West Asia LIVE: U.S. officials read MoU with Iran to journalists; Iran suggests deal may be signed by Trump and Pezeshkian

The Iranian Foreign Ministry suggested late today that the deal with the United States could be signed by Presidents Donald Trump and Masoud Pezeshkian.

Such an signing ceremony would represent a major step for the two countries, which saw diplomatic relations break off in 1980 over the U.S. Embassy hostage crisis in Tehran.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei, quoted by Iranian state television, made the comment.

– AP

U.S. officials read the memorandum of understanding with Iran to journalists after days of secrecy. Iran has not released any text.

– AP

U.S. President Donald Trump today said that he expected the accord with Iran ending the West Asia war to be signed “shortly” but added uncertainty over the date.

“The deal we reached with Iran on Sunday [June 14, 2026] will be signed shortly, tomorrow [Thursday], maybe the next day [Friday],” Mr. Trump said at the G7 summit, after previous announcements that it would be signed Friday (June 19, 2026) in Switzerland.

“We are going to most likely sign a deal,” he added.

– AFP

When Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi announced the interim deal this week to end the war with the United States, he declared his country the victor. To many Iranians it does not feel that way.

More ‌than three months of U.S. and Israeli airstrikes, and a blockade of Iranian ports, have poured new misery on a people already toiling under years of sanctions.

Although the war is over, for now, Iranians are still watching their ⁠spending carefully. Few of the supporters and opponents of the Islamic Republic spoken to by Reuters this week said they believe better times are coming soon.

– Reuters

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during the meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, called for safe shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. The Prime Minister also raised the issue of safety of seafarers, and said that he hopes that the deal with Iran would be inclusive of safety provisions for seafarers.

An Iranian official said today that the funeral procession for late supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed by U.S.-Israeli strikes in February, will pass through Iraq before his burial in Iran.

In a video carried by state media, Tehran Mayor Alireza Zakani said the farewell ceremonies and funeral for Khamenei will be held from July 4 to 9.

“On 8 July 2026, they will take place in Iraq, and on 9 July 2026, God willing, in Mashhad” in Iran, where Khamenei will be buried, he added.

– AFP

G7 leaders today hailed the U.S.-Iran deal to end the West Asia war as a “historic opportunity” and hosted AI bosses for an unusual meeting to discuss greater protection for children online.

The three-day meeting of the leaders of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States has focused intensely on U.S. President Donald Trump’s deal to end the war with Iran and efforts to pressure Russia into brokering peace with Ukraine.

France, whose President Emmanuel Macron is chairing the G7, published a communique overnight that said all the leaders had agreed on key geopolitical issues.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said this was the first such joint statement agreed during Mr. Trump’s second mandate.

– AFP

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said today that the country’s negotiations with Israel in Washington were independent of the U.S.-Iran deal to bring an end to the West Asia conflict.

“The assurances we have received, and what we insist on, is that Lebanon’s path in the negotiations is independent, though we are certainly for a ceasefire and for any country that helps us, including Iran,” Mr. Aoun said, according to a statement from his office, after Iran and Pakistan said Lebanon was included in the U.S.-Iran deal.

“The Lebanese state is sovereign in its decision-making, and for the first time, it is the one conducting the negotiations, and nobody is negotiating for us,” Mr. Aoun said ahead of a fifth round of Israeli-Lebanese talks next week.

– AFP

Iran’s interim deal with the U.S. looks set to bolster Hezbollah’s political and financial hand in Lebanon, with Tehran promising more funding for its ally once cash starts to flow, according to four sources familiar with ties between ‌Tehran and the group.

A cash infusion to Hezbollah could help it recover from heavy wartime losses and deliver a setback to Israel, which dealt the Iran-backed group crushing blows in a 2024 war and has campaigned against sanctions relief for Tehran.

The U.S.-Iranian memorandum of understanding (MoU), due to be ⁠signed on Friday (June 19, 2026), is expected to halt hostilities across all fronts, mediator Pakistan has said, although its terms have not been made public.

– Reuters

Lebanese President Joseph ‌Aoun said today ⁠that Lebanon welcomed support from ‌any country, including Iran, ‌to ‌help ⁠secure ⁠a ceasefire, marking a softer public tone ‌towards Tehran after weeks of sharp criticism.

Earlier ‌this month, Aoun accused Iran of ⁠using Lebanon as ‌a bargaining chip in its negotiations with the ‌United States and said Lebanese people were ⁠being killed to ⁠serve Iran’s interests.

