Category Archives: US-Israel war on Iran

Israel and Hezbollah renew ceasefire after deadly flareup disrupts opening of Iran talks

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JD Vance pulls out of US-Iran meeting in Switzerland on implementation of peace deal after clashes in southern Lebanon

Israel and Hezbollah agreed to renew a fragile ceasefire in Lebanon on Friday after 24 hours of intense violence that posed an early challenge to the new agreement between the US and Iran to end their conflict.

A meeting that was scheduled to take place on Friday between Washington and Tehran in Switzerland to discuss implementation of the new deal was cancelled when Hezbollah killed four Israeli soldiers and Israel carried out a wave of retaliatory airstrikes in southern Lebanon and the Bekaa valley that killed at least 47 people.

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Barack Obama says US is ‘worse off’ than before war with Iran

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Former president nevertheless said in an interview that he was happy to see a ceasefire with Iran and hopes it holds

Barack Obama has said that after 15 weeks of war with Iran, the US is now “worse off” than before the conflict started in February.

“We’ve now fought a war, spent billions and billions of dollars, you know, put enormous strain on our military. A lot of people have died. And it feels like we’re back where we were before we started the war, except maybe a little bit worse off,” the former US president told NBC News in an interview that aired on Friday.

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Hormuz disruption will continue until 80 mines blocking route are cleared

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Tanker owner trade body says centre of strait will stay shut for ‘some time’, and vessels forced to hug Omani coast risk running aground

The centre of the strait of Hormuz is blocked with about 80 mines that will need clearing for normal shipping to resume, the independent tanker owner trade body has said.

Several vessels began to exit the Gulf through the key maritime chokepoint on Thursday after the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the US and Iran.

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JD Vance tells Iran deal critics in Israel: Trump is your only ally left in the world

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In a sharp rebuke to critics of Trump’s deal with Iran, the vice-president referenced the billions in defence aid Israel recieves from the US

US vice-president JD Vance has lashed out at Israeli critics of the Iran deal, saying Donald Trump is Israel’s only ally left in the world, in a sharp rebuke that referenced the billions in defence aid ⁠the country receives from America.

Vance was defending the deal ⁠reached this week to end the war ​with Iran that critics in the US and Israel have slammed for failing to curb Iran’s missile program and providing no clear path to dismantling its nuclear facilities, while constraining Israel in its war with Hezbollah militants in Lebanon.

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Gas prices fall below $4 on average after Trump’s signing of Iran deal to end war

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Drivers feel some relief but prices still a dollar more per gallon overall since before US-Israel attack on Iran

The average price of US gasoline fell to just under $4 a gallon on Thursday for the first time since March, following the announcement of a preliminary agreement between the US and Iran to end the war and reopen the strait of Hormuz.

The development has provided some relief to drivers who have seen soaring costs amid Washington’s war with Iran. But filling up still remains more expensive than it was before the conflict began.

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‘Everyone is angry for different reasons’: scepticism in Iran as peace deal nears

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Any sense of relief is offset by doubts over durability of agreement and feelings of betrayal by Trump administration

In the rural town of Sirik, in southern Iran, temperatures over the past week have climbed to 45C (113F), and residents were still queueing to fill buckets of water days after US strikes reportedly damaged two drinking water facilities serving nearby villages.

Amid the water shortages and the looming fear of war came news of a possible deal between Washington and Tehran. But for those struggling to pick up the pieces in the aftermath, the announcement brought little relief.

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US-Iran deal may get oil flowing again, but region’s root problems are unsolved

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Few analysts believe final settlement can be reached in 60 days – and even if it is, war and instability could soon return

In much of the Middle East, news that the US and Iran had come to a fragile agreement was greeted with relief tempered with doubt that any deal would resolve the turbulent region’s deep problems or even prevent a future return to war.

In Kuwait, a frequent target of Iranian drone strikes during the 15-week conflict, Iyad Joumma, a 37-year-old Jordanian engineer, spoke for many.

