Updated on: Jun 19, 2026 7:20:30 AM IST
US-Iran deal LIVE: A two-month negotiating period now begins with all eyes on the reopening of Hormuz and if progress can be made in talks over Iran’s nuclear programme.
US-Iran deal LIVE updates: The United States on Thursday ended its blockade of Iran, allowing oil tankers to resume normal passage through the Strait of Hormuz after months of disruption to traffic through the key waterway, as a temporary peace deal aimed at ending the conflict came into force. The developments came as Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei backed direct talks with the US in a statement carried by state media.
In Washington, however, US vice president JD Vance on Thursday delivered a sharp response to Israeli critics of the Iran deal, slamming what he described as the “freakout in Israel” over the peace accord.
Mojtaba Khamenei said that he had approved the memorandum of understanding, while adding that “desperate” US President Donald Trump had used all forms of leverage during the negotiations.
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In Washington, however, US vice president JD Vance on Thursday delivered a sharp response to Israeli critics of the Iran deal, slamming what he described as the “freakout in Israel” over the peace accord.
Mojtaba Khamenei said that he had approved the memorandum of understanding, while adding that “desperate” US President Donald Trump had used all forms of leverage during the negotiations.
Follow all the updates here:
Jun 19, 2026 7:20:30 AM IST
US-Iran deal LIVE: Iran will invite IAEA to inspect its nuclear sites, claims Trump envoy
US-Iran deal LIVE: Iran will invite the UN’s nuclear watchdog agency to inspect its nuclear sites and begin work on identifying and uncovering the locations of Tehran’s enriched material, Trump envoy Steve Witkoff told US lawmakers in a private briefing.
The private briefing on Thursday was described by two people familiar with the conversation who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to share the closed-door details.
Jun 19, 2026 7:17:49 AM IST
US-Iran deal LIVE: Vance’s Switzerland trip to lead new US talks with Iran delayed
US-Iran deal LIVE: The White House said on Thursday night that US vice president JD Vance was delaying a visit to Switzerland, where he was due to head a fresh round of talks with Iran over its nuclear programme, raising fresh questions about the future of the tentative agreement aimed at ending the war.
It said the team led by Vance had been prepared to depart but had decided to delay the trip because of logistical challenges linked to the negotiations.
The announcement came after Al-Mayadeen, a pan-Arab satellite television channel that is politically aligned with the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, reported that Iran was postponing the dispatch of its delegation to Switzerland because of Israel’s continuing military campaign in Lebanon.
Jun 19, 2026 7:14:54 AM IST
US-Iran deal LIVE: Khamenei says accepted MoU, calls Trump ‘desperate’
US-Iran deal LIVE: Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei said Thursday that he had approved despite reservations a deal signed by US President Donald Trump to end the war in West Asia, as the US lifted a blockade of Iranian ports.
“In principle, I had a different view (about the memorandum of understanding), but I issued my permission due to the commitment that the honourable (Iranian) president, as the chairman of the Supreme National Security Council, gave me on behalf of himself and other members to protect the rights of the Iranian nation and the Resistance Front,” Khamenei said in message read on state television
Khamenei said Trump had “used all kinds of levers” to secure the deal “out of desperation”.
Jun 19, 2026 6:48:22 AM IST
US-Iran deal LIVE: Vance slams Israeli ‘freakout’ over Iran deal
US-Iran deal LIVE: US Vice President JD Vance lashed out at members of Israel’s government, saying that the country is deeply isolated and its leaders have failed to appreciate American diplomatic and military support.
“Donald J Trump is the only head of state in the entire world who is sympathetic to the nation of Israel at this moment in time,” Vance said during a news briefing at the White House on Thursday.
“The problem for Israel is not Donald J Trump, and anybody in Israel who thinks their biggest problem is the president of the United States needs to wake up and smell the reality of the situation that country is in.”
In an interview with The New York Times published earlier on Thursday, Vance said: “I find this whole freakout in Israel a little bit odd because I think that it comes from a place of mistrust, and I think that America has earned the trust of that region, of the world.”