– Reuters

Gravediggers in a southern Lebanon village prepare tombs for the dead in Israeli strikes during the latest Israel-Hezbollah war, near those killed in the previous conflicts between the foes.

In front of recent graves bearing three huge portraits in Deir Qanun al-Nahr, Shourouk Hariri, 32, wept for her twin brother and volunteer rescuer Ahmad, one of his colleagues, and her uncle, a local civilian.

“We arrived in the village yesterday and went straight to the place where Ahmad was killed, before coming here to the cemetery,” said Mr. Hariri, dressed in black like her 10-year-old daughter by her side.

– AFP

U.S. President Donald Trump said today ‌that the memorandum of understanding on Iran ⁠was not final, and that he could resume ‌a bombing campaign if he did ‌not like it.

“It’s ‌a ⁠memorandum of ⁠understanding. And if I don’t like it, we’ll go back to ‌shooting at them, dropping bombs on their head. If I don’t ‌like it, if they don’t behave, we’ll go right ⁠back to dropping bombs right smack in the ‌middle of their head, OK?” said Mr. Trump, at the G7 summit in France.

Mr. Trump said the ‌Iran memorandum of understanding did not include immediate sanctions relief for ⁠Iran, while adding he would ⁠talk about this matter later.

– Reuters

Moscow supports a deal between the United States and Iran to end the West Asia war, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told his Iranian counterpart during a phone call today, insisting that Israel must also comply.

“The Russian minister expressed support for the understandings reached through effective mediation by Pakistan and Qatar to de-escalate tensions in the region. The importance of compliance by all parties involved in the armed conflict, including Israel, was emphasised,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a read-out of the call.

– AFP

Iran will immediately take steps to reopen the Strait of Hormuz once a tentative deal with the U.S. to end the war is signed and will be allowed to sell its oil without restrictions, according to leaked copies of an interim agreement that officials say broadly matches the document.

The accord, due to be formally signed in a ceremony in Switzerland on Friday (June 19, 2026), lays out that the U.S. would secure at least $300 billion to rebuild Iran after the war and work to end all American and United Nations sanctions imposed on Tehran if a final agreement addressing Iran’s nuclear program is reached.

– AP

NATO chief Mark Rutte said today that the United States was not stepping back from Europe by announcing cuts to the forces it makes available to the alliance.

“In some cases this has been cast as a problem — as the U.S. pulling away from its allies. But that is not the reality,” Mr. Rutte said on the eve of a meeting of NATO defence ministers.

Washington has told allies it is reducing the assets it puts at disposal of NATO commanders as it expects European countries to take “primary responsibility” for their own conventional defence.

“The U.S. has adjusted its pledges to the NATO Force Model,” Mr. Rutte said.

– AFP

NATO chief Mark Rutte on Wednesday (June 17, 2026) hailed the U.S.-Iran deal to end the West Asia conflict, saying the planned reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, would be a “massive step forward”.

“The restoration of free passage through the Strait of Hormuz will be a massive step forward, and I know that many allies, through the initiative led by France and the United Kingdom, are ready to support,” Mr,. Rutte told a press conference in Brussels. — AFP

Bodies of two of the three Indian seafarers who were killed in a U.S. strike on a vessel off the Oman coast were repatriated to the country on Wednesday (June 17, 2026), according to an official statement.

This comes a day after 21 rescued Indian seafarers from the same Palau-flagged vessel MT Settebello were repatriated to India.

“The mortal remains of Mr. Aditya Sharma and Mr. Shivanand Chaurasiya, who tragically lost their lives in the attack on MT Settebello, have been repatriated to India,” the Indian Embassy in Muscat said on X.

The mission, however, did not provide any details regarding the body of the third deceased Indian seafarer, Patnala Suresh. — PTI

Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney on Wednesday (June 17, 2026) said a U.S.-Iran deal to end the Middle East war could be a “game changer” in the region and beyond.

There is “a likelihood that this memorandum of understanding agreement could be a game changer”, Mr. Carney told reporters on the third day of a G7 leaders’ meeting in the French town of Evian.

He pointed to encouraging discussions, which included US President Donald Trump, on Ukraine and Lebanon at the summit.

The Canadian premier said he noted a U.S. “change in tone with respect to Ukraine” as Kyiv seeks to end more than four years of conflict following Russia’s invasion.

This included “a more realistic — in our view — expectation of where this war was going to go, and the position against Russia, the tightening of sanctions against Russia, the ability to provide additional defensive support for Ukraine”.

