War returns to Iran with Israel, US strikes

US President Donald Trump has suggested that Israel let Syria “take care of Hezbollah” in Lebanon, Anadolu reports.

Speaking to the reporters in France, Trump says, “The man that’s running Syria now is a person that I put there,” and is “very responsible for Syria”.

“Along with [Turkish] President [Recep Tayyip] Erdogan and some others, he’s doing an amazing job of pulling it together,” he adds “He’s not a Boy Scout, but he’s done an amazing job of pulling it together, and he is very good.”

Criticising Israel’s stance in Lebanon, Trump also says he suggested that Israel allow Syria to confront Hezbollah instead.

“I suggested to Israel to let Syria take care of Hezbollah because, to be honest with you, I think they’d do a better job of doing it,” he says.

“If Israel can’t do the job (against Hezbollah) without killing everyone else, then [Sharaa] will do the job. Syria will do the job,” he adds.

Despite a ceasefire barely a few days old, hostilities in southern Lebanon continue to erupt.

“In the Nabatieh axis, the Israeli army is, according to security sources, trying to occupy more areas,” Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr reports from the city. “Israeli drones haven’t left the skies … Israeli officials have made it clear they are not happy with the US-Iran deal that includes a ceasefire in Lebanon.”

Residents like Mohammed Nasser have returned only to check on their properties.

“This is a decades-old conflict with Israel … an enemy that can’t be trusted … and we can never feel safe,” he tells Al Jazeera.

“The Israeli army is trying to occupy positions that it once held during their occupation of southern Lebanon in the 1990s, but the resistance is preventing them from doing so,” resident Hussein Badreddine tells Al Jazeera.

Ebrahim Azizi, the head of the Iranian parliament’s National Security Committee, says that Washington has to earn Tehran’s trust by “faithfully implementing all the provisions of the memorandum of understanding”, including ending the war in Lebanon and ensuring the withdrawal of Israel from the country.

“Any breach of commitment or departure from the core framework of the agreement will prompt Iran’s armed forces, backed by the brave Iranian nation, to respond more firmly and forcefully than ever before,” he warns in a post on X.

“This is a message to the entire world: the era of greed and trampling on the rights of the Iranian people is over.”

Germany ⁠is prepared to participate in helping to preserve ⁠peace in the Middle East following ⁠an interim deal between Iran and the US to end ‌the war in the region, Al Jazeera reports quoting Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

“We have always said that we ⁠are ready to ⁠play our part. Indeed, we have already sent the ⁠first mine-clearing boats ⁠or ships to the ⁠region,” he says at the G7 summit.

Global oil prices have tumbled more than 5 per cent as speculation mounts that sanctions on Iranian crude could be eased as part of the deal to end the Middle East war, AFP reports.

Around 1650 GMT, the international benchmark Brent crude fell 5pc to $79 a barrel. The US benchmark, WTI crude, tumbled 5.9pc to $75.97 a barrel.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and his Omani counterpart, Badr bin Hamad Albusaidi, have affirmed their two countries’ commitment to uphold international law regarding navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, Al Jazeera reports citing the Oman News Agency.

As the US and Iran prepare to sign a memorandum of understanding later this week, “the two ministers renewed their countries’ commitment to the rules of international law regarding the safe and free passage of maritime navigation through the Strait of Hormuz”, the agency reports.

During the phone call, the two leaders have expressed “their hope that the upcoming phase will witness serious and diligent efforts from all parties to ensure a supportive and sustainable environment for an effective and constructive political and diplomatic path, thereby preserving the region’s security and stability”.

The son of the ousted shah of Iran has spoken out against any deal with Iran that leaves the Islamic government in place, as Washington prepares to sign an agreement with Tehran, AFP reports.

Speaking after meeting MPs during a visit to London, 65-year-old Reza Pahlavi says the international community should back opposition protesters rather than making peace with Iran.

“Dealing with this regime will fail and we will all face the consequences,” he declares in a social media post. “The regime’s 47-year war against the Iranian people continues. Just as it has never made peace with its own citizens, it will never truly make peace with the world.

“Any agreement that preserves this regime or its remnants will fail. The Iranian people will not accept it,” Pahlavi warns. “With or without international support, the people of Iran will overthrow this regime. Freedom will come to Iran.”

The US will allow Iran to immediately begin selling oil and fuel under the memorandum of understanding the two sides have reached to end the Middle East war, Reuters reports citing The Wall Street Journal, which cites people familiar with the agreement.

Lebanese state media says Israeli strikes killed at least four people in the Nabatieh area of the country’s south, despite an announcement that a US-Iran deal included the Israel-Hezbollah war, AFP reports.

The official National News Agency (NNA) says Israeli drone strikes targeted two vehicles in the town of Mayfadoun and another in nearby Shukeen, “leading to an initial toll of four dead” and others wounded.

While the violence has declined in Lebanon since the agreement between Washington and Tehran was announced, Israeli strikes on the south have now killed at least five people since Monday, according to NNA.

Israel must withdraw from “occupied areas” in Lebanon, Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf says in a call with his Lebanese counterpart, Nabih Berri, as Tehran and Washington plan to sign a peace deal on Friday to end the war, Reuters reports.

