US Iran deal highlights: CENTCOM confirms lifting Iran naval blockade; Trump says he expects Lebanon truce

US Iran deal LIVE updates: The US-Iran peace deal obliges Washington and its allies to ensure financing of a $300 billion fund for Tehran. President Donald Trump said Iran will need the money after the damaged caused to their economy, CNN reported.

US vice president JD Vance said the provision requires Gulf countries to invest in Iran. However, it remains unclear which Gulf states would participate, as none have publicly committed to it.

US Iran deal LIVE updates: Iran said on Thursday that its missile programme would not be part of future negotiations with the United States, after the two sides agreed a framework deal for ending their war.

US President Donald Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian signed a memorandum of understanding early Thursday, ending a regional war that erupted on February 28 with US-Israeli strikes.

The agreement lays the groundwork for detailed negotiations on Iran's nuclear programme and sanctions relief for Tehran.

There is no mention in the deal of Iran's missile programme, a longstanding concern for Washington and its ally Israel.

"Our missiles do not like at all to be talked about by anyone," foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said in an interview with Iranian state television.

"Iranian missiles are only for firing, not for negotiations. Iran's defence capability will not be discussed in any way, in any process or with any party."

via AFP

US Iran deal LIVE updates: The signing of the interim peace deal between the US and Iran on Friday will also be attended by representatives of Pakistan and Qatar, the Swiss government said.

Switzerland will host the meeting of envoys from the four countries at the Bürgenstock hotel complex, a mountain resort overlooking Lake Lucerne. The US and Iran plan to sign a 14-point memorandum of understanding there to end hostilities that have impeded transport through the Strait of Hormuz.

To ensure security, Switzerland agreed to mobilize as many as 2,000 soldiers, the government said in a statement on Wednesday. Airspace restrictions will also be enforced.

The Bürgenstock offers organizers a venue that can be easily cordoned off for high-security guests. It was picked for that reason for a summit on Ukraine in 2024 that attracted heads of government from around the world.

via Bloomberg

US Iran deal LIVE updates: Oil prices fell 2% on Thursday to their lowest since the first trading day of the Iran war, as a U.S.-Iran interim deal to end the war, reopen the Strait of Hormuz and ease sanctions on Tehran boosted the global supply outlook.

Brent crude futures were down $1.59, or 2%, at $77.96 a barrel as of 0811 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate fell $1.83, or 2.38%, to $74.96 a barrel.

Brent sank to its lowest since March 2, which was the first day of trading after the initial U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran, while WTI was at its lowest since March 4.

"The sell-off extended as energy markets continued to aggressively price in a faster-than-expected return of Iranian barrels following the recent U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding," IG market analyst Tony Sycamore said in a note.

via Reuters

US Iran deal LIVE updates: Russia said it welcomes the Iran-US peace deal that ends months of conflict in the Middle East and an overall global instability.

US Iran deal LIVE updates: US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on Thursday harshly criticised some NATO members over defence spending and their stances on the Iran war as he announced a review of US military forces in Europe.

"It's a review that some countries will fail, and others will pass with flying colors," Hegseth told NATO defence ministers gathered for a meeting at the alliance's headquarters in Brussels.

via Reuters

US Iran deal LIVE updates: The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said Thursday that it was as ready to begin defining the "concrete steps" that will need to be taken to implement a US-Iran deal.

"Now it's for us to sit down with our American colleagues, our Iranian colleagues, and start formulating the concrete steps that will have to be to be taken," IAEA chief Rafael Grossi told reporters in Geneva.

via AFP

US Iran deal LIVE updates: The head of the International Energy Agency said on Thursday the interim agreement to end the U.S.-Iran war "made me and everyone happy" but the Strait of Hormuz must be reopened without conditions and negotiations must conclude in the next 60 days.

