Summary

  • Donald Trump insists the Strait of Hormuz will open "toll-free" under the US's deal with Iran to end the war

  • Speaking at the G7 summit in France, the US president also says Iran will "never have a nuclear weapon" and criticises Israel over Lebanon

  • Trump's comments - among his most outspoken yet - show the extent of his angry spat with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, our correspondent writes

  • Pakistan, a key mediator, announced on Sunday that the US and Iran had reached an agreement but its contents are yet to be shared - here's what we do know

  • On Monday, Trump administration officials said the deal had already been signed electronically by both sides, with a formal ceremony due to take place in Geneva, Switzerland later this week

  • Meanwhile, the price of oil continues to fall, with a barrel of Brent crude dropping below $80 for the first time since early March

  1. How are Iranians reacting to the deal?published at 17:25 BST

    Amir Azimi
    BBC Persian editor

    Iran's leadership is trying to present its emerging deal with the US not as a retreat, but as the result of resistance and victory.

    But the reaction from our BBC Persian audience suggests the official victory narrative is landing unevenly.

    One person told us they had been very worried about another Israeli attack, but even after hearing about the agreement, said they had "no trust" and were worried about whether the country would be properly managed if the deal lasted.

    Another anti-regime Iranian, who initially supported US military action, said: "Our hope was that the ruling system would change. But apart from misery, inflation, and further damage to the economy, what benefit did it have?"

    Others were more sympathetic to the government's line. One person described Iran as the winner, saying the war showed sanctions are lifted not through "begging", but through power.

    But for many Iranians, success will not be measured by slogans. It will be measured by whether the war stops, prices ease and if the leadership can manage the next phase without another sudden escalation.

  2. Four killed after strikes in southern Lebanon, state media reportspublished at 16:58 BST

    Four people have died in strikes in southern Lebanon, according to the state-run National News Agency (NNA) and daily newspaper L'Orient-Le Jour, after separate attacks on at least three vehicles reported between Mayfadoun and Shoukin today.

    A further four people have been injured after a bomb was dropped in Hadatha, southern Lebanon, the NNA reports.

    Israel has not yet commented. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has previously said his forces would not withdraw from southern Lebanon in light of the deal agreed by the US and Iran.

    US President Trump has been critical of Netanyahu's continued strikes in Lebanon - describing an Israeli strike on Beirut this weekend as "vicious".

  3. Analysis

    US deal is a chance to breathe - but difficult issues still have to be thrashed outpublished at 16:50 BST

    Jon Donnison
    Reporting from Jerusalem

    A photo of a black cloud of smoke billowing from a destroyed area in Lebanon. We can see debris from buildings in the foreground and more buildings in the backgroundImage source, AFP via Getty Images
    Image caption,

    Smoke rises from southern Lebanon on Monday, where strikes were reported

    Two days after the US-Iran deal was announced, there’s scant detail of what’s in it.

    US Vice President JD Vance has acknowledged the Memorandum of Understanding is only about a page-and-a-half long, and "very general".

    So, a lot of the negotiations over the more difficult issues still have to be thrashed out.

    Crucially those issues include Iran’s nuclear programme. In southern Lebanon the fragility of this deal has already become apparent. Overnight, Israel’s military carried out strikes on figures it said were approaching Israeli soldiers, with four people "eliminated". Hezbollah said it had fired missiles and drones in return.

    Iran has insisted Lebanon must be part of its deal with the US, while Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday his forces would not withdraw and would maintain operational freedom.

    So, while this deal gives the region a chance to breathe, there is still much that could see negotiations unravel.

  4. Friday's ceremony comes after deal already signedpublished at 16:26 BST

    As we've reported, the signing ceremony for the US-Iran deal will take place at the Burgenstock resort, near Lucerne in central Switzerland.

    The ceremony takes place after Donald Trump, JD Vance and Iran's speaker Mohammed Bagher Ghalibaf already electronically signed a memorandum of understanding to end the war in Iran on Sunday.

    Vance previously hinted Trump may decide to release the contents of the deal earlier than Friday, describing the document as being "about a page and a half" and "very general".

    But the US President has since played down the idea, saying he wanted to "get a formal setting first".

    "I'll not only release it, I'll probably have a press conference and read it to you word by word so that the press covers it accurately," he said at the G7 Summit.

    The signing will kick off a 60-day period in which Tehran and Washington will negotiate a permanent peace deal, with the future of Iran's nuclear programme expected to be a prominent talking point.

