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Summary of developments regarding the communication via Pakistan to end the war on Iran: June 19, 2026.

Includes: postponing of the signing ceremony, Israeli escalation in Lebanon after the MoU was released, Israeli ceasefire violations immediately after agreement with Hezbollah.

Highlights from yesterday    Comments
  • United States Vice President JD Vance has defended the memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Iran amid criticism from US lawmakers and Israeli officials, warning the top US ally that “you can’t kill your way out” of security problems.
  • US Central Command (CENTCOM) says it has lifted a blockade “on all maritime traffic entering and exiting Iranian ports and coastal areas”.
  • Iran’s Supreme National Security Council says that the Persian Gulf Strait Authority has been charged with issuing permits as fast as possible for commercial vessels wishing to transit the Strait of Hormuz.
  • Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei says he initially disagreed with the US-Iran deal but ultimately approved it after receiving assurances from Iran’s leadership that the country’s interests would be protected.
 		    

 

Some Republican members of Congress, particularly the hawks among them, have argued that Iran has been given too many concessions in terms of this memorandum of understanding.

They point in particular to the immediate waiver of the sanctions on the export of Iranian oil as an example of the administration being too soft on Iran.

The administration counters by saying that it is trying to do what is best for the US, and it’s indeed doing what is best for the US, and we heard from the vice president that not a cent of American money is going to Iran in terms of the settlement.

The administration is very sensitive on this particular point, and the vice president was arguing very strongly that this deal has got safeguards in it. It relies on Iranian compliance, as he puts it, and the sanctions are linked to nuclear discussions, for example.

So, Vance is intent on explaining to the American public that there are safeguards in this, and this agreement is in both nations’ interests.

 		    

Top US Democratic senator slams Trump’s ‘incompetence’

Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer says “the US is worse off because of Trump’s incompetence, his ego, and his inability to listen to facts”.

“If Trump wants to send hundreds of billions of dollars to Iran, he’ll need to do with Republican votes,” Schumer wrote on X. “Democrats will not be helping Trump send $300 billion to Iran.”

Critics of the memorandum of understanding between Washington and Tehran have accused Trump of agreeing to provide Iran with $300bn to help rebuild the country’s infrastructure and revive its struggling economy.

However, Trump and other senior US officials have said the country will not provide Iran with any money, telling reporters that Tehran’s neighbours, as well as other countries willing to participate, may provide the funds.

    

Iran ‘brought the devils of the world to their knees’, says senior Iranian official

Mohsen Rezaei, a senior adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, says that “the proud and triumphant nation of Iran brought the devils of the world to their knees and shattered their dominance”.

“This epic will endure eternally in history,” he wrote on X.

Rezaei added, however, that Iran was in mourning “over the blood of our martyred leader, and there is no balm for this wound save vengeance”.

Several senior Iranian officials, including former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, were killed in the US-Israel war on Iran.

    

Iran’s Ghalibaf says Tehran won’t tolerate US breaches of MoU

Iran’s chief negotiator and speaker of parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, says Tehran will not tolerate breaches of the MoU by Washington.

“In the event of bad faith, breach of contract, and excessive demands by the opposing side, we have no hesitation in delivering a crushing response to the enemy,” Ghalibaf said in a post on X.

“They were once slapped during the war; if they wish to tread that path again, they will receive an even harder slap.”

    

Iranian president welcomes Qatar’s role in facilitating US-Iran deal

Iran’s president has praised Qatar’s role in helping the two countries reach the MoU during a phone call with Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.

Masoud Pezeshkian said Qatar had created a “conducive environment for negotiations”, according to a statement released by his office, adding that the agreement had been made possible with the support of Qatar, Pakistan and other Islamic countries.

Sheikh Tamim also welcomed the signing of the MoU, highlighting the importance of diplomacy and dialogue in reducing tensions and boosting regional stability.

 		    

Vance not going to Switzerland tonight; plans for Iran talks not finalized: White House

A White House spokesperson confirms that the US vice president will not be leaving tonight for Switzerland to hold negotiations with Iran.

“As the Vice President said at his press conference, the plans for the upcoming technical talks have not been finalized, and the US delegation has been prepared to depart at the first available opportunity,” the spokesperson said.

“But the logistics of these negotiations have never been simple or predictable. As of now the Vice President is not departing tonight.

“We will let you know as soon as we have a concrete update about next steps.”