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Vance says details of US-Iran agreement still to be worked out amid scepticism from Republicans

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Senate Republicans say there are many unanswered questions about the deal and question inclusion of funds for Iran

The US vice-president, ⁠JD Vance, has said a number of issues still need to be figured out with Iran, as many Republicans expressed scepticism of the agreement reached this week by Donald Trump, and pressed the White House to release more information about it.

The memorandum of understanding (MOU) announced Sunday to end the war in Iran, set for a ceremonial signing on Friday in Geneva, is centred around reopening the strait of Hormuz and lifting the United States’ naval blockade in the region, along with financial incentives for Iran if it meets certain benchmarks.

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Trump hails Iran deal that fixes nothing except a problem his war caused

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Deal will leave things almost exactly as they were before feckless war of choice started

If we get to a Friday signing ceremony without this uncertain new US-Iran deal being derailed by any of its inherent ambiguities, then nuclear talks can finally restart in the same place – and at almost exactly the same point they were before this conflict started.

The world will have irrevocably been changed in other ways. There is no going back for the 120 Iranian children in Minab killed in their primary school in the war’s first hours, nor for their bereaved parents, or any of the thousands in Iran, Lebanon and around the region whose lives were erased or blighted by a feckless war of choice.

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‘We want to be 100% sure’: war-weary Lebanese greet truce with caution

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While officials welcome ceasefire, many people are uncertain it will last – and return to find homes destroyed

Hours after the US-Iran ceasefire was announced, residents of south Lebanon began to race back to their villages. One man filmed as he drove into the entrance of Harees, his arrival interrupted as the car in front of him suddenly veered off the road. An Israeli armoured vehicle was parked in the middle of the road less than 100 metres ahead; he scrambled to turn around.

“It was packed with explosives. I guess they still want to blow things up,” said Abdullah al-Ali, a municipal official in Harees. Ali said that the entrance to the town had been blocked off after two other explosive-laden vehicles left by the Israelis were discovered in the area.

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US-Iran peace deal hinges on shipping, sanctions relief and deferred nuclear talks

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Agreement contains no restrictions on Iran’s ballistic missiles, nor does it call for regime change or surrender

The basic structure of the US-Iran deal reached late on Sunday – a return to the prewar status quo – has been on offer from Iran for more than a month. So has the specific architecture: an immediate unwinding of the consequences of the US-Israeli war through the reopening of the strait of Hormuz and a deferral of the actual negotiations on Iran’s nuclear programme, the ostensible cause of the war. The concept of a 60-day ceasefire to resolve these issues has also been a fixture for more than a month.

But it has taken the mounting pressure on the US and Iranian economies for both sides to recognise politically that a return to all-out war was unlikely to resolve the impasse, and if so, compromises would have to be struck.

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Oil and gas unlikely to return to prewar prices for months even if Hormuz reopens

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Markets welcome US-Iran peace deal but prices may stay high as buyers race to refill depleted emergency crude stockpiles

After more than 100 days of the greatest recorded disruption to the world’s energy supplies, the global oil and gas markets have breathed a sigh of relief.

Hours after Donald Trump confirmed that a US-Iran peace deal would lead to the reopening of the strait of Hormuz for tankers carrying millions of barrels of oil and gas, the price of Brent crude tumbled to lows of $82 a barrel. Wholesale gas prices fell about 6%.

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Netanyahu declares victory over Iran – and rules out withdrawal from Lebanon

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Preliminary agreement between Washington and Tehran has prompted anger in Israel, and criticism of Netanyahu

Benjamin Netanyahu has hailed a historic victory over Iran and ruled out any immediate withdrawal from Lebanon, saying that Israel’s forces would remain there “for as long as necessary”.

“We established deep security zones around the state of Israel. We did this in Gaza, in Lebanon and in Syria,” the Israeli prime minister said in a televised press conference on Monday. “And I want to make it clear: we will remain in these security zones … to protect our country.”