The leaders of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Britain and the United States also held a “very detailed discussion about Lebanon”, he added. — AFP

The West Asian crude market weakened sharply this week, slipping into discounts, Reuters data showed, after the United States and Iran agreed ‌a framework deal to reopen the crucial Strait of Hormuz, brightening the global supply outlook.

With Asian refining demand led by China still subdued after months of run cuts, ⁠hopes of higher supply after the deal pushed Dubai and other West Asian benchmarks into contango and opened rare arbitrage opportunities to Europe and the United States.

Benchmark Dubai’s premium to swaps slipped into a discount of 46 cents on ‌Tuesday (June 16), the first contango structure since January, Reuters’ data showed, after hitting pre-war levels of $2.06 per barrel on Monday (June 15).

Contango is a market structure in which prompt cargoes trade at ‌a discount to later-dated ones, indicating ample supplies.

-Reuters

Iran has reportedly fired multiple drones aimed at commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz, a source told The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday (June 17, 2026).

The firing took place after the signing of the U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Sunday, and the drones were intercepted by the U.S. military ere they posed a threat to commercial or U.S. military ships and personnel.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) had launched the drones, a U.S. official told NBC, adding that the U.S. military is coordinating with shipping companies to support ships transiting through the Strait of Hormuz, as per Jerusalem Post.

-ANI

Israeli forces on Wednesday (June 17) carried out airstrikes on several areas in south Lebanon, state media reported, despite a peace deal in the West Asian war that includes Lebanon.

Lebanon’s National News Agency said Israeli warplanes launched raids targeting the Nabatieh al-Fawqa area and the eastern outskirts of neighbouring town Kfar Tebnit.

The Israelis also launched a drone strike on the town of Ansariyeh in the Zahrani area, NNA reported.

-AFP

The interim deal between the U.S. and Iran is supposed to usher in a two-month period that would address the most divisive issue between the longtime adversaries — Tehran’s nuclear program.

Preventing Iran from attaining a nuclear bomb is a key reason that President Donald Trump said he launched the war alongside Israel in February, but the tentative agreement he has trumpeted leaves little runway to negotiate the long-running sticking point. The previous nuclear pact between Iran and world powers, which Trump pulled the U.S. from in his first term, took many months to negotiate.

Few details have been publicly released about the initial deal, set to be officially signed Friday in Switzerland, but it generally calls for reopening the Strait of Hormuz to global oil shipments, financial incentives for Iran if it meets certain benchmarks, and a 60-day period for talks on ending the country’s nuclear program.

There is deep skepticism among both Republican and Democratic lawmakers, pro-Israel advocates and Israel itself that the deal is realistic, workable or would have any effect on nuclear talks.

-AP

Stock market benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty climbed in early trade on Wednesday (June 17, 2026) following a decline in crude oil prices and a rally in IT firms.

Extending its rally to the fourth day running, the 30-share BSE Sensex further climbed 271.61 points to 77,080.09 in opening trade. The 50-share NSE Nifty advanced 55.35 points to 24,044.50.

From the 30-Sensex firms, Trent, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, Tata Consultancy Services, HCL Tech and Eternal were among the biggest winners.

Read the story here

Stock markets extend rally in early trade on drop in crude oil prices

Stock markets rally as Brent crude prices drop, boosting investor confidence and supporting earnings growth across sectors.

Iranian oil tankers have exited the zone in the Gulf blockaded by the U.S. Navy, the TankerTrackers website said on Wednesday (June 17), calling it the country’s “first crude oil exports in two months”.

“At least two National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC) VLCC supertankers named DIONA (9569695) and HERO2 (9362073) have exited the U.S. Navy blockade perimeter carrying a combined total of 3.8 million barrels of Iranian crude oil between them,” TankerTrackers said in a post on X, citing digital tracking data corroborated by satellite imagery.

The site — which monitors oil shipments and storage — later added that a third NITC tanker had “exited the blockade line with 1 million barrels of Iranian crude oil”.

-AFP

Asian investors trod water on Wednesday (June 17) after a breathtaking start to the week fuelled by the U.S.-Iran deal, with attention now on peace talks and the planned reopening of the crucial Strait of Hormuz.

Oil prices edged up in early exchanges, a day after plunging more than five percent on optimism for a lasting agreement between the two countries after more than three months of conflict that rattled energy markets and revived inflation.

Tuesday’s selling was ramped up by a report in The Wall Street Journal that Washington could ease sanctions on Iranian crude as part of the deal to end the war, allowing Tehran to immediately sell crude and refined oil products.

-AFP

Copper edged higher on Wednesday (June 17), supported by the U.S.-Iran peace deal, while expectations of a hawkish shift from the Federal Reserve capped gains.

