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<\/a><\/p>\nPublished On 19 Jun 202619 Jun 2026<\/p>\n
United States Vice President JD Vance has delayed his planned trip to Switzerland to start a new round of peace talks with Iran following the signing of a memorandum of understanding<\/a> (MoU) to end the war, the White House has said.<\/p>\n Vance earlier defended<\/a> the agreement between Washington and Tehran amid criticism from US officials and Israel, saying the signing of an MoU has launched a 60-day negotiating period towards a final deal.<\/p>\n Vance and his team were reportedly ready to leave for Switzerland on Thursday night, but the trip was cancelled at the last minute following Israeli bombing in southern Lebanon, killing at least three people, overnight.<\/p>\n Iran\u2019s semi-official Tasnim news agency reported that there was no confirmation that Iranian negotiators would travel for talks, because they first wanted \u2060to see signs that the interim agreement, which includes Lebanon in the US-Iran ceasefire<\/a>, was being implemented.<\/p>\n The agreement, signed by the presidents of both countries, has been presented as a step towards ending months of conflict, though critics have questioned its terms, the number of questions it leaves unanswered and Tehran\u2019s commitment to it.<\/p>\n Here is what has happened:<\/p>\n In Lebanon
\nIsraeli attacks killed at least three in southern Lebanon: Lebanese state media said two people were killed<\/a> in a drone attack near Kfar Tebnit and another in a separate attack in Zabadin, a day after the US and Iran signed an interim agreement calling for an end to military operations on all fronts, including Lebanon. Hezbollah said it had repelled a four-day Israeli offensive, while Israel faces growing pressure to halt attacks and withdraw its forces under the terms of the agreement.
\nIn Iran
\nUS lifts naval blockade of Iran: The US military said it had ended its naval blockade<\/a> of Iranian ports as part of the agreement with Tehran to suspend military operations during negotiations. US Central Command (CENTCOM) said all blockade enforcement efforts have ceased and US forces are no longer restricting maritime traffic to or from Iran. However, it added that US naval vessels will remain in the region to monitor compliance and ensure all terms of the agreement are upheld.
\nSenior Iranian official says Iran humbled its enemies: Mohsen Rezaei, an adviser to Iran\u2019s supreme leader, hailed what he called Iran\u2019s \u201cvictory\u201d in the war, saying the country had \u201cshattered\u201d its enemies\u2019 dominance. In a post on X, he described the conflict as an \u201cepic\u201d that would endure in history, while also mourning senior leaders killed in the war and saying \u201cvengeance\u201d was the only remedy for their deaths.
\nGhalibaf warns against US violations of MoU: Iran\u2019s chief negotiator and parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said Tehran would not tolerate any breach of the memorandum of understanding by Washington. In a post on X, he warned that any \u201cbad faith, breach of contract, and excessive demands\u201d would be met with a \u201ccrushing response\u201d, adding that Iran\u2019s adversaries had already been \u201cslapped\u201d during the war and would face an even harsher response if they repeated their actions.
\nIn the US
\nSchumer attacks Trump over deal: Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said the US is \u201cworse off because of Trump\u2019s incompetence, his ego, and his inability to listen to facts\u201d. Schumer rejected claims that Democrats would support any funding for Iran, saying, \u201cDemocrats will not be helping Trump send $300bn to Iran.\u201d Critics of the memorandum have alleged it includes $300bn for Iran\u2019s reconstruction, but Trump and senior US officials deny any US funds will be provided, saying any investment would come from Iran\u2019s neighbours and other participating countries.
\nTrump administration defends Iran deal: Reporting from Washington, DC, Mike Hanna says Republican hawks<\/a> have also criticised the MoU, arguing that Tehran has received too many concessions, particularly the immediate waiver of sanctions on Iranian oil exports. The Trump administration rejected that criticism, saying it is acting in US interests. Hanna noted that officials are \u201cvery sensitive\u201d to claims that US money is being sent to Iran, with Vice President JD Vance stressing that \u201cnot a cent of American money is going to Iran\u201d. According to Hanna, Vance argues the deal contains safeguards, relies on Iranian compliance and links sanctions relief to progress in nuclear negotiations.
\nUS warns Israel to comply with Lebanon terms: US Vice President JD Vance delivered what Al Jazeera\u2019s Mike Hanna described as \u201cvery strong\u201d messages to Israel, amid criticism from Israeli officials and pro-Israel groups over the Iran deal. Hanna said the memorandum makes clear that Lebanon is part of the agreement and that Israel must halt military operations there, a provision that has drawn pushback from some pro-Israel lawmakers. The Trump administration, however, is defending the inclusion of Lebanon in the deal.
\nIn Israel
\nUS-Israel relationship faces strain over Iran deal: Political analyst Harlan Ullman says there is a \u201cgreat split\u201d between US President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the deal. \u201cNetanyahu is furious. He\u2019s out to break this deal,\u201d Ullman told Al Jazeera, describing the relationship as increasingly \u201cvolatile\u201d and \u201cdangerous\u201d. While Netanyahu has avoided publicly attacking the agreement, Ullman said the Israeli leader sees it as a threat to his political future before the October elections. \u201cBy Trump calling out Netanyahu, by saying that he, Trump, controls all the shots, it\u2019s giving rise to support an opposition candidate to Netanyahu when the elections come this fall,\u201d Ullman said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Vance backs US-Iran deal as Washington ends blockade and Iran hails wartime gains. Published On 19 Jun 202619…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":87542,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4],"tags":[3188,1731,239,1202,7294,2046,69,17,74,18445],"class_list":["post-87541","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-switzerland","tag-iran","tag-israel","tag-middle-east","tag-news","tag-nuclear-weapons","tag-oil-and-gas","tag-politics","tag-switzerland","tag-united-states","tag-us-israel-war-on-iran"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ch\/116775467380508420","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87541","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87541"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87541\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/87542"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87541"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87541"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87541"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}