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Indian outrage over US killing of sailors mounts as leaders attend G7 summit

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Relations at lowest ebb in years after Washington refuses to apologise for deaths in strait of Hormuz

Fury has continued to mount in India over the US’s refusal to apologise for the deaths of Indian sailors killed in strikes in the strait of Hormuz, further straining relations between the two countries as their leaders meet at the G7 summit in France this week.

Last week, three Indian seafarers, who were working on board commercial oil tankers, were killed when the US launched missile strikes on the vessel as it sailed through the strait of Hormuz.

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Peace deal between US and Iran announced, with strait of Hormuz expected to reopen

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Exact terms of the deal not clear amid differing claims from both sides on when access to the global shipping route would be restored

A peace deal between the US and Iran has been reached following nearly four months of fighting in the region, Donald Trump and senior Iranian officials have said.

Iranian deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi confirmed the agreement in televised comments in the early hours of Monday, saying it puts an “immediate end” to the countries’ war, and that it included Lebanon.

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Anger among Iranian hardliners at terms of deal agreed with US

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Those in favour forced to defend themselves against claims the terms amount to capitulation

Iranian hardliners have mounted a rearguard rejection of a deal with the US as as they say it does not guarantee sanctions relief, compensation or control of the strait of Hormuz.

“The fact that they say we won and America has retreated is a blatant lie,” said the Iranian MP Kamran Ghazanfari. Meysam Nili, the managing director of Rajanews and brother-in-law of the hardline former president Ebrahim Raisi, called the deal on the table a catastrophic capitulation. He urged Iranians not to sit quietly.

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Trump reportedly tells Putin he is prepared to help end war in Ukraine

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Trump also says in ‘friendly and frank’ phone call that US is nearing peace deal with Iran, according to Putin adviser

Donald Trump told Vladimir Putin that ending Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine was critical and that he was prepared to help, reported Russia’s TASS news agency.

During a phone call on Sunday, Trump also informed the Russian president that the US was nearing a peace deal with Iran as the US-Israel war against the country continues, according to Yuri Ushakov, a Putin adviser. The call between Trump and Putin, which lasted about an hour, was described as “friendly and frank” by Ushakov.

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Chaotic talks on a US-Iran deal continue on the Trump rollercoaster

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Amid rhetoric, market uncertainty and tit-for-tat exchanges, the two sides are still trying to find a way out of the impasse

Great news! Donald Trump has said the US and Iran are on the verge of a peace agreement. Oil prices are down, and the stock market is up. This comes only hours after Trump warned Iran was about to be struck “VERY HARD”, a threat that had sent oil prices up and stocks down.

It has been another ride on the Trump rollercoaster, keeping traders on edge, most of the world poorer, and people of the Middle East constantly whiplashing between fear and hope. But whether the ride veers up or down, the management always makes money.

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Oil prices plummet as Trump claims he is close to US-Iran deal

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Brent crude falls as optimism rises that strait of Hormuz could reopen over the weekend

Global oil prices fell on Friday to lows not seen since the first week of the Iran crisis after Donald Trump claimed he was close to reaching a peace deal with Tehran.

The price of Brent crude began to tumble from about $93 a barrel in overnight trade after the US president called off further military strikes against Iran scheduled for the evening.

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An ideological tug-of-war: the pressures facing Iran’s World Cup squad in US

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Flag bans, travel headaches and a religious regime video among bumps in road, as team prepares to be first to play in country with which it is at war

Iran will present a major challenge to Fifa’s “football unites the world” slogan on Monday by becoming the first country in World Cup history to compete on the soil of a host nation with which it is at war.

The national team’s opening match against New Zealand in Los Angeles will kick off amid continuing hostilities between Iran and the US that have intensified in recent days, as a fragile ceasefire has failed to hold and attempts at reaching a negotiated settlement have sputtered.

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