Speaking in Istanbul, Fatih Birol said several countries are reviewing their energy policies now that it is clear that Hormuz has been closed once and could potentially be closed again.

via Reuters

US Iran deal LIVE updates: Israel is "conducting stubborn negotiations" with the U.S. on the issue of continuing its deployment of troops in southern Lebanon, a senior Israeli official close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Reuters.

Israel has no intention of backing down on its positions, the official said.

via Reuters

US Iran deal LIVE updates: IAEA said that an agreement between the US and Iran is a good news. It also said that IAEA is ready to help formulate 'concrete steps' towards implementing US-Iran deal.

US Iran deal LIVE updates: Majority of Iranian petrochemical units back to production, industry group saysIran has restored about 89% of petrochemical units that were knocked offline during the war with Israel and the U.S., the head of the country's largest petrochemical holding group said on Thursday, according to the Iranian Student News Agency. Mohammad Shariatmadari, chief executive of Persian Gulf Petrochemical Industries Company, said disrupted facilities had returned to production following what he described as rapid reconstruction efforts, with some units operating above nominal capacity, while others had yet to reach full output. Iran introduced a ban on petrochemical exports in April to ensure domestic supply after its petrochemical sector production was disrupted by Israeli strikes hitting utilities companies that provide feedstock for petrochemical plants.

via Reuters

US Iran deal LIVE updates: US war secretary Pete Hegseth said that many NATO allies failed to support the US on Iran as he flagged ‘shameful denial for access, basing and overflight’.

US Iran deal LIVE updates: Here are top points on US-Iran peace deal-

• Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and US President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed an MoU to end months of war and pave way for negotiations to settle key issues.
• Mediator Pakistan and co-mediator Qatar will still host an official signing ceremony on Friday in Switzerland, Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif said.
• Following the signing of the interim deal, Sharif said that Iran would reopen the Strait of Hormuz and the US would lift the naval blockade on Iranian ports.
• Oil prices fell by more than $2 per barrel on Thursday after the interim deal finalisation, boosting the oil supply outlook.

US Iran deal LIVE updates: Germany is deploying two ships to the Red Sea in preparation for a possible military mission in the Strait of Hormuz, Germany's Defence minister Boris Pistorius said on Thursday.

"As we speak, our minesweeper Fulda and the supply ship Mosel are sailing through the Suez Canal towards the Red Sea," he told reporters as he arrived for a meeting with his NATO counterparts in Brussels.

Pistorius said approval would be needed from Iran and Oman before any participation in a minesweeping operation, and added any mission would also depend on the developments in further talks between Iran and the United States.

via Reuters

US Iran deal LIVE updates: China on Thursday welcomed the US and Iran move to sign an interim peace deal to end the war. “China welcomes the signing of the deal which has positive effect on easing the situation,” China's foreign ministry said, Reuters reported.

US Iran deal LIVE updates: China said on Thursday that it hopes for all parties involved in the Iran-US peace deal to fulfill their commitments.

US Iran deal LIVE updates: Following the Iran US interim peace deal, China on Thursday said it has worked for peace since the outbreak of the war.

US Iran deal LIVE updates: - Oil prices fell by more than $2 per barrel on Thursday after the U.S. and Iran signed an interim agreement that would end the Iran war, reopen the Strait of Hormuz and waive U.S. sanctions on Tehran's oil, boosting the oil supply outlook.

Brent crude futures were down $2.14, or 2.69%, at $77.41 a barrel as of 0616 GMT, and U.S. West Texas Intermediate fell $2.36, or 3.07%, to $74.43 a barrel.

Brent sank to its lowest since March 2, which was the first day of trading after the U.S. and Israel began attacking Iran, while WTI was at its lowest since March 4.

The benchmarks resumed their decline, reversing a jolt higher on Wednesday that followed comments from U.S. President Donald Trump saying he could resume his bombing campaign if Iran's leaders "don't behave".