 		    

 

The real reason why Vance is not going is that Pakistan's Prime Minister Sharif had announced yesterday, that he's not going. No reason for his decision has been given.

In diplomacy, there is a custom that attendants to a ceremony must be of equal level.

What China has said about the US-Iran MoU

Countries have been reacting to the signing of the deal, with Beijing describing it as a “positive” development. Here’s more of what China has said:

  • Commenting on the upcoming talks on Tehran’s nuclear program, China said that both sides should engage “on an equal footing” and that force was “no solution”.
  • A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Israel should not undermine the MoU and instead honor the commitments laid out under the deal, which stipulates that the war will end on all fronts, including in Lebanon.
  • China said it was ready to deepen ties with Iran and advance the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries.

 

    

Oil prices drop on prospect of more supply via Strait of Hormuz

Crude prices are declining as the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz to oil tankers following the signing of the US-Iran MoU signals an influx of market supply.

Brent crude futures dropped by 54 cents, or 0.68 percent, to $78.31 per barrel as of 01:46 GMT.

Meanwhile, US West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) dipped 46 cents, or 0.60 percent, trading at $76.14 a barrel.

 

    

Could take months for ‘normalisation’ of traffic through Strait of Hormuz

Rahul Kapoor of S&P Global Energy says there has been “a sense of relief in the market” after the US-Iran deal, which stipulates that the Strait of Hormuz be reopened.

“Over the last couple of days, we’ve started to see traffic pick up” in the critical Gulf waterway, through which about 20 percent of global oil and gas supplies normally transit, Kapoor said.

“Yesterday, we observed around 25 vessels, inbound as well as outbound. But you have to put it in perspective,” he said, noting that typically, about 130 ships pass through the strait daily.

“So it’s a slow recovery, which is happening from a very low pace,” he said, warning that it could take “weeks to months … to see a normalization happening”.

    

Sixty days ‘not very long’ to move beyond ‘vague’ MoU

David Hale, a former US ambassador and special envoy for the Middle East, says the new MoU with Iran leaves critical, strategic questions unanswered as the 60-day timeline for negotiations begins.

Hale said the viability of the agreement will be tested over that period, as both sides try to tackle “the issues that are left fairly vague”, including those related to the Iranian nuclear program.

“One would have hoped to have seen a declaration of principles, which would spell out in more detail what the actual goals are, and commitments that are going to be made,” Hale said.

But Hale stressed that the primary challenge remains the brief timeline, given how much substance is still lacking in the MoU.

“Most importantly, 60 days is not a very long time. So, how far are we going to go? Because right now, this agreement has only two tangible things: sanctions relief for Iran, which is a big concession, and a reopening of the Strait of Hormuz,” Hale said.

What’s next? And that’s where I think our attention needs to lie.”

    

Pentagon wants $80bn to cover costs of Iran war, other bills: Report

US Deputy Defense Secretary Stephen Feinberg told lawmakers this week that the department needs $80bn to cover costs of the war on Iran, as well as other non-war-related bills, The Wall Street Journal reports.

A full US supplemental request, which will include money for the Pentagon as well as non-defense priorities, could be sent to lawmakers in the coming days, the newspaper said, citing people familiar with the matter.

The overall costs of the US-Israel war on Iran remain unclear, but experts have estimated that the conflict could cost the US economy as much as $1 trillion.

 

    

How does MoU compare with Obama-era JCPOA?

Trump has hailed the deal with Iran as being better than the deal brokered by former US President Barack Obama in 2015, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA),

Trump unilaterally withdrew from that pact during his first term in 2018.

But analysts warn it is too soon to determine whether the MoU will result in a comprehensive deal significantly different from the 18-page Obama-era document, which took several years to negotiate and included nuclear experts.

Shahram Akbarzadeh, director of the Middle East Studies Forum at Deakin University in Melbourne, Australia, said the MoU “does not address any issue of substance”.

“It simply leaves all questions regarding Iran’s nuclear programme and enrichment to be negotiated between the United States and Iran,” he said.

    

US lawmaker says ‘thousands died for nothing’ in Trump’s ‘catastrophic’ war

Democratic Congresswoman Yassamin Ansari – the first Iranian-American Democrat elected to Congress – has slammed the US-Israel war on Iran as “catastrophic”.

In a post on X, Ansari said thousands of innocent people “died for nothing”.

