War returns to Iran with Israel, US strikes

JD Vance has said that Iran has agreed to invite IAEA inspectors back into the country.

Delivering remarks in Switzerland’s Lucerne, he said, “What we’re most excited about as Americans, the Iranians have agreed to invite IAEA inspectors back into their country.

“That is a major milestone for the American people and the first step in permanently denuclearising or permanently ending a nuclear weapons programme in Iran,” he added.

JD Vance further said the US wanted to build a mechanism for keeping the Strait of Hormuz open and set up a “coordination mechanism so we could demine the Strait of Hormuz”.

Another objective was to set up a similar mechanism for “deconflcition for the regional ceasefire”, referring to peace in Lebanon.

“If Hezbollah fires at Israel, or if Israel responds, if there are other conflicts that arise in the region, we’re actually talking to each other and figuring out how to stop the shooting, how to make the region safe, our allies and everybody else,” he elaborated.

US President JD Vance has said the US and Iran have made “a lot of great progress” on the nuclear issue talks.

Tzipi Livni, Israel’s former foreign minister and one of the country’s most prominent centre-left voices, has criticised the Israeli government’s handling of Lebanon, Al Jazeera reports.

Writing on X, Livni has said the current arrangement of a US-Iran-Qatar-Lebanon mechanism to halt IDF operations in Lebanon represented a failure that could have been avoided.

“This is terrible for Israel, and it’s happening because the government has not leveraged military achievements for security,” she says.

Livni has outlined what she said she had proposed at the time: an Israeli-led mechanism involving the US, Israel and Lebanon to enforce UN Security Council Resolution 1701 and disarm Hezbollah.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar “warmly welcomed” the progress achieved at the US-Iran talks in Switzerland. He congratulated Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir “for their visionary leadership and tireless efforts in achieving this milestone”.

“I would also like to express my deep appreciation for the constructive spirit shown by the United States of America as well as the Islamic Republic of Iran towards the implementation of the Islamabad MoU and commend their continued commitment to dialogue and diplomacy. My deep gratitude also to the State of Qatar for its important role in the mediation process along with Pakistan,” he said.

“A team from our Ministry of Foreign Affairs will continue to remain engaged with the parties for technical-level talks for the remainder of the week at Burgenstock, Switzerland,” he added.

“Pakistan has been and will continue to play its role for achieving the goal of lasting peace and stability in the region and beyond,” he said.

China hopes Iran and the US will maintain the momentum of their negotiations and work towards positive progress, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun says, according to Al Jazeera.

Guo also expressed China’s support for mediation efforts by Pakistan, Qatar and other parties when asked about the Iran-US talks in Switzerland, the Xinhua news agency reported.

“China supports Pakistan and Qatar and all relevant parties in their mediation efforts,” Guo said.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian is reaching Islamabad tomorrow on a day-long visit, according to diplomatic sources. He is expected to hold meetings with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir.

Diplomats say the talks between the US and Iran at Lake Lucerne Summit will come under discussion.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has said that the first high-level committee meeting between the United States and Iran under the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding framework had “concluded successfully”.

“The discussions were held in a positive and constructive atmosphere and yielded encouraging progress, including agreement on a roadmap toward a final deal within 60 days, the establishment of a high-level committee to provide political oversight, and the commencement of further technical talks,” he said.

“I commend the leadership of both the US as well as Iran for their continued commitment to constructive engagement, and thank all brotherly and friendly countries for their valuable support in advancing this historic process,” he said.

“In particular, I would like to express my gratitude to our brotherly country Qatar, for its critical support in creating the conditions necessary for these negotiations to move forward. A word of thanks to the Swiss Government for their facilitation in hosting these talks,” he said.

He also paid special tribute to Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir “whose untiring efforts made these talks a success”.

“His dedication, commitment and perseverance are indeed commendable, without which there would have been no progress,” he said.

“I would like to pay my warm compliments and heartfelt gratitude to Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, for his diplomatic efforts along with his team at the Foreign Office. I also deeply appreciate the hard work of Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi who contributed immensely to the success of these talks,” he said.

“Pakistan will continue to play its honest and sincere role in advancing dialogue and diplomacy towards a peaceful and lasting resolution,” he added.

The number of Japan-related vessels remaining in the Gulf has fallen to 37 from 45 at the start of the Iran war, with seven ships having transited the Strait of Hormuz and one transferred to a non-Japanese operator, Reuters reports, citing the Japanese Shipowners’ Association.

Once safe passage has been confirmed, including the absence of mines, individual shipping companies will decide when to resume transit through the Strait, a spokesperson for the association has said.

The immediate priority is securing the passage of vessels currently stranded in the Gulf. At present, there are no plans to send ships through the Strait to load cargo, the spokesperson has added.

Iran has said it held a “brief discussion” with the US on its nuclear programme during talks in Switzerland, but insisted negotiations on the issue had not begun, according to AFP.

“One of the points raised by the American delegation was the presentation of its positions regarding the nuclear issue,” foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei has said.

“A very brief discussion took place regarding the nuclear issue, but there was no discussion of details, and it cannot be said that negotiations on the nuclear issue have begun,” he added.

Lebanese Civil Defence teams have recovered the bodies of 13 people from under rubble in the Nabatieh and Marjayoun areas of southern Lebanon, Al Jazeera reports.

In a statement, the Civil Defence said its crews were also working to clear secondary and main roads in Nabatieh and the towns of Dibbine and Blatt to remove debris and facilitate traffic.

The Lebanese Health Ministry said the death toll from Israeli strikes since March 2 has reached at least 4,106 with 12,153 wounded.

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.