Iran can only sell oil if they keep to the terms of the deal, as US official told Reuters. It includes the free flow of navigation in the strait of Hormuz and not obtaining an nuclear weapon.<\/p>\n
Such a move is likely to be controversial with many politicians and lawmakers opposed to offering Iran financial relief.<\/p>\n
It comes as oil prices sunk again on Tuesday, pulling back to $80 per barrel for the first time since early March, while the US stock market drifts near its all-time high.<\/p>\n
Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a012.38 EDT<\/p>\n Key events<\/p>\n Reuters has a rundown on the toll that these past 15 weeks have had on Lebanon. The country was pulled into the conflict on 2 March, when the Iran-backed Hezbollah fired on Israel in support of Tehran, triggering weeks of airstrikes and an Israeli ground campaign.<\/p>\n Casualties<\/p>\n At least 3,826 people were killed and 11,851 wounded in Lebanon, according to the country\u2019s health ministry<\/a>.<\/p>\n The ministry\u2019s figures do not distinguish between civilians and \u2060combatants, but the death toll includes 247 children, 363 women and 133 healthcare workers, according to Reuters.<\/p>\n At least \u200b28 Israeli soldiers were killed in this latest round of fighting, according \u200cto a Reuters tally of Israeli \u200cmilitary announcements, while four civilians have been killed in Hezbollah attacks.<\/p>\n Destruction<\/p>\n More than 68,000 \u200chousing units across the country have been damaged or destroyed, according to the latest figures from Lebanon\u2019s National Council for Scientific Research, which cover the period from 2 March to 17 May.<\/p>\n More than 8,000 of those destroyed units were in Beirut and its southern suburbs, while nearly 30,000 were in the three southernmost districts of Lebanon.<\/p>\n Beirut and its southern suburbs is thought to ahve sustained at least $365m in damages, according to a report published by the United Nations Development Programme.<\/p>\n Displacement<\/p>\n More than 1.2 million people have been displaced by Israeli airstrikes and evacuation warnings, according to Lebanese authorities. Hundreds of thousands had fled Beirut\u2019s southern suburbs, which Israel\u2019s military ordered entirely \u200bevacuated for the first time during this war.<\/p>\n Economic Impact<\/p>\n Lebanon\u2019s economy could contract by at least 7% this year because of the war, finance minister Yassine Jaber told Reuters in May.<\/p>\n The 2024 war, which cost Lebanon at least $8.5 billion in physical damage and economic losses, led to Lebanon\u2019s real GDP contracting by 7.1%, the World Bank said, leading to a cumulative GDP decline of nearly 40% since 2019.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Report: Two months of talks for final settlement to begin immediately after deal signing<\/p>\n Talks on a final settlement between the US and Iran<\/a> will begin immediately after the deal signing ceremony in Switzerland on Friday, AFP reports.<\/p>\n Negotiations will continue for a 60-day window after the ceremony, officials told AFP.<\/p>\n \u201cLikely on Friday… a new round of negotiations between Iran and the United States to reach a final agreement will begin,\u201d Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said. \u201cIn the final agreement, decisions will be made on the nuclear issues and the lifting of sanctions.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a015.52 EDT<\/p>\n Pope Leo on Tuesday praised the interim deal between the US and Iran<\/a> to end the war in the Middle East, saying \u201cthanks be to God\u201d that the two powers are set to formalise their accord on Friday.<\/p>\n Leo said: \u201cThere will still be several points to settle, but it is always better to do so through dialogue, through negotiations, and not by returning to war.<\/p>\n \u201cI hope that it truly is a solution to the war, that the war really is over, and that we can move forward.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a> It took more than a day after news of Donald Trump\u2019s deal with Iran went public for Benjamin Netanyahu<\/a> to speak out.<\/p>\n When he finally appeared<\/a> at a press conference on Monday evening, the Israeli prime minister skirted a cornerstone of his past public appearances: his excellent relationship with the US president.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are cases in which President Trump and I do not see eye to eye,\u201d he said when asked about that. \u201cI am responsible for Israel\u2019s security interests, and it needs to be done wisely.\u201d<\/p>\n As to the deal, he told its many critics not to pass judgement yet: \u201cWe do not know what the agreement will be.