The ‌benchmark three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange nudged 0.13% higher to $13,791.50 a metric ⁠ton by 0254 GMT.

The most-traded copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange gained 0.27% to 105,250 yuan ($15,578.74) a ton.

Oil prices slid, with Brent futures wiping out much of their gains since the war began, easing concerns over energy-driven ‌inflation and supply disruption, though uncertainty remained over whether another 60-day truce would hold.

-Reuters

The U.S. is pushing back on complaints from Iran’s national team that it was forced to leave the country immediately after its first World Cup match instead of having a day to recover in a hotel, saying that was the plan for the team all along.

“We were clear this was the process,” Andrew Giuliani, the executive director of the White House FIFA Task Force, told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

Iran coach Amir Ghalenoei said after Monday’s (June 15) night’s 2-2 draw with New Zealand that the team had been ordered to leave the U.S. and return to its training base in Mexico only a few hours later.

Ghalenoei said the team had expected to spend the night in California to maximize the normal recovery process after its opening game.

-AP

Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence tool Grok was used in strikes against Iran, the United States government revealed in a legal briefing seen on Tuesday (June 16) by AFP.

The June 15 brief defends the gas turbines used by a giant data centre belonging to the trillionaire’s company xAI, which are the target of an environmental lawsuit.

Read the story here

Elon Musk’s AI tool Grok was used in strikes against Iran, says U.S. government

Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence tool Grok was used in strikes against Iran, the United States government revealed in a legal briefing seen Tuesday by AFP.

U.S. President Donald Trump maintained on Tuesday (June 16, 2026) that an interim accord with Iran makes clear that Tehran would never be allowed to ‌develop a nuclear weapon, and he also suggested Syria could be better positioned to disarm Iran-backed Hezbollah.

Speaking ahead of talks ⁠with Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani on the sidelines of the G7 summit in France, Mr. Trump defended the 14-point memorandum of understanding with Iran ‌that has yet to be made public. “The only thing that really matters to me is Iran will never have ‌a nuclear weapon, and it says it loud and clear,” ‌he ⁠told reporters, warning that “all hell will rain down” on Iran ⁠if it sought to acquire one.

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Iran deal says ‘loud and clear’ that Tehran won’t have a nuclear weapon, says Donald Trump

Trump asserts the Iran deal ensures Tehran won’t acquire nuclear weapons while criticizing Israel’s strategy in Lebanon and suggesting Syria’s intervention.

Australia on Wednesday (June 17) relaxed its travel advice ‌for Bahrain, Israel, Kuwait, Qatar, ⁠and the United Arab Emirates after the U.S. ‌and Iran reached an ‌interim deal to ‌end ⁠the war in ⁠West Asia.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the advisory ‌moved to “reconsider your need to travel” from “do not ‌travel,” but added that Australians should continue to delay ⁠non-essential travel to the Gulf states.

“While the ‌security situation across the Middle East could deteriorate rapidly with little warning, the (government) ‌has assessed current conditions in Bahrain, Israel, Kuwait, Qatar and the ⁠UAE as appropriate to ⁠move to (the lower level),” ‌Ms. Wong said.

-Reuters

The Senate tried and failed again on Tuesday (June 16) to advance a war powers resolution that would halt the U.S. military action against Iran, in what has become an almost weekly effort to rein in President Donald Trump as the administration floats a new plan to bring an end to the nearly four-month long war.

Senators of both parties have have been sceptical of the Trump administration’s emerging Iran deal and frustrated by the White House’s refusal to share details.

They are expecting a briefing from the administration, but nothing has been scheduled before Friday’s (June 19) planned deadline for the two sides to sign the agreement.

The vote was 47-48, with four Republicans joining most Democrats in supporting the war powers resolution. That fell short of the majority needed to advance it.

-AP

While details of the agreement, likely to be known on June 19, will help global shipping companies decide on transits, one of the focus areas has been Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) shipping.

Qatari officials reportedly told investors that within weeks production can increase to 83% of original capacity — 17% was damaged in war attacks. Shipping observers are reporting that those that may try to exit first in numbers may well be LNG ships, which is good news for India. LNG imports are critical for domestic fertilizer manufacture required for the ongoing kharif season.

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LNG ships may headline Strait of Hormuz transits

U.S. Vice President told CNBC that though Iran’s nuclear programme would need substantial negotiating, there was an understanding between the two countries that the strait would reopen “in a toll-free way for the long term, and that’s the sort of thing that we’re going to figure out in these technical negotiations.” Earlier, President Donald Trump had said that the area was being de-mined and that traffic would return to pre-war levels over the next couple of weeks.

