War returns to Iran with Israel, US strikes

PPP lawmaker and former foreign minister Hina Rabbani Khar has said she was proud of Pakistan’s role at “the centre of this moment of transformation” after Iranian FM Abbas Araghchi lauded “tireless mediation” by Islamabad and Doha after hours-long talks in Burgenstock.

Resharing Araghchi’s post on social media platform X, she has said, “May this herald a peaceful co existence. An acceptance of geography and collective security and prosperity. And if I may add a correction of historical mistakes on all sides. Proud that Pakistan is at the centre of this moment of transformation.”

Technical talks between Iran and the United States on mechanisms to implement their memorandum of understanding and forming related technical working groups will begin in Switzerland today, Reuters reports, citing ISNA.

Iran’s delegation is headed by Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi and includes political, economic and legal experts.

The talks are also being attended by representatives of mediator countries Pakistan and Qatar, while Iran’s main negotiating team headed by Mohammad Baqer Ghalibaf has returned to Tehran.

Following a first round of talks in Switzerland between Tehran and Washington towards ending the Middle East war, Bern has said that conditions are set for technical discussions to follow immediately, AFP reports.

“The Swiss facilitator welcomes the constructive progress made during the intensive diplomatic talks that continued throughout the night of 21-22 June at the Burgenstock between the mediators, Iran and the United States,” the Swiss foreign ministry has said in a statement, adding that the roadmap agreed “creates the conditions for the immediate resumption of new technical discussions”.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun has discussed efforts to maintain a ceasefire and halt Israeli military escalation during a phone call with US Vice President JD Vance, Reuters reports, citing the Lebanese presidency.

White House envoy Jared Kushner and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani also took part in the call between Aoun and Vance, the presidency said.

Iran’s negotiating team has departed Switzerland for Tehran after 18 hours of “intensive, high-level diplomatic consultations and strategic negotiations”, Iran’s government said in a post on X.

The delegation was led by Iran’s Parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.

European shares are muted at the open as investors assess the latest round of US-Iran negotiations for signs of progress toward resuming shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical artery for global oil trade, according to Reuters.

Brent Crude prices have declined 1.6 per cent, and are trading below $80 per barrel after mediators Qatar and Pakistan have said that Washington and Tehran had agreed on a roadmap for a final deal and measures to safeguard shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

Ebrahim Azizi, head of the Iranian parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, has issued a warning over the Strait of Hormuz during the US-Iran talks, Al Jazeera reports.

“You make threats; we take action. The Strait of Hormuz is neither your personal casino nor the backyard of modern-day pirates, these are Iranian sovereign waters, and the ultimate decision rests with the noble people of Iran and its brave armed forces,” he said on X.

Four liquefied natural gas tankers controlled by Qatar were heading into the Strait of Hormuz, despite a fall in ship traffic after Iran announced that it had again closed the waterway over the weekend, shipping data showed, according to Reuters.

The tankers — Wadi Al Sail, Mekaines, Al Sadd and Mesaimeer — were entering the strait via the Iranian route for the first time since the US-Israeli war with Iran started, shiptracking data from analytics firm Kpler showed.

QatarEnergy, whose LNG exports have been heavily curbed since the war began on February 28, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Marshall Islands-flagged dry bulk vessel Summit Success also entered the Gulf, LSEG data showed.

Esmail Gerami Moghaddam, chairman of Iran’s National Trust Party, says reformists in the country were firmly behind Tehran’s negotiating team, despite reservations about the US, Al Jazeera reports.

“We all know that the Americans cannot be trusted,” Gerami Moghaddam told the Iranian Students’ News Agency (ISNA).

“We all know that during past negotiations, they dishonestly and with undemocratic methods, and even under the guise of negotiations, harmed our Iran. All people are aware of these issues, but the regime has decided to reach an understanding at some point,” he said.

Iran has ramped up the amount of crude oil it is openly sending through the Strait of Hormuz to the highest level since the war began, as shipping activity in the region picks up while Tehran and Washington work toward a lasting peace deal, Bloomberg reports.

Around 6 million barrels of Iranian crude are onboard three US-sanctioned supertankers — Elva, Virgo, and Vigor — that have entered the chokepoint, according to ship-tracking data.

The head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’s Quds Force has warned Israel to leave southern Lebanon or face a repeat of its unconditional withdrawal from the country in 2000, Al Jazeera reports.

Esmail Qaani said in a post on social media that if Israel persisted in its “aggression and occupation”, it would be kicked out in “humiliation and defeat”, according to state-run Press TV.