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Iran\u2019s Top Joint Military Command, \u200bKhatam al-Anbiya Central \u200cHeadquarters, said in a statement that Israel<\/a> should expect a hard response from the Iranian armed forces if it did not stop its attacks on southern Lebanon, days after Tehran and Washington announced a MoU to end the regional war.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Here are some images coming out of Lebanon today:<\/p>\n Residents who returned to their village use an excavator to search for missing people under the rubble of a destroyed building in the village of Touline in southern Lebanon on 16 June 2026. Photograph: Wael Hamzeh\/EPAA woman and her daughter wait next to their luggage to return to their village in Abbassieh in southern Lebanon on 16 June 2026. Photograph: Wael Hamzeh\/EPADisplaced Lebanese people return to the Abbasiyeh town of Tyre in southern Lebanon 16 June 2026. Photograph: Anadolu\/Getty ImagesDalal Safieddine, 54, inspects her damaged shop along the main street of the village of Deir Qanoun al-Nahr in southern Lebanon on on 16 June 2026. Photograph: Mahmoud Zayyat\/AFP\/Getty ImagesShare<\/a>‘Washington must prove its commitment’ by ending war in Lebanon, Iranian official says<\/p>\n Ebrahim Azizi, the head of the Iranian parliament\u2019s national security commission, posted on X<\/a> on Tuesday that the US must uphold every clause of the memorandum of understanding (MOU) between Iran and US, particularly when it comes to ending the war in Lebanon.<\/p>\n \u201cIranian resilience forced a strategic pivot: the US came to the table on Iran\u2019s terms,\u201d Azizi wrote. \u201cNow, Washington must prove its commitment by ending the war against Lebanon and upholding every clause of the MOU.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAny breach will be met with a decisive, crushing response.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Scepticism in Iran as peace deal nears In the rural town of Sirik, in southern Iran, temperatures over the past week have climbed to 45C (113F), and residents were still queueing to fill buckets of water days after US strikes reportedly damaged two drinking water facilities<\/a> serving nearby villages.<\/p>\n Amid the water shortages and the looming fear of war came news of a possible deal between Washington and Tehran. But for those struggling to pick up the pieces in the aftermath, the announcement brought little relief.<\/p>\n \u201cI fear the uncertainty surrounding [the peace deal],\u201d said Nahid*, a mother in Sirik, who described how villagers were queueing for water in the punishing heat, worried the water shortages could last far longer. Although the water supply was restored after 12 hours, the amount reaching households remained nowhere near enough for drinking and daily chores.<\/p>\n \u201cMy four-year-old woke up crying from dehydration and pain between her legs caused by chafing and the lack of water for basic hygiene,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a013.43 EDT<\/p>\n Donald Trump appeared to acknowledge today that Israel has been killing many civilians in its attacks in Lebanon, while claiming to only target Hezbollah.<\/p>\n Here is video of his remarks:<\/p>\n A US-Iran deal aimed at ending the Middle East war will be signed at Switzerland\u2019s mountainside Burgenstock resort on Friday, the Swiss foreign ministry confirmed to AFP. The site, located near Lucerne in central Switzerland, is difficult to access and therefore easily secured. It \u201cwas proposed by the Pakistani and Qatari mediators, as well as by the US and Iran\u201d, Switzerland\u2019s foreign ministry said.<\/p>\n Trump said that he would send the deal with Iran<\/a> to the US Congress for a review. \u201cI like the idea, send it to Congress please,\u201d he said at the start of a meeting with the UAE president Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan on the sidelines of the G7 summit. \u201cI mean who wouldn\u2019t approve it.\u201d<\/p>\n Speaking at the G7, US president Donald Trump<\/a> has said the strait of Hormuz will be open by Friday and that the full text of the peace deal will be released in a \u201cformal setting\u201d. Trump also said he expects the \u201csecond stage\u201d of the deal \u201cto go quickly\u201d.<\/p>\n The US will allow Iran<\/a> to immediately start selling oil and fuel again as part of the deal to end the war, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing sources familiar with the matter. Iran can only sell oil if they keep to the terms of the deal, as US official told Reuters. It includes the free flow of navigation in the strait of Hormuz and not obtaining an nuclear weapon.