  5. Analysis

    Zelensky hopes Trump will soon put Iran in the rear-view and focus on Ukrainepublished at 16:02 BST

    Paul Adams
    Diplomatic correspondent

    Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskiy speak to each other during the G7 summit in Evian-les-Bains, France, June 16, 2026.Image source, Reuters

    With an agreement signed between the US and Iran, Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky sensed a moment of opportunity.

    Before Donald Trump launched the war on Iran at the end of February, his negotiators were holding near simultaneous rounds of negotiations on Iran and Ukraine.

    After the war began, the Ukraine talks stopped. As energy prices rose and the US eased sanctions on Russian oil, Ukraine complained that this would merely help to fund Russia’s war chest.

    The war also diverted precious air defence equipment away from Ukraine, as the US sought to protect its bases and allies in the Middle East.

    Now, Kyiv hopes that Donald Trump will start to view the conflict with Iran through his rear-view mirror and can once again focus his efforts on Ukraine.

    “We…believe that now President Trump will be much freer to get engaged back into Ukrainian-Russian war,” Ukraine’s former foreign minister Vadym Pristaiko told the BBC. “We need his presence.”

    Despite earlier doubts that he would meet Donald Trump at the G7, Zelensky was able to sit down with the most powerful man in the world.

    According to the Ukrainian leader, Donald Trump listened to his request for additional all-important Patriot air defence missiles.

    “He was very positive about their ability to help us,” Zelensky told Reuters.

    There was more promising news for Zelensky, as Donald Trump said “soon we will be able” to reimpose sanctions on Russian oil.

  6. 'Not a single cent of US money goes to Iran' as part of deal, JD Vance tells Fox Newspublished at 15:50 BST

    US Vice President JD Vance pictured on 28 May 2026Image source, Reuters

    US Vice President JD Vance says "not a red cent of American money" will go to Iran as part of the peace deal with the US.

    Speaking to Fox News, Vance contrasts the Trump administration with former US President Barack Obama, who Vance says gave Iran "over $1bn (£746,000,000) in a pallet of cash".

    When asked if there was $300bn in repatriations coming from Qatar and “$24bn in unfrozen assets, Vance says that is “basically Iranian propaganda”.

    "What is happening is that some elements in their society are trying to sell this deal as positively as possible to their domestic audience,” he tells the channel.

    "Not a single cent of American money goes to Iran, not $300bn, not $24bn, not any of the money."

    However, there could be "benefits to Iran if they perform their end of the obligation," Vance says - adding Qatar, the UAE, or Saudi Arabia may choose to invest in Iran.

  7. Analysis

    Trump's comments about Israel are his most outspoken yetpublished at 15:22 BST

    Tom Bateman
    US State Department correspondent

    Netanyahu and Trump in front of US and Israeli flags. They are looking at each other and Trump is pointing his finger at the Israeli leaderImage source, Reuters
    Image caption,

    Trump and Netanyahu following a news conference last year

    President Trump’s comments about Israel are among his most outspoken yet, showing the extent of his current angry spat with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

    On several occasions as Trump has moved closer to diplomacy with Iran, the Israeli leader has escalated in Lebanon - Israel says this is in response to drone or missile fire by Hezbollah.

    But Trump described the Israeli strike on Beirut this weekend - just as he was on the verge of a deal with Tehran - as "vicious".

    He diminished the importance of the Israel-Hezbollah conflict, called on Netanyahu to be more responsible and appeared to accuse him of using disproportionate force.

    "You don't have to knock down an apartment house every time you're looking for somebody," Trump said. "If Israel can't do the job without killing everyone else... Syria will do the job," he said, referring to the Syrian president Ahmed al-Sharaa.

    Trump suggested al-Sharaa had, unlike Netanyahu, dealt with Hezbollah more quickly in Syria.

    Al-Sharaa is a former Sunni jihadist militant now leading Syria with Western backing, who Trump appeared to be suggesting to lead a fight against Hezbollah in Lebanon. This was another remarkable comment, given Lebanon’s sectarian fragility and history of civil conflict aggravated by past Syrian intervention.

    As for Netanyahu, he is again likely to brush off Trump’s latest reprimand - he will point to him also saying the pair had an "unbelievable relationship".

    But the president’s readiness to publicly excoriate his ally is becoming more pointed as he feels Netanyahu has threatened his ability to extricate himself from the war on Iran.

    It also highlights the deepening backlash within a faction of Trump’s MAGA movement against traditional Republican support for Israel.

