Middle East live: US-Iran peace talks underway as strait of Hormuz remains closed

There ⁠was and is ‘no restriction’ on ⁠Israeli ⁠soldiers ​to act to eliminate ⁠threats in Lebanon, and that troops would not withdraw from the security zone, ‌Israeli defence minister ‌Israel Katz said in a statement on Sunday, according to Reuters.

Israeli strikes killed at ‌least 20 people in Lebanon ​on Saturday, Lebanon’s state news agency NNA reported, ⁠a day after a ​ceasefire with ​Iran-backed Hezbollah ​took effect ​after ‌months of ​escalating ​violence.

Rafael Grossi, the chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency, says he has met Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis in Burgenstock “to take stock of recent developments regarding Iran, the path ahead and the important role of the IAEA”.

The pair shook hands as teams from Iran and the US met to negotiate in Switzerland.

“At this critical moment, it’s important to give diplomacy every opportunity to succeed,” he said.

Earlier this month, IAEA’s governing board passed a US-backed resolution demanding Iran provide “complete information” on its enriched ⁠uranium stocks and grant access to inspectors to verify them.

Israelis overwhelmingly believe that Iran emerged stronger from the Middle East war and its subsequent deal with the United States, a poll released on Sunday found, as reported by AFP.

The poll of 3,644 respondents, conducted between 17 June and 20 by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in collaboration with the Agam Institute, paints a stark picture of public sentiment after the US-Iran deal.

Of those surveyed, 92.1% said Iran had won or gained more from the conflict, while 82.9% felt that Israel’s long-term security had been weakened.

The survey found that even among voters who support the right-wing bloc, the electoral base of prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, 93.1% believed Iran had won.

Opposition to the US-Iran agreement was widespread, with 63.2% of respondents opposing it compared with just 12.1% expressing support.

The findings pointed to a broader crisis of confidence in Israel’s leadership.

Nearly three-quarters of those surveyed, 72.5% , said they did not believe Netanyahu’s claims about the military campaign’s achievements, while 56.4% rated his management of the campaign as “failed” or “poor”.

The poll also pointed to the political price paid by Netanyahu, with support for his premiership plummeting from 40.5% in early March to 29.4% in June.

Despite this, the survey found ongoing support for military action against Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Nearly half of respondents, 48.2%, backed renewed major military action against Hezbollah in Lebanon, even if it risked confrontation with Washington, while only 21% opposed such a move.

Talks between Iran and the US aimed at building out the fragile interim deal to end the war are due to get under way in Switzerland, beset by difficulties including an Iranian decision to keep the strait of Hormuz closed in protest at Donald Trump’s inability to force Israel to end the fighting in Lebanon.

The US vice-president, JD Vance, leading the US delegation, said he was adding Lebanon to the agenda, which had originally been conceived to focus on the opening of the strait, the lifting of US sanctions on Iranian oil exports and the unfreezing of Iranian assets held overseas.

Vance arrived at a Qatari-owned Swiss mountainside resort in Bürgenstock early on Sunday to meet Iranian negotiators for the second time since the months-long conflict began. He has already held direct talks with the Iranians in Islamabad.

The Iranian delegation is led by the speaker of the parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, but the presence of the deputy oil minister and the governor of Iran’s central bank shows how Iran had wanted to focus on the terms for lifting sanctions.

The first clause of the memorandum of understanding published last week requires a ceasefire on all fronts including Lebanon, where fighting has escalated between Israel and the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah.

Full report here:

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian reiterated on Sunday that Tehran was willing to provide assurances that the country was not seeking a nuclear weapon, while insisting that Iran would not relinquish its right to enrich uranium, AFP reports.

“What the United States demands is that Iran not build an atomic bomb. This is nothing new, and we can also state in writing that we have no intention of building a bomb,” the president’s website quoted him as saying.

“However, we will not relinquish our right to enrichment, and the other side will have no choice but to accept this right,” he added, before Iranian and US negotiators were set to meet for talks in Switzerland later on Sunday.

Iran said on Sunday that the ongoing conflict in Lebanon between Israel and militant group Hezbollah will top the agenda in talks with the US in Switzerland, as well as issues such as frozen Iranian funds and the sale of the country’s oil.

“The Zionist regime continues to violate its commitment in Lebanon, this issue will be the main topic of discussion in today’s talks,” foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei said in a video shared by IRNA state news agency.

Tehran said on Thursday it had signed a deal with Washington to end months of hostilities that began on 28 February following US-Israeli attacks on Iran.

Under the agreement, the Israel-Hezbollah conflict in Lebanon was also due to stop.

Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon on Saturday killed at least 16 people, local authorities said, despite reports of a renewed ceasefire aiming to end the continuing clashes.

Lebanon’s civil defence agency said its personnel transported “16 dead and 12 wounded” to hospital, adding that they had been working “since the early morning hours” in the Nabatieh district.

Iran has said it is closing the strait of Hormuz after waves of Israeli strikes in Lebanon in a move that threatens to derail the fragile interim peace deal with the US, signed just days ago.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps warned ships not to approach the strategic waterway, which before the war carried a fifth of global oil and liquid gas supplies, citing what it called Israeli crimes in Lebanon and a US violation of commitments to establish a ceasefire there.

It was unclear if the threat had been carried out, or if it would jeopardise talks in Switzerland scheduled for Sunday that were supposed to start the process of turning the current interim agreement between the US and Iran signed this week into a more detailed deal covering Iran’s nuclear programme.

Donald Trump promptly declared that “NO TOLLS” would be charged on ships seeking to pass through the strait during or after the ⁠60-day interim ceasefire. In a social media post on Saturday, however, he raised the prospect of the US imposing a toll should negotiations fail.

Hello and welcome to our coverage of the latest in the Middle East and updates on the on going peace talks between the US and Iran.

Here are the latest developments:

• On Sunday delegations for the US and Iran delegations have arrived at Swiss resort for talks. Mediators from Pakistan and Qatar will also be in attendance according to the Swiss foreign ministry. Washington and Tehran signed a memorandum of understanding earlier in June.

• This follows news that Iran has said it has closed the strait of Hormuz over continued strikes from Israel in Lebanon. On Sunday Iran’s Fars news agency agency cited a military source ⁠as ⁠saying that the strait ⁠of Hormuz remains closed and the Revolutionary ⁠Guards navy has ​not ‌issued permission for ‌any vessels to ‌transit until further notice.

• Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon on Saturday killed at least 16 people, local authorities said.

• US vice-president JD Vance arrived at the Swiss mountainside resort of Burgenstock early on Sunday to meet Iranian negotiators for the second time.

• US Central Command says ⁠55 merchant ships transited strait on Saturday.

Read our latest report here:

Iran has said it is closing the strait of Hormuz after waves of Israeli strikes in Lebanon in a move that threatens to derail the fragile interim peace deal with the US, signed just days ago.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps warned ships not to approach the strategic waterway, which before the war carried a fifth of global oil and liquid gas supplies, citing what it called Israeli crimes in Lebanon and a US violation of commitments to establish a ceasefire there.

It was unclear if the threat had been carried out, or if it would jeopardise talks in Switzerland scheduled for Sunday that were supposed to start the process of turning the current interim agreement between the US and Iran signed this week into a more detailed deal covering Iran’s nuclear programme.