“If you do not withdraw from southern Lebanon on your own feet, the epic of the year 2000 will be repeated once again, the same year you fled this land in disgrace,” Qaani said. “The choice is yours.”

AirAsia X CEO Bo Lingam says the Malaysian budget carrier has cut fares by 5 percent since June 15, and will continue adjusting its pricing week by week as jet fuel costs fall, Al Jazeera reports.

Lingam said the signing of the US-Iran memorandum of understanding had brought welcome relief to the aviation industry, with fuel prices retreating sharply from their March highs.

“The industry has been really affected by the rise in fuel prices. Hopefully, everything in the Middle East stays as it is today,” he told reporters.

Kuwait Petroleum Corp (KPC) has issued a tender to sell spot naphtha cargoes for July loading from its ports, marking its first such offer since the onset of the US-Iran conflict, according to trade sources and a document reviewed by Reuters.

The state-owned oil firm is offering either 55,000 metric tons (495,000 barrels) or 80,000 tons of the petrochemical feedstock, with loading scheduled for July 5-6 at any Kuwaiti port, the document showed.

The tender closes on June 22 with same-day validity.

The refiner’s last such naphtha tender was for February shipments in January, two of the sources said.

Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has said that his government will reduce the prices of subsidised diesel from next month onwards, citing progress made in negotiations to end the war on Iran, AFP reports.

“I announced the targeted subsidised diesel, not to increase but to decrease the price of diesel even though the situation is uncertain,” Anwar said on Sunday, according to Malaysia’s Star Newspaper.

With the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the US and Iran, an interim deal has been agreed. In what will be a two-step peace process the first phase freezes the war by extending the ceasefire for another 60 days. It commits Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz and the US to end its blockade. That process is already underway. But the hard part lies ahead as the second phase has to address the nuclear file and other thorny issues. If reaching a preliminary agreement proved so difficult, negotiating a comprehensive settlement will be tougher, especially with Israel’s malign presence looming in the background.

After four months of war, both sides wanted an exit ramp from the fighting. President Donald Trump seemed to want it more. Domestic political and economic pressure mounted on him, especially the fear that higher oil prices and inflation would hit American consumers and damage the US economy. This, as mid-term Congressional elections loomed with an unpopular war and the Republican party increasingly divided.

Moreover, continuing the conflict did not seem to bring Trump closer to any of his ever-changing objectives. If regime change was a core objective, the war failed to achieve that. More bombs would not have secured that outcome or his other stated aims. Around 40 times in 90 days Trump claimed “a deal is imminent”. This reflected his desperation for one as well as the constant effort to calm markets and drive down oil prices. The economic consequences of the Strait of Hormuz’s prolonged closure had begun to weigh heavily on Washington.

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Oil prices fell on optimism over US-Iran peace talks, with mediators flagging a “roadmap” to a final agreement, AFP reports.

Both main oil contracts fell in early trade, while most stock markets advanced.

“Following the positive response last week to reports of a US-Iran ceasefire, markets are likely to open with a cautious tone to start the new week as it remains clear that the situation in the Middle East remains fragile,” said National Australia Bank’s Skye Masters.

Two vessels operated by South Korea passed through the Strait of Hormuz after the US and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding on a ceasefire agreement last week, media reports said, according to Reuters.

Iran’s foreign minister has posted an image juxtaposing schoolgirls killed in a US-Israeli strike on Iran with imagery from the World Cup.

“From the football pitch to the negotiating table to the battlefield, every step we take as Iranians is part of a larger struggle: defending the honor and dignity of our dear people,” Araghchi wrote.

His post came as mediators hailed progress in the US-Iran talks in Switzerland and as Iran drew in their World Cup match against Belgium.

The United States expects talks with Iran to continue through the night in Switzerland, a US diplomat told reporters in Burgenstock, where the local time currently is 2:10am.

The United States expects talks with Iran to continue through the night, a US diplomat has told reporters in Burgenstock, where the local time currently is 2:20am.

A US diplomat at the Swiss venue told reporters the Iranian delegation was involved in “robust discussions on all elements of the nuclear deal”, and gave clarifications on Iran’s messaging “on the Strait of Hormuz and building deconfliction mechanisms to ensure the Strait will remain fully open”, reports AFP.

CNN reported from the official’s conversation with the media that US Vice President JD Vance and the US delegation had been “engaged in constant meetings and negotiations”. CNN also quoted him as saying that the discussion also included “enforcing the ceasefire in southern Lebanon”.

“The official said there have been robust discussions on ‘all elements of the nuclear deal’ as they work toward building a starting point for technical talks,” CNN reported.