  8. US and Iran to sign deal at Swiss resortpublished at 15:06 BST

    Iran and the US will be officially signing the deal in the Swiss resort of Burgenstock, Switzerland's Foreign Ministry tells the Schweiz Heute newspaper.

    The delegations are expected to meet on Friday. According to Swiss media, negotiators Pakistan and Qatar proposed the location.

    It’s the second time in two years that the resort has been picked to host diplomatic talks, after world leaders met there for the Summit on Peace in Ukraine in June 2024.

    Wide shot of Lake Lucerne in Switzerland taken from the resort of BurgenstockImage source, Getty Images
  9. Hezbollah says it has assurances Iran will demand Israeli troop withdrawalpublished at 14:55 BST

    Lebanon’s Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem pictured previously during a televised speech wearing black robes and white headdress while pointing at cameraImage source, Reuters
    Image caption,

    Lebanon’s Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem pictured during a televised speech broadcast last year

    Hezbollah says it has received assurances from Iran that it will demand a withdrawal of Israeli troops from Lebanon in its next phase of talks with the US - according to the Reuters news agency, citing the group’s media relations office.

    Meanwhile, Naim Qassem, Hezbollah's secretary general, has expressed his "profound gratitude" to Iran's Parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf on the matter.

    In a post shared on the Telegram account of the Hezbollah-affiliated Al-Manar TV station, Qassem thanks him for his "strong and supportive" stance towards Lebanon - including "compelling" Israel to cease military operations as a "fundamental clause" of the deal between Iran and the US.

  10. Analysis

    What did Trump do differently to Obama on Iran?published at 14:40 BST

    Gary O'Donoghue
    Chief North America correspondent, reporting from Washington DC

    Donald Trump and Barack Obama in the Oval Office in 2016, three boom microphones for television broadcasts are held out in front of them.Image source, Reuters
    Image caption,

    Trump and Obama in the Oval Office in 2016

    If there’s one thing Donald Trump has been clear about regarding the US deal with Iran, it’s promising that it will be better than the one Barack Obama signed in 2015.

    “We didn't pay for it like Obama did. He paid billions of dollars,” President Trump told reporters at the G7 summit in France this morning.

    Both deals, however, involve sanctions relief and unfreezing Iranian money - though the current White House says that will all depend on Iran meeting its obligations under the agreement.

    We were also briefed that one of the proposals still being discussed is a $300bn (£224bn) fund to help rebuild Iran. Who would pay for that was uncertain, but the president has now dismissed the idea as "fake news".

    There is undeniably some overlap. Both Trump’s deal and Obama’s Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) involved inspections to ensure Iran doesn’t develop a nuclear weapon.

    What neither deal has directly addressed is the political plight of the Iranian people - they are no freer than before.

    The obvious difference, of course, is that Barack Obama never bombed Iran.

    Donald Trump did and said US strikes have destroyed much of the country’s nuclear facilities and buried its stockpiles of uranium.

    But war has come at a cost. Iran launched attacks on many of its neighbours in the region including Israel, further destabilising an already volatile Middle East.

    It also closed the Strait of Hormuz, pushing up energy and fertiliser prices worldwide - that was new and hugely damaging.

    That’s why Trump’s deal - at least in the first phase being announced this week - focuses less on the detail of limiting Iran’s nuclear programme, and more on containing a conflict.

  11. Price of Brent crude oil drops below $80 for first time since Marchpublished at 14:15 BST

    Nick Edser
    Business reporter

    We reported earlier that the oil price has fallen further on hopes that the US-Iran deal will lead to the Strait of Hormuz reopening.

    Now the price of Brent crude, the global benchmark, has dropped below $80 (£60) a barrel for the first time since early March, falling to $79.90.

    The price of Brent is now well below the peak it hit during the war, which was about $120 a barrel.

    Before the conflict began it was trading at around $70.

  12. No rush on confiscating enriched uranium - Trumppublished at 14:05 BST

    President Trump speaking at the G7 summitImage source, Reuters

    Trump adds that the agreement is about one thing - Iran never having a nuclear weapon - "the rest of it's irrelevant frankly," he says.

    He describes the agreement as a "wall against a nuclear weapon," comparing it with former US President Barack Obama's JCPOA, which Trump says "could have destroyed the Middle East".

    Asked about retrieving the enriched uranium in Iran, Trump says there's no rush to when they confiscate it.

    Trump adds the deal will be sent to the United States Congress for approval.

  13. 'Iran wants to get it done,' Trump tells reporters at G7 summitpublished at 13:54 BST

    Trump and President Sheikh Mohammed bin ZayedImage source, Reuters

    US President Donald Trump has been speaking alongside UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed at the G7 Summit in France.