“Donald Trump is an incompetent, pathological liar who didn’t achieve any of his alleged objectives for the Iran war,” Ansari wrote. “I’m glad the war is ending. It’s been catastrophic.”

    

Switzerland says US-Iran talks will no longer take place

The Swiss Foreign Ministry has confirmed that talks planned for today between the US and Iran at the Burgenstock mountaintop resort will not take place.

The announcement comes after a White House spokesperson said overnight that US Vice President JD Vance had pulled out of a planned trip to meet Iranian negotiators in Switzerland on Friday to begin talks on implementing the agreement to end the war.

    

Iran emphasizing it is ‘in control’ of Hormuz

The Strait of Hormuz is the most essential form of leverage and deterrence Iran has.

Iran has been quite clear – the strategic environment in the strait has changed because of the war, and it will never accept the pre-war situation there. Iran is talking about a new maritime regime.

Last night, the country’s Supreme National Security Council, the highest security apparatus in the country, released a statement saying there will not be tolls in the strait for the next 60 days, as per the MoU.

However, the council emphasized that any tanker wanting to pass through the strait needs to coordinate with Iran, particularly its maritime body, the Persian Gulf Strait Authority. That administration will provide clearance for passage and set the time and the lanes that vessels can use to pass.

So, what we see here is Iran saying it is not going to give up on the Strait of Hormuz, and it is in control of organizing ships’ passage – both now and after 60 days.

 

    

Israel’s continuing occupation of Lebanon a ‘major hurdle’ before US-Iran talks

The timeline for implementing the commitments under the US-Iran MoU is going to be up to the parties.

Essentially, what they’ve agreed upon is the immediate flow of ships through the Strait of Hormuz. That is happening. Also happening, the US has lifted all its restrictions on Iranian naval ports.

There is a cessation of hostilities between the two countries, but Lebanon remains the main question. The Israeli media are reporting that four Israeli soldiers were killed in Lebanon. Israel is continuing to occupy southern Lebanese territory, and there are ongoing clashes on Lebanese soil.

For the Iranians, this is a red flag because they want to ensure there is a ceasefire and respect for territorial integrity, including in Lebanon. Whether that is included will be a major hurdle before these talks begin.

 

    

Switzerland talks ‘postponed’, but ‘not off’

Very careful language around the expected talks between the US and Iran are used after attendees cancelled their presence.

Yesterday, the Pakistani prime minister say his visit to Switzerland is postponed.

Then, the US vice president say that he still expects to go to Switzerland over the weekend but even he has said he's not going.

Some sources in the mediating team say that the talks are not off, but they’ve been postponed for now.

That is also what the Swiss Foreign Ministry is saying. They say that preparations for these talks to get under way in Burgenstock are still ongoing.

 

    

Lack of independent oversight over US, Iran could impede deal’s implementation

A lack of independent monitoring may affect how much Iran and the US can trust one another to see the interim agreement through, says Samir Puri, a visiting lecturer at the department of war studies at King’s College London.

The fighting “was ongoing until really recently… it’s only been [around] 10 days since the US Apache helicopter gunship was shot down,” Puri says.

“So, metaphorically speaking, what the US and Iran are having to do is to pull apart almost rottweilers, sort of fighting each other and pulling them apart, because their military forces have been poised at an extraordinary state of readiness and active combat for some time.”

The US and Iran are now experiencing not only the difficulties associated with implementing this agreement, but also “the enormous deficit of trust that inevitably comes during a war,” said Puri.

The question is “who is going to move their forces off of that aggressive posture first, and I actually think this is going to be the sort of thing that would really require independent oversight,” said the lecturer, adding that “other conflicts tend to have independent monitoring to give the combatants trust to walk away from that front line”.

While Pakistan and Qatar have acted as diplomatic mediators, Puri said that the lack of independent monitoring to stop the two parties from resuming military operations could have significant consequences.

 

    

Japan-linked vessel safely passes Hormuz, says country’s PM

Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae ‌Takaichi has said that a Japan-linked vessel that had been stranded in the Gulf has safely crossed the Strait of Hormuz and is now en route to Japan.

In a post on X, Takaichi said three Japanese crew were on the vessel, which Reuters reported is a Liberian-flagged crude oil tanker owned by Japan’s Kyoei Tanker.

With the ship’s passage, all Japan-linked vessels carrying Japanese crew have now exited the Gulf, said Takaichi. However, 37 other Japan-linked vessels are still awaiting passage, she said.

