War returns to Iran with Israel, US strikes

Providing details of yesterday’s phone call between Deputy PM Ishaq Dar and Iran’s FM Abbas Araghchi, Tasnim reports that the Iranian top diplomat “highlighted the United States’ commitment and responsibility to end the war on all fronts, including Lebanon”.

He stressed that any violation of the obligations outlined in the memorandum would be attributed to the US and warned of the consequences of such action.

Araghchi also expressed appreciation for Pakistan’s efforts, initiatives and comprehensive endeavours in the negotiation process and reaching the US-Iran MoU.

Iraq’s oil ministry is working to restore production to the level within two months, following the sharp decline caused by the US-Israeli war on Iran, Al Jazeera quotes the Iraqi News Agency (INA) as reporting, which cited spokesman Salim Farhoud.

Farhoud said there is no fixed timeline for exports to return to previous levels, citing differences in reservoir conditions and production capacity across fields. He noted that operating companies had begun restoration work.

“It is possible that we will return within one to two months to the previous production levels, which exceed three million barrels per day from the southern fields,” said Farhoud.

Iraqi oil production fell by approximately 60 per cent due to the war, dropping to 1.3 million barrels per day from 3.3 million barrels before the war began.

Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner is also expected to join US envoy Steve Witkoff in Switzerland for the US-Iran talks, CNN reports, citing a US official.

Axios said he was already there.

The latest advisory from the UK Maritime Trade Operations Centre has maintained the threat level in the Strait of Hormuz as “moderate” — down from the “substantial” threat it warned of two days ago, Al Jazeera reports.

The advisory said the southern route through the key Gulf waterway, which runs close to Oman, is open “day or night”.

“However, mariners should be advised of the existence of mines and expect naval presence as clearance operations continue,” it added.

The advisory also “strongly” advised ships to use the Naval Cooperation and Guidance for Shipping, a system developed by Nato that the alliance describes as an “interface between military operations and merchant shipping”.

At least five people were killed in an Israeli air strike on the southern Lebanese town of Arabsalim on Saturday morning, Lebanon’s state news agency NNA reports, despite a ceasefire agreed between Israel and Hezbollah.

According to Reuters, NNA said Israeli warplanes and drones carried out a series of strikes across the Nabatieh area overnight and into the morning, destroying residential buildings and houses, while Israeli artillery shelled Nabatieh and its outskirts before dawn.

Iran’s treatment at the World Cup in North America is a “dark point” in the history of the competition, a leading Iranian football official says, according to AFP.

Hedayat Mombeyni, the secretary general of the Iranian football federation, was speaking to reporters the day after his organisation said it would lodge a complaint with FIFA, claiming the team was being subjected to travel restrictions that were jeopardising its performance.

“This is a major international tournament. This sort of breaking of our rules and our agreements, in my opinion, calls football itself into question,” Mombeyni told reporters at the team’s training base in Tijuana, Mexico.

“I believe this will mark a dark point in the World Cup’s recent history,” Mombeyni added.

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has described Israel’s shelling of Nabatieh in southern Lebanon as “relentless” and “devastating”.

“What our teams are describing resembles a death trap,” the group said in a social media post, noting that people have been “caught under heavy shelling”.

“Civilians and first responders must be protected, and unhindered access for rescue teams is urgently needed,” MSF added.

UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper has denounced remarks by Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who said “all of Lebanon must burn” after four Israeli soldiers were killed in a Hezbollah attack in southern Lebanon, AlJazeera reports.

“Calling for ‘all of Lebanon to burn’ is a horrendous and abhorrent statement from an Israeli Minister who has rightly been sanctioned by the UK Government,” Cooper wrote on X.

White House envoy Steve Witkoff is on his way to Switzerland, where the first round of talks with Iran on a potential nuclear deal is expected to take place, Axios reported, citing a US official.

The US official said Trump’s envoy Jared Kushner is already in Switzerland, the report said.

Lebanon’s Prime Minister Nawaf Salam says his government is committed to reform and will not compromise “on any part of the homeland, and not to be lenient in restricting weapons to the legitimate forces alone”, Al Jazeera reports.