"The sell-off extended as energy markets continued to aggressively price in a faster-than-expected return of Iranian barrels following the recent U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding," IG market analyst Tony Sycamore said in a note.

via Reuters

US Iran deal LIVE updates: Oil flows going through the Strait of Hormuz may recover to only about 70% of their pre-war level, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc., which highlighted regional producers leaning on alternative routes.

“This normalization in gulf exports to pre-war levels might be achieved with a 13-million-barrel-a-day increase in Hormuz flows from current levels,” analysts including Yulia Zhestkova Grigsby wrote in a June 17 note entitled “70% of Pre-War Hormuz Flows Might Become the New 100%.”

The expected pickup in shipments may be completed by the end of next month, with gulf production likely to recover by October, they said. Before the war, about 20 million barrels of oil and products used to flow through the strait every day, according to the International Energy Agency.

The global oil market is zeroed in on activity in the critical waterway — which links the Persian Gulf to global markets — after the US and Iran inked an interim deal to end their war and reopen Hormuz. During the conflict, crude shipments through the trade artery collapsed to a trickle as Tehran and Washington imposed a dual blockade, choking off almost all traffic. That initially supercharged crude prices, although they have since retreated.

via Bloomberg

US Iran deal LIVE updates: Estonia's Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur, speaking at a NATO meeting in Brussels, said on Thursday that European nations must take part in ensuring freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.

via Reuters

US Iran deal LIVE updates: The US-Iran peace deal has strained tries between the US and Israel after Iran pushed for the deal to include end of Israel war in Lebanon. “Why are you blowing up buildings?” Trump reportedly asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a recent phone call about Lebanon. “Stop blowing up buildings.” In another, he complained that a global downturn sparked by the war could tie him to Herbert Hoover and the Great Depression of the 1930s, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing sources.

US Iran deal LIVE updates: Initial talks between the United States and Iran are planned at the Buergenstock mountaintop resort in Switzerland on Friday, following the signing of a ceasefire agreement between Tehran and Washington, the Swiss government said on Thursday.

"As things stand, the plan is still for the U.S. and Iran, along with mediators Pakistan and Qatar and other involved countries, to meet tomorrow at Buergenstock for initial negotiations about implementing the agreement.

"No further information is currently available regarding the schedule and details of this meeting," the Swiss foreign ministry said in a statement.

via Reuters

US Iran deal LIVE updates: With the US and Iran signing the deal to end the conflict in West Asia, the focus has now shifted to the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, one of the key points of the memorandum.

The so-called memorandum of understanding is now in effect, a US official said. It was unclear if Iran had immediately begun taking steps to fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz, Bloomberg reported.

Under the draft of the MoU, the strait had to be rapidly reopened after the signing. The attention will be on shipping companies that had largely stopped sending their vessels through the strait because of blockades by both the US and Iran.

US Iran deal LIVE updates: Donald Trump said on Wednesday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could use a "softer touch" in the fight against Hezbollah militants in Lebanon, the U.S. president's latest public rebuke to his partner in the war on Iran.

Netanyahu and Trump have repeatedly clashed over Israel's refusal to constrain its pursuit of Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon, where a cessation of hostilities is a key Iranian demand under a limited interim agreement with the U.S.

"Netanyahu happens to be a good man, gets a little excited sometimes," Trump told reporters on Wednesday at the close of a G7 summit in France.

The Israeli leader helped convince Trump to go to war against Iran, according to U.S. and Israeli officials, and joined in attacks launched on February 28.

But Netanyahu has insisted Israel is not bound by any U.S.-Iran agreement in its fight against Hezbollah, though hostilities in Lebanon have abated somewhat since Trump sharply criticized him earlier this week.

"We have a little dispute over Lebanon. I say you can do a little softer touch, Bibi," Trump said, referring to Netanyahu by his nickname. "You don't have to knock down a building every time somebody walks into it that's from Hezbollah."

via Reuters

US Iran deal LIVE updates: Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem has called the deal a "great victory" and has urged Lebanon to seize the moment to expel Israeli forces.