Image source, Iranian Parliament Speaker Office

Iran's parliamentary speaker has said Israel must withdraw from southern Lebanon in a phone call with his Lebanese counterpart.

In a new statement on Telegram, Mohammad Ghalibaf, who signed the US deal on Iran's behalf electronically on Sunday, says he told his Lebanese counterpart that the "war must end on all fronts, including Lebanon".

He says the "occupiers" - meaning Israel - "must withdraw from the occupied areas", allowing residents to return to their homes "with dignity and pride".

Earlier, Iran'sforeign affairs spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said Lebanon was an "inseparable" part of any agreement to end the war.

However, Donald Trump earlier said he believed his deal with Iran could survive if Israel continued to attack Lebanon.

Did Obama’s deal allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon?published at 18:19 BST

18:19 BST

By Tom Edgington

Earlier Donald Trump said the former Obama administration’s 2015 nuclear deal allowed Iran “to have a nuclear weapon”.

Under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) Iran had to:

• Reduce its enriched uranium stockpile (a key component of a nuclear weapon) by 98%,
• Cap enrichment at 3.67% purity - far below the 90% needed for weapons
• Accept international monitoring

The International Atomic Energy Agency reported Iran was complying, and the US State Department said in April 2018 Iran was "fully implementing" it weeks before Trump withdrew from the deal.

JCPOA critic Jacob Olidor, from the America First Policy Institute, argues so-called "sunset clauses" meant Iran could eventually have expanded its nuclear programme.

But the JCPOA's chief negotiator Cathy Ashton argues it stopped Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, telling BBC Verify if Trump felt that the deal was inadequate, “the answer was to build on it, not to rip it up”.

Michael Race
Business and economics reporter

Image source, Reuters

Oil prices fell further this afternoon as expectations grew that the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway for the global shipment of the fuel, would reopen under a deal between the US and Iran.

Brent crude, the global benchmark for oil prices, fell to $78 (£58) a barrel on Tuesday evening as constraints on oil supplies are set to be eased.

The Wall Street Journal also reported that Iran would be able to immediately start selling oil under its agreement with the US, which extended price falls.

The conflict in the Middle East has pushed up energy bills, petrol prices and overall inflation across the world, raising the prospects of interest rate hikes.

However, the latest deal has increased the likelihood rates will be left on hold when the US central bank, the Federal Reserve, meets on Wednesday.

The Bank of England is also set to hold rates on Thursday.

The Israel Defense Forces says it has undertaken several strikes in Lebanon today.

It claims to have intercepted several rockets launched by Hezbollah from the south of the country.

The IDF also says it struck the rocket launcher, which it claims was firing towards its forces in southern Lebanon.

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.

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".

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

16:50 BST

Jon Donnison
Reporting from Jerusalem

Image source, AFP via Getty Images

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.

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.

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

16:02 BST

Paul Adams
Diplomatic correspondent

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.

Image 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.

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

15:22 BST

Tom Bateman
US State Department correspondent

Image source, Reuters

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.

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.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Reuters

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.

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

14:40 BST

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

Image source, Reuters

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.

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.

Image 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.

Image 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.

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

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.

Image 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.

Image source, Reuters

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.

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.