    Asked what he expects from the second stage of negotiations with Iran, Trump says he thinks "it's going to happen fairly on time".

    "Iran wants to get it done, they have to get back to business," he tells reporters.

    Asked why there's been no release of the text so far, he replies saying he wants "to get a formal setting first".

    Elaborating, he continues: "Iran will never have a nuclear weapon, that's what it says... That's about 99.9 per cent of what I wanted."

    He says the Strait of Hormuz is going to be opened "toll-free", including beyond the 60-day time period.

    Trump says he will hold a news conference to read out the agreement document "word by word".

    "Because it's a very important document," he says.

  14. BBC Verify

    Seven vessels have transited out of Strait of Hormuz since deal announcedpublished at 13:45 BST

    By Shruti Menon

    Vessel traffic leaving the Gulf and passing through the Strait of Hormuz remains low since the announcement of a deal to end the conflict on Sunday, ship-tracking data on MarineTraffic shows.

    BBC Verify has identified only seven vessels, three tankers and four cargo ships, transiting the waterway and exiting into the Gulf of Oman over that period.

    According to maritime intelligence firm Windward, one liquefied petroleum gas tanker transited without broadcasting its location, the other six ships exited with their trackers active.

    LNG (liquefied natural gas) tanker Disha was reportedly the first to transit through the strait with its location transponders on. The ship has now sailed into the Arabian sea and is currently heading to Dahej port in India’s Gujarat state, according to the Indian authorities.

    BBC Verify has seen a video showing the tanker’s transit, which was first shared online yesterday and appears to have been filmed from another nearby ship.

    A screengrab from a video showing large green tanker is seen sailing past another shipImage source, X

    Ship movement through the strait has remained well below normal levels since early March. An average of five to six vessels have transited each day over the past week, compared with more than 100 daily crossings before the conflict.

  15. Qatar 'cautiously optimistic' over agreement between US and Iranpublished at 13:30 BST

    Majed Al Ansari speaking into several microphones from behind a lecternImage source, Reuters
    Image caption,

    Majed Al Ansari speaking at a press briefing in February

    Qatar - one of the key negotiators in the deal to end the war between the US and Iran - says it believes the agreement could deliver security to the Middle East.

    Foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al Ansari tells reporters at his weekly press briefing that Doha is "cautiously optimistic" about the framework deal and that “the signing of the memorandum of understanding will lead to the next phase of regional security through the talks that will take place on the nuclear programme and on other issues."

    Confirming his country took part in the talks “as part of the mediation team led by Pakistan,” Al Ansari says the agreement will re-open the Strait of Hormuz which will “allow countries like Qatar to again be supplying energy to the world”.

    Details of the deal may be released before Friday, according to US Vice-President JD Vance.

  16. Oil prices fall further as investors show cautious optimismpublished at 13:03 BST

    Shanaz Musafer
    Business reporter

    The price of oil has fallen further today as investors continue to show cautious optimism around the US-Iran deal to bring about an end to the war.

    The price of Brent crude, the global benchmark, is currently down 2.6% on the day to about $81.05 (£60) a barrel.

    That follows a drop of 4.5% yesterday after the US and Iran said they had agreed a deal.

    The price of Brent is now well below the peak it hit during the war - about $120 - but still higher than the $70 it was trading at before the conflict began.

    Following broad stock market gains on Monday, leading share indexes in London, Paris and Frankfurt were all slightly higher by Tuesday lunchtime.

  17. Analysis

    Trump's Obama analogy is like comparing apples and orangespublished at 12:56 BST

    Paul Adams
    Diplomatic correspondent

    As the world waits for details of the deal he's reached with Iran, Donald Trump is at pains to say how much better it is than the work of his predecessor, Barack Obama.

    "This deal is a wall to a nuclear weapon," the president told reporters this morning. "His (Obama's) deal was a road to a nuclear weapon."

    But it’s a misleading analogy and the president is comparing apples and oranges.

    The deal due to be signed in Geneva on Friday is a short memorandum of understanding - US Vice President JD Vance says it’s a page-and-a-half long - which will outline a difficult set of negotiations that will follow over the course of 60 days.

    The 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) was a 159-page detailed agreement, reached after 20 months of formal negotiations between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, plus the European Union (the "P5+1").

    The JCPOA aimed to constrain Iran’s nuclear programme by placing limits on the number and type of centrifuges it could use and the level of uranium enrichment permitted.

