palestinian group in Gaza".

By Ariba Shahid and Saad Sayeed

KARACHI, June 23 (Reuters) - Pakistan's role in brokering a peace deal in the Iran war has led to widespread diplomatic acclaim that could bring Islamabad some economic benefits, but analysts question whether such gains can help resolve the fault lines in its economy.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir attended talks between Iran and the U.S. in the Swiss town of Buergenstock last weekend, the culmination of Pakistan's months-long role in one of the world's most consequential diplomatic negotiations.

By Maya Gebeily

BEIRUT, June 23 (Reuters) - Lebanon heads into a new round of talks with Israel on Tuesday in Washington, with Beirut determined to press ahead with direct negotiations even as they appear to be overshadowed by Iran's decision to make Lebanon part of its negotiations with the United States.

By Gram Slattery and Timour Azhari

ABU DHABI, June 23 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio faces a delicate mission this week pitching Washington's Iran peace deal to Gulf Arab leaders who fear excessive concessions will strengthen Tehran and reshape the region's security balance and oil flows.

Rubio will meet them in the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday, before traveling to Kuwait and Bahrain, where he will meet officials from the Gulf Cooperation Council, a grouping of monarchies that also includes Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Oman.

By Andrea Shalal and Timothy Gardner

WASHINGTON, June 23 (Reuters) - Tehran stands to gain billions of dollars from a 60-day reprieve from U.S. sanctions announced on Monday, but unwinding more than four decades of restrictions poses legal, political and commercial challenges that could take years.

At issue is whether an interim U.S. deal with Iran can translate into lasting economic relief, given the complexity of dismantling a sanctions regime that spans U.S. law, international measures and private-sector risk concerns.

By Humeyra Pamuk, Dave Graham and Nandita Bose

BUERGENSTOCK, Switzerland/WASHINGTON, June 23 (Reuters) - The United States waived sanctions on Iran for 60 days from Monday after the first talks under a nascent peace deal, with U.S. President Donald Trump saying he will "do what I have to do" if Iran does not stick to its side of the agreement.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance said talks with Iranian officials in Switzerland had laid a good foundation for a final peace deal, although Iran denied that it had begun discussions of its nuclearprogram.