Japan’s government “will continue making every ⁠diplomatic effort to ensure ⁠that free and safe navigation of vessels in the Strait of Hormuz resumes promptly,” added Takaichi.

 

    

25 vessels cross Strait of Hormuz after US-Iran deal, data shows

A total of 25 commercial vessels crossed the newly reopened Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, the highest number since mid-April, according to data from maritime tracking firm AXSMarine.

After the US and Iran agreed to a preliminary agreement to open the Strait of Hormuz, passage through the waterway saw its highest single-day figure since April 18, when Iran briefly reopened the passage to commercial traffic.

 

    

Iranian officials ‘in no rush’ to start technical talks

In Iran, there is a bitter memory of the JCPOA [the Iran nuclear deal agreed to in 2015 under the administration of former US President Barack Obama that Trump withdrew from during his first term on office].

So, Iranians are engaging in diplomacy, but they have this past experience. That’s why Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has been extremely cautious.

In a recent statement, Khamenei said that while he “held a different view” on the US-Iran MoU, he granted his permission for it after receiving assurances from Iranian officials that Iran’s rights would be safeguarded. So, you can see that his permission is conditional.

That’s why Iranian officials are not in a rush to engage in the technical talks or negotiations – they know any failure would come with huge responsibility and cost.

 

    

Persian Gulf Strait Authority says vessels allowed to cross Hormuz without fees

Iran’s Persian Gulf Strait Authority has announced that vessels seeking to cross the Strait of Hormuz will be granted access under the terms of the Memorandum of Understanding for 60 days.

In a statement on X, the authority explained that vessels will need to submit their requests to cross at least 48 hours before wanting to depart.

The authority said that during the 60 days, no fees will be charged to vessels.

It said the costs of security, safety, environmental services, and related Iranian insurance coverage will be borne by Iran’s government.

 

    

Can US-Iran peace ‘deal’ survive Israeli bombing of Lebanon?

Neither side has given an official reason for canceling trips to begin the awaited talks, which were to be held at the Burgenstock Resort in Stansstad, near Lucerne in central Switzerland.

A statement from the White House noted that “the plans for the upcoming technical talks have not been finalized,” adding that the Vance-led delegation is “prepared to depart at the first available opportunity”.

However, it added, “the logistics of these negotiations have never been simple or predictable. As of now, the vice president is not departing tonight.”

Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reported that there was no confirmation that Iranian negotiators would travel for the talks, because they first wanted ⁠to see signs that the interim agreement, which includes Lebanon in the US-Iran ceasefire, is being implemented.

    

Trump says Iran, not US, in position of ‘desperation’

The US president has posted a message on Truth Social, appearing to respond to criticism of the interim agreement with Iran.

“We didn’t meet out of desperation, Iran did,” Trump wrote. “They are FINISHED!”

“We’ll play out the 60 days,” he added, in reference to the 60-day period of negotiations for a final deal outlined in the MOU.

“They get no money, not ten cents!” he said.

 

    

Analysts in the summaries have all a common view: Iran gained what it wanted.

Araghchi says Israel only interested in ‘permanent war’

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has slammed the far-right Israeli national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, who called for Lebanon to “burn” after a night of intense fighting in southern Lebanon killed four soldiers.

“This is not a rant by a random genocidal lunatic. It’s a public post by the national security minister of the Israeli regime,” Araghchi wrote on X.

“The genocidal death cult headquartered in Tel Aviv is a threat to all of humanity. It threatens all humans. Its only interest is permanent war,” he added.

 

    

Iranian foreign ministry says Friday meeting with US postponed

Iran’s foreign ministry says the meeting between the US and Iran due to be held in Switzerland on Friday has been postponed, Reuters is reporting.

It said that plans were under way for the meeting to be held in the coming days and talks on the final agreement depended on the implementation of parts of the MoU.

 

    

Iran says nuclear status quo to continue until deal finalized

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei has denied reports that Tehran has invited the International Atomic Energy Agency to inspect its nuclear facilities.

He noted that, as pointed out in the MoU with the US, Iran will maintain the current status quo of its nuclear program pending a final deal.

Inspections of facilities that have been carried out until now, such as at Bushehr, will continue, he said.

Inspections of other facilities, for which the IAEA’s access was suspended due to the war, will depend on the process and outcome of the negotiations, Baghaei added.

 

    
     
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