Iran showed considerable ingenuity in meeting the challenge of Iraq-Iran war. It reduced the import of non-essentials and managed to keep its oil flowing despite periodic air attacks. It diversified sources of arms supply and capitalised on the support of the masses for the war while squeezing the well to do and the bazaaris. The war to all intents and purposes became the sole criterion for judging the Islamic Republic.

There was some public opposition to the conduct of the war such as from the Islamic Liberation Movement, co-founded by former Prime Minister Mehdi Bazargan, which labelled the continuation of the war as ‘un-Islamic’. Separately, reports indicative of ‘chronic disorder of governance’ have appeared in publications close to the establishment, suggesting ‘prolonged ambiguity’ in decision-making.

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A nation determined to endure and overcome

In the 1970s, the U.S. actually encouraged Iran to develop nuclear power arguing that the country would eventually run out of oil

Two Democratic Senators have urged President Donald Trump against granting any further exemption from U.S. sanctions on the purchase of Russian oil, contending that there is no rationale for such a move, as the war with Iran is now over.

“Extending this license yet again would give Vladimir Putin another opportunity to reap windfall financial gains while he continues his brutal war against Ukraine,” Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Elizabeth Warren said.

They said an extension would also clearly contradict Mr. Trump’s declaration that the war with Iran is over and his stated rationale for these waivers of trying to reduce energy market disruptions stemming from his war against Iran.

-PTI

The scope and complexity of the current issues are daunting. These include the question of U.S. sanctions, a release of over $100 billion of frozen Iranian assets, regional issues such as the crisis in Lebanon and the problem of U.S. military bases, and the demand for reparations. 

However, Iran’s nuclear enrichment and its assertion of sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz are deal breakers. Since President Trump tore down the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in 2018, he now insists on a “better” deal, requiring Iran to export enriched uranium. However, Iranian hardliners are steadfastly opposed to this diktat. Moreover, Iran’s closure of the Hormuz chokepoint has caused the “biggest energy disruption in human history”, creating havoc for the global economy.

A resolution of these two contentious issues would require protracted negotiations and creativity, allowing both sides to claim victories. A $300 billion fund to reconstruct Iran with U.S. companies, a typically bizarre Trumpian transactional diplomacy, is also reportedly on the table.

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The long-term implications of the U.S.-Iran deal

Irrespective of largely unaltered borders and an endgame that has barely commenced, the past three years of hostilities have triggered seismic geopolitical changes in West Asia and beyond

U.S. President Donald ‌Trump on Tuesday (June 16) issued a rare public rebuke of Israel’s military tactics in Lebanon targeting Hezbollah militants, saying it was unnecessary to bomb entire apartment ⁠buildings to hunt militants.

Mr. Trump, who in recent days had expressed his displeasure over Israeli attacks in Beirut that he said could have endangered his peace deal with Iran, said Israel has been fighting Hezbollah, the ‌Iran-aligned Lebanese militia, for “too long”. 

“Too many people have been killed. You don’t have to knock down an apartment house every time you’re looking for somebody, because ‌there are a lot of people in those apartment houses, and they’re not ‌all ⁠Hezbollah,” Mr. Trump said at the G7 summit in France.

-Reuters

The much-awaited digitally signed U.S.-Iran deal reflects the reality that Iran has had a strategic win. Reports indicate that it opens up Hormuz Strait unconditionally, halts the war on all fronts including Lebanon, lifts Iranian oil sanctions, unfreezes Iranian assets and commits Iran not to produce nuclear weapons.

Negotiations to commit Iran to suspend nuclear enrichment and give up enriched nuclear material without being dubbed a repackaged Obama-era 2016 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), will take place over 60 days. In some ways the deal is not yet a political settlement, but the beginning of one.

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Moving from war to deal in a deeply divided region

The post-war landscape after the war between U.S.-Israel and Iran has exposed the deep fault lines in West Asia

Oil prices edged higher in early trade on ‌Wednesday (June 17), clawing back some of the previous session’s losses, as investors assessed whether the Iran war will truly end and ⁠the Strait of Hormuz reopen.

Brent crude futures gained 47 cents, or 0.6%, to $79.43 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate rose to $76.53 a barrel, up 48 ‌cents, or 0.6%, as of 0038 GMT.

Both benchmarks fell about 5% for a second straight session on Tuesday to three-month ‌lows on hopes a U.S.-Iran deal would allow oil flows through ‌the ⁠Strait.

-Reuters