DIRECT. War in the Middle East: Iranian tankers crossed the American blockade zone, in place for about two months

The head of the Iranian negotiating team, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, believes that the agreement supposed to be signed Friday in Switzerland after more than three months of war in the Middle East sounded like a defeat for Washington.

“This agreement marks the failure of the United States. People will read it and draw their own conclusions,” the man who is also president of the Iranian Parliament declared on state television late this evening, shortly after the publication of the text by the two parties.

Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf is due to attend the signing of the memorandum of understanding with US Vice President JD Vance, during a ceremony scheduled for Friday near Lucerne.

Oil prices ended slightly higher today, with operators showing caution ahead of the expected signing of the memorandum of understanding by Tehran and Washington to end the war in the Middle East.

After almost four months of blockage due to the conflict, the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial commercial artery for the transport of hydrocarbons, should reopen on Friday, the day the text was signed.

“This agreement will establish a fragile peace until the end of the year,” said Gregory Brew of Eurasia Group. “But the obstacles to its implementation remain significant.”

On the tarmac at Orly airport, Donald Trump assures that the American army will still remain “a certain time” in the Persian Gulf, despite the peace agreement announced between the United States and Iran.

“It’s a good place to stay, I think the army will stay there for a while, we’ll see how things go,” he told journalists.

In a text published by the New York Times, the multiple points of protocol in the peace agreement notably provide for a final agreement within 60 days between Tehran and Washington.

This deadline “can be extended if both parties agree”, relays the New York daily.

The text of the memorandum of understanding concluded between the United States and Iran was revealed this Wednesday, June 17. It includes in particular the dilution of Iranian uranium stocks, the lifting of sanctions targeting Tehran and the resumption of maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz.

This memorandum of understanding must still be formally signed but, according to information from Axios and AFP, the United States and Iran initially commit to “an immediate and permanent cessation of military activities on all fronts, including in Lebanon”, upon signature.

The final agreement, which must be concluded within a maximum period of 60 days, “will confirm the permanent end of the war on all fronts”.

The American president assures that the United States wants to “reach a denuclearization agreement with Iran”.

“If we had not succeeded in this operation, Iran would have acquired nuclear weapons,” reaffirms the latter.

The tenant of the White House assures that the Israeli Prime Minister is getting a little excited” in this conflict.

“He gets a little excited but he’s a great person; we have a very good partnership, he has been a great minister” he believes, however assuring that he had disagreements with him regarding Lebanon.

“I told him that he could take it more slowly, there was no point in destroying a building as soon as a member of Hezbollah entered it,” he assures.

From Évian, Donald Trump announces that the peace agreement with Iran will be signed “soon”, “maybe” on Thursday or Friday.

Hezbollah leader Naïm Qassem assures that Lebanon is at “a pivotal moment” after the American-Iranian agreement.

The tenant of the White House has reaffirmed since Évian that without this agreement, the United States would have continued to “bombard for two, three, four weeks” Iran.

“