“The people of southern Lebanon must return to their homes”, Ghalibaf adds in a post on his Telegram channel.

Israel has launched three consecutive drone strikes targeting the Mayfadoun town square in Nabatieh district, Al Jazeera reports citing Lebanon’s National News Agency.

The Israeli army has also dropped a sound bomb in Haddatha, resulting in minor injuries to four people, it says.

Lebanese health authorities have revised the death toll from the ongoing Israel-Hezbollah conflict to 3,826 killed and 11,851 wounded since March 2, Al Jazeera reports.

Among the dead are hundreds of women and children, paramedics, and first-responders.

An Iranian deputy foreign minister says the two-month US naval blockade on Iranian ports has been lifted ahead of the planned formal signing of a deal ending the war, AFP reports.

“The 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” scheduled for Friday, says Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi, according to the Iranian government’s website.

An interim US-Iran agreement aimed at ending the war in the Middle East could be signed on Friday at the Buergenstock mountaintop resort in central Switzerland, Reuters reports citing a statement issued by the Swiss government.

The Swiss foreign ministry said in a statement that it had been in close contact with the US, Iran, Pakistan and Qatar regarding the possible signing of what it called a memorandum of understanding between Washington and Tehran.

“At this stage, the signing is scheduled for Friday, June 19, at Buergenstock in the canton of Nidwalden. The location was proposed by the Pakistani and Qatari mediators, as well as by the US and Iran,” the ministry said.

Former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert has told Irish public broadcaster RTE that the Us-Iran agreement may be seen as a “betrayal” in Israel, Al Jazeera reports.

“I think that maybe from the point of view of the original position of [Israeli PM] Netanyahu, it may be interpreted as a betrayal,” Olmert says.

He adds that the sitting prime minister would be unlikely to say so publicly because he’s “entirely, completely dependent on the relations and support” of Trump.

Olmert believes “the door is open” to an agreement between Israel and Lebanon, adding that Israel should withdraw from southern Lebanon as part of negotiations.

“We don’t need any territory in the south of Lebanon … We should pull out completely from the south of Lebanon and make all the necessary adjustments for a territorial agreement, and we should try to make peace,” he states.

Israeli warplanes have carried out attacks on several areas in southern Lebanon’s Nabatieh, district despite rising pressure from the US to stop its war on Lebanon as part of the agreement with Iran, Al Jazeera reports.

In addition to air raids, Israeli artillery has targeted the Ali al-Taher heights in the same district, Al Jazeera’s correspondents on the ground report.

No casualties have been immediately reported, nor the extent of any damage.

Hezbollah has received ⁠assurances ⁠from its ally Iran that it will demand ⁠a withdrawal of Israeli troops from Lebanon ⁠in its next phase of talks with the United States, Al Jazeera.

Hezbollah’s media ‌relations office tells Reuters that a pull-out will be the result of, and not a precondition for, continuing ⁠talks between Tehran ⁠and Washington following the signing of a memorandum of understanding ⁠between the two countries on ⁠Friday.

The Lebanese group says there will be “no nuclear deal between ‌Iran and the United States unless the ‌Israelis ‌withdraw” from Lebanon.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and Chinese Foreign Minister have welcomed the memorandum of understanding between the US and Iran, terming it “an important step towards promoting sustainable peace and stability in the region”, the Foreign Office (FO) says.

“Foreign Minister Wang Yi commended Pakistan’s proactive diplomatic outreach and robust mediation efforts, which helped create conducive conditions for sustained engagement between Iran and the United States,” the FO says on X.

“He appreciated Pakistan for making a vital contribution to advancing international peace and stability.”

The FO adds that Dar lauded China’s support of Pakistan facilitating the peace process, noting contributions such as Chinese President Xi Jinping’s Four-Point Proposal and the Pakistan-China Five-Point Initiative.

“Both leaders underscored the importance of implementing the understandings reached between the parties and maintaining continued engagement for the peaceful settlement of all outstanding issues,” the post adds.

“They noted the importance of opening … the Strait of Hormuz for the global economy, energy security and international trade.”

Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf will be present for the signing of an interim agreement to end the war with the US, Reuters reports citing the Tasnim news agency, which cited an Iranian deputy minister.

Majid Takht-Ravanchi says it remains unclear exactly where the signing will take place and in what format it will be conducted.

President Donald Trump says that the United States is now in a position to let Russian oil waivers lapse after reaching an agreement to end the Iran war, Reuters.

“Soon we’ll be able to do that, because the oil is now flowing,” he tells reporters during a meeting with United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan at the G7 summit in France.

US President Donald Trump says that he has a plan for Iran’s enriched uranium, adding that at an “appropriate time”, his country will retrieve and destroy it.

“It’s a very tough excavation, nobody else can do it but us, and probably China,” he tells reporters. “We’re in no rush, but we’ll get it, and when we get it, we’ll destroy it.”

Asked if destroying the uranium is part of the agreement with Tehran, Trump responds, “We’re not looking to take it, we’re looking to destroy it. We have plenty of it.”

When asked if he would present the US-Iran agreement before Congress, President Donald Trump has replied, “I never thought of it, but I would. I wouldn’t mind.”