Speaking at a graduation ceremony for Notre Dame University students, he says, “We want a state in which the citizen feels that his future is not dependent on his political and sectarian affiliation, and which has the power to decide on matters of war and peace.”

Israel’s ambassador to the United States says his country will commit to an “immediate ceasefire” in Lebanon if Hezbollah respects it, hours after a US official said the two parties had agreed to a new truce, AFP reports.

“Israel remains firmly committed to an immediate ceasefire,” Yechiel Leiter has posted on X. “If Hezbollah honours the agreement and ceases its hostilities, they will be met with quiet,” he adds.

Iraq expects to return oil production from its southern fields to levels exceeding three million barrels per day within one to two months, Reuters reports citing Iraq’s state news agency, which cited an oil ministry spokesperson.

Iraq normally exports a total of around 3.6 million barrels of oil per day (bpd) and before the Iran war, around 3.4m bpd flowed through its southern Basra terminals.

“There was no fixed timetable for restoring exports to previous levels because production capacity and reservoir conditions vary from one field to another,” Iraqi oil ministry spokesperson Saleem al-Rikabi says.

He adds that the ministry is currently prioritising fields producing associated gas, liquefied gas and condensates, adding that restoring export capacity and tanker activity will progress alongside production recovery.

The next round of Lebanese-Israeli talks will be held from June 23-25 in Washington, the US State Department says following a call between Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, according to Reuters.

Rubio has also “reiterated the need to disarm” Hezbollah and reaffirmed US “support for the Government of Lebanon’s efforts to create a fully sovereign Lebanese state that is at peace with all its neighbours,” State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott says in a statement.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun has told US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a phone call that a comprehensive ceasefire must be secured in order for talks with Israel to progress, AFP reports.

The Lebanese presidency says Aoun thanked Rubio for US support but stressed “the need for Israeli attacks on Lebanese territory to cease through the achievement of a comprehensive ceasefire, which Lebanon considers a fundamental basis for advancing the Lebanese-US-Israeli negotiations scheduled to take place in Washington next week”.

US President Trump tells NBC News in a phone interview that he spoke with Israel on Friday and asked them to agree to a ceasefire with Hezbollah, according to Reuters.

“You just gotta calm down sometimes and use your head,” Trump is quoted as saying on X by an NBC reporter, who adds that Trump declined to specify whether he spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu directly.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh tells Al Jazeera the US must ensure that Israel abides by the terms of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) reached between Washington and Tehran.

He says Tehran is prepared to continue the diplomatic process, adding, “We are ready to move forward step by step if the other party demonstrates the same seriousness.”

Khatibzadeh adds that Iran is seeking “peace on all fronts, including Gaza”, and explained that Lebanon had been included in the MoU because of its direct connection to the conflict.

“There will be no peace or stability in Lebanon and the region without ending the occupation and Israel’s commitment to international law,” he says.

On the Strait of Hormuz, Khatibzadeh adds that Iran will continue to provide navigation services in coordination with Oman and in accordance with international law.

He says Tehran will not impose passage fees during the 60-day period outlined by the agreement, but that a new mechanism for managing the waterway will be introduced afterwards and presented to regional countries.

Khatibzadeh also says that any future agreement must include the release of all frozen Iranian funds.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar will attend the fourth meeting of the R-4 group of countries in Cairo on June 21 at the invitation of his Egyptian counterpart, Dr Badr Abdelatty, according to a statement issued by the Foreign Office (FO).

“At the invitation of Egyptian Foreign Minister Dr Badr Abdelatty, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar will attend the 4th Meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the R-4 Group of Countries, to be held in Cairo, Egypt, on 21 June 2026,” said the statement.

The meeting would bring together the foreign ministers of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Turkiye, and Pakistan to “discuss regional developments and exchange views on issues related to peace, security, and stability”.

“Building on the outcomes of previous R-4 meetings, the ministers will also discuss ways to further strengthen cooperation in areas of shared interest,” added the statement.

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