    The deal wasn’t perfect and had plenty of critics, but it was working until Donald Trump pulled the US out in 2018.

    We will only know if Trump is capable of pulling off something better when negotiations end in two months' time.

    There's no shortage of scepticism.

    Writing in the Israeli daily newspaper Maariv on Monday, journalist Ben Caspit said Israelis were increasingly convinced that the JCPOA would look "perfect in comparison" to whatever emerges from this summer’s negotiations.

  18. Conflicting messages on details of deal from US and Iranpublished at 12:39 BST

    Nabiha Ahmed
    Live reporter

    Esmail Baghaei Hamaneh, spokesperson of Foreign Ministry seen during his weekly press conference.Image source, Getty Images
    Image caption,

    Baghaei discussed economic sanctions, the Strait of Hormuz, and Israeli military presence in Lebanon during a press conference yesterday

    The contents of a deal between the US and Iran to bring about an end to the war are yet to be released, but we've been hearing some details from officials on both sides.

    Since the deal was announced on Sunday, there have been conflicting messages from officials in Washington and Tehran on what it will look like:

    What has Iran said?

    Economic pledges: Iran'sforeign affairs spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said yesterday the US has committed to taking action to rebuild Iran and to lifting economic sanctions.

    The Strait of Hormuz: Baghaei also said that Oman and Iran would be taking "necessary measures" to ensure the "safe" passage of ships through the vital waterway.

    Lebanon: "Lebanon and the end of the war in Lebanon are an inseparable part of the agreement to end the war," Baghaei said yesterday, adding that the the US "must ensure" that Israel follows suit.

    What has the US said?

    Economic pledges:Trump has described the prospect of investing money in Iran as "ridiculous". It comes after reports that the US was prepared to allow an investment fund for Iran in exchange for Tehran’s agreement to a final settlement.

    The Strait of Hormuz: Trump said on Sunday the Strait of Hormuz would be opened when the initial agreement was signed, but has not provided details on who will control the strait.

    Lebanon: A senior US official said yesterday that Israel's withdrawal from Lebanon is not part of the deal.

  19. What we know about the US-Iran deal to end the warpublished at 12:21 BST

    Vessels at the Strait of Hormuz.Image source, Reuters
    Image caption,

    US officials say the Strait of Hormuz will re-open on Friday

    Donald Trump says the peace deal between the US and Iran is now progressing to the "second stage" - but did not provide more details.

    Here's the latest on the deal

    The deal was agreed on Sunday but details of its content have yet to be released.

    On Monday, the US president said "the deal is all signed" and the full text will be published "pretty soon".

    He also suggested it could be released once the two parties have formally signed the deal in Switzerland on Friday.

    Senior US officials have said that, as part of the deal, the Strait of Hormuz would re-open on Friday.

    US Vice-President JD Vance then said Trump may decide to release the contents of the deal earlier.

    The deal will extend a ceasefire for another 60 days, during which the sides will negotiate details of a final agreement.

    Iran's Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi confirmed a new round of negotiations on reaching a final peace deal with the US would begin in Switzerland the same day.

    US officials also said technical talks on Iran's nuclear programme are expected to begin this week during negotiations.

  20. Analysis

    A political nightmare for Netanyahupublished at 12:05 BST

    Lucy Williamson
    Middle East correspondent

    Benjamin Netanyahu in a black suit with red tie.Image source, Getty Images

    The deal to end the US-Iran war has presented Israel's prime minister with a political nightmare, smashing the three cornerstones of Benjamin Netanyahu's political career.

    How can the man who styled himself as the political whisperer of Washington, with real influence over American politicians, be sidelined quite so comprehensively and insulted so publicly by his key US ally?

    How can the man who made taking on Iran the centre-piece of Israel's security policy end the war with Iran's regime arguably in a stronger position?

    And how can his old, tarnished political image as Israel's "Mr Security" survive the demand from Washington and Tehran that Israel cease attacking Hezbollah in Lebanon, months before an Israeli general election?

    Amid the cacophony of criticism and outrage from across the political spectrum, Israel's prime minister bristled at suggestions from journalists on Monday night that he had failed. But he also admitted there were cases in which he and Trump saw things differently.

    Often quick to claim victory, Israel's prime minister now faces a difficult task in deciding his next steps.

    Security has been the cornerstone of Netanyahu's offering to voters for decades. That is an increasingly difficult message to deliver.

    • You can read more analysis from Lucy Williamson on how the Iran deal weakens Netanyahu's positionhere