<\/p>\n An Iranian deputy foreign minister on Tuesday said the two-month US naval blockade on Iranian ports had been lifted ahead of the planned formal signing of a deal ending the war. \u201cThe lifting of the blockade was something we had emphasised from the outset. It has now begun, and the blockade has been lifted prior to the formal signing\u201d scheduled for Friday, said Iranian deputy foreign minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi, according to the government\u2019s website.<\/p>\n John Thune, the US Senate majority leader, has reportedly<\/a> asked the Trump administration for the text of the MOU with Iran. However, he says he has had no response so far, Punchbowl News\u2019s Andrew Desiderio.<\/p>\n China\u2019s top diplomat told his Pakistani counterpart on Tuesday that the next phase of negotiations between the United States and Iran<\/a> \u2013 which Pakistan has helped mediate \u2013 will be \u201cmore difficult\u201d. In a phone conversation ahead of the planned signing on Friday of a US-Iran memorandum of understanding to end their war, Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi told Pakistan\u2019s Ishaq Dar that \u201cit is foreseeable that, compared with the first stage, the second stage of negotiations will be more difficult\u201d.<\/p>\n Hezbollah believes Iran will not sign a nuclear \u2060deal with \u2060Washington \u200bunless Israel<\/a> pulls its troops from southern \u2060Lebanon and told Reuters it understands that Tehran will \u2060push for Israel\u2019s withdrawal \u200bin \u200cits next \u200cphase of talks with Washington. Hezbollah\u2019s media \u200coffice said such a withdrawal would be the result of, and not a precondition for, the next \u200cset of talks between Iran<\/a> and the US, \u200bset to begin after the two formally sign their memorandum of understanding this \u2060coming Friday.<\/p>\n Israeli drone \u2060strikes targeted three vehicles in southern \u2060Lebanon \u2060on Tuesday, \u200bkilling at least four people \u2060and wounding others, Lebanon\u2019s National News \u2060Agency reported. Two people were \u200bkilled \u200cin a \u200cdouble-tap strike, with \u200ca drone hitting a car in the village of Mayfadoun followed by a \u200csecond strike after people had gathered at \u200bthe scene.<\/p>\n Qatar, a key mediator between the US and Iran<\/a>, said it believed the framework peace agreement could deliver security to the Middle East. \u201cWe are cautiously optimistic that the signing of the memorandum of understanding will lead to the next phase of regional security through the talks that will take place on the nuclear programme and on other issues,\u201d foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al Ansari told reporters in Doha, as he praised Pakistan\u2019s mediation efforts.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Hezbollah believes Iran will not sign a nuclear \u2060deal with \u2060Washington \u200bunless Israel<\/a> pulls its troops from southern \u2060Lebanon and told Reuters it understands that Tehran will \u2060push for Israel\u2019s withdrawal \u200bin \u200cits next \u200cphase of talks with Washington.<\/p>\n Hezbollah\u2019s media \u200coffice said such a withdrawal would be the result of, and not a precondition for, the next \u200cset of talks between Iran<\/a> and the US, \u200bset to begin after the two formally sign their memorandum of understanding this \u2060coming Friday.<\/p>\n The media office said \u200bthe \u200bgroup has \u200breceived Iranian assurances that any \u200bIsraeli \u200cbreach of \u200bthe \u200bLebanon ceasefire would affect its upcoming negotiations with the US.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>US to allow Iran to immediately start selling oil and fuel again<\/p>\n The US will allow Iran<\/a> to immediately start selling oil and fuel again as part of the deal to end the war, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing sources familiar with the matter.<\/p>\n Iran can only sell oil if they keep to the terms of the deal, as US official told Reuters. It includes the free flow of navigation in the strait of Hormuz and not obtaining an nuclear weapon.<\/p>\n Such a move is likely to be controversial with many politicians and lawmakers opposed to offering Iran financial relief.<\/p>\n It comes as oil prices sunk again on Tuesday, pulling back to $80 per barrel for the first time since early March, while the US stock market drifts near its all-time high.<\/p>\n![\"Andrew](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Andrew_Roth,_L.png\")
Andrew Roth<\/p>\n![\"Deepa](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Deepa_Parent.png\")
Deepa Parent<\/p>\n![\"Trump](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/5542.jpg\")
Trump says Syria would do a ‘better job’ of ‘taking care of Hezbollah’ than Israel \u2013\u00a0videoShare<\/a>The day so far<\/p>\n