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Donald Trump has confirmed that negotiations with Iran are “still ongoing” and that he expects to sign a peace deal in “two or three days”.
The US president claimed there were no more “sticking points” left in the talks, telling reporters: “We have a good chance of doing it, we’re very close to having a very, very good, strong, powerful deal.” He added that the Strait of Hormuz would be reopened as soon as they sign a ceasefire deal.
His statement comes after Iran and Israel agreed to halt their attacks after the two sides exchanged fire for the first time since the April truce, threatening to plunge the Middle East back into full-scale war.
When asked whether the US would back Israel if Benjamin Netanyahu reopened the conflict with Iran, Trump told Sky News: “I don’t think it’ll happen. It’s all working out very well. Iran is doing what they have to do.”
He said of Netanyahu: “If I tell him to do something, he does it.”
Trump also warned the Israeli prime minister that he might find himself fighting alone if he went back to war with Iran. “I said, ‘Bibi, you better be careful, or you will be on your own very soon,'” Trump said.
Full report: US Apache helicopter crashes near the Strait of Hormuz
As we reported earlier, a U.S. Apache helicopter has crashed near the Strait of Hormuz, hours after hostilities in the region escalated with Iran and Israel exchanging their first direct strikes in two months.
The helicopters, which cost around $35 million to $40 million, have been used by the U.S. military to police a blockade of Iranian ports near the strait, as part of its large military presence in the region.
Apache aircraft have been previously used to attack Iranian small boats – but the U.S. military has not said whether the helicopter was shot down by Iranian fire, experienced mechanical failure or encountered some other problem.
Read our full report here:
Alex Croft9 June 2026 10:05
Iran says World Cup ticket allocation has been pulled days before it starts
Iran’s football federation (FFIRI) has said that its ticket allocation for the World Cup has been pulled just days before football’s global showpiece kicks off.
The move has left supporters who had already made travel plans unable to attend their team’s matches.
“This is despite the fact that many Iranian football fans, relying on the officially announced process, had already made the necessary plans to attend the matches,” the FFIRI added in a statement.
Alex Croft9 June 2026 09:45
Watch: Indian crew rescued after US disables Iran-bound tanker in Gulf of Oman
A US fighter jet fired at a tanker in the Gulf of Oman to prevent it from violating the American blockade of Iran, sparking a fire and forcing the vessel’s Indian crew to evacuate.
The MT Marivex was sailing in international waters towards Iran when it was struck by an F/A-18 Super Hornet from the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, Centcom said. The attack caused a fire onboard, but all 24 Indian crew members of the Palau-flagged vessel were able to evacuate safely with help from the Omani authorities, Indian and US officials said on Monday.
The jet fired into the ship’s engineering and steering spaces to disable it after the crew failed to comply with directions from US forces, Centcom said. “Marivex is no longer sailing to Iran,” it added.
The unladen oil tanker reported a fire at around 1.30pm local time on Monday, with the crew requesting immediate evacuation.
The attack reportedly damaged the tanker’s lifeboats, leaving the crew unable to escape without help.
Indian crew rescued after US disables Iran-bound tanker in Gulf of Oman
Alex Croft9 June 2026 09:15
Indian crew rescued after US attacks Palau-flagged tanker
All 24 Indian crew members of a Palau-flagged tanker were rescued after it was attacked by the US Navy off the coast of Oman.
US troops attacked MT Marivex, which was blacklisted and sanctioned by the US treasury department, according to reports.
On three occasions, the vessel turned away after repeated warnings by the US Navy, India’s PTI news agency reported.
The vessel made another attempt to run past the blockade by using Omani territorial waters and switched off its signal devices to go undetected, the report found.
The Indian embassy in Oman thanked the local authorities for rescuing the Indian crew members.
Alex Croft9 June 2026 08:43
Bel Trew | When is a ceasefire no longer a ceasefire?When is a ceasefire no longer a ceasefire?
Alex Croft9 June 2026 08:20
Editorial | Danger has not passed in the Middle East
The latest threat of a new Middle East conflagration seems to have been averted in the final minutes of the eleventh hour.
After launching strikes on northern Israel that broke a six-week-long ceasefire, Iran announced that it was halting what it had said would be a week-long operation. Within the hour, Israel had announced that it would be halting its retaliatory strikes on Iran, at Donald Trump’s request.
It would be premature in the extreme, however, to believe that the danger has passed. Iran’s strikes on northern Israel, and Israel’s response, which included targeting Tehran, represented not just a resumption of the conflict that began with the US-Israel attack on Iran some 100 days ago, but a risk that the war would spread beyond those countries, including the Gulf states, already affected.
With the Iran-backed Houthis of Yemen renewing their threat to target ships linked to Israel traversing the Red Sea and Iran continuing to block the Strait of Hormuz, the spectre was raised of all north-south traffic in the whole region being brought to a halt. All too predictably, oil prices rose. Of the many perilous points in the conflict over the past five months, this was the most perilous to date.
Alex Croft9 June 2026 07:59
Israel issues evacuation order for Lebanon’s Tyre, including Christian quarter
We’re just hearing news that the Israeli military has issued an evacuation order for the Lebanese city of Tyre.
The evacuation order will include the city’s Christian quarter, the military said.
Previous evacuation orders had excluded the Christian quarter, but the military said Hezbollah militants were operating there, without providing evidence. It had warned residents that the area could be subject to evacuation orders if Hezbollah remained present.
The ancient city is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, and is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
It is the fifth largest in Lebanon, and in peace time has had a population of around 200,000.
Alex Croft9 June 2026 07:41
Iran’s World Cup players wear #168 lapel pins as they arrive in Mexico
Iran’s World Cup team arrived in Mexico this weekend wearing lapel pins that paid tribute to the victims of a deadly missile strike on an elementary school at the start of the war with the US and Israel.
The gold-colored pins, worn by players on their jackets upon arrival in Tijuana, Mexico, bore the number “168.”
The number refers to the victims, predominantly children, who were killed in a February 28 strike on a school in Minab, southern Iran, an attack widely attributed to the US.
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar9 June 2026 07:15
China’s exports jump 19.4% in May despite Iran war
China’s exports picked up pace in May, rising 19.4 per cent from a year earlier, its customs agency said today, as technology-related shipments remained robust despite impacts from the Iran war.
The stronger-than-expected performance was an improvement from April’s 14.1 per cent year-on-year increase.
Imports in May jumped 27.4 per cent, also at a faster pace compared with April’s 25.3 per cent year-on-year expansion.
Exports to the US in May surged more than 35 per cent from the year before, after an 11 per cent increase in April.
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar9 June 2026 07:00
Trump told Netanyahu of need for ‘a lot of common sense’
Donald Trump said Israel had already launched retaliatory strikes against Iran before his call for restraint.
The US president insisted if he tells the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to do something “he does it”, after he appeared to ignore Trump’s demand to hold back from responding militarily.
In a phone interview with the BBC, Trump said he stressed the need “to use a lot of common sense” when he spoke to the Israeli leader, amid ongoing negotiations aimed at securing an end to hostilities.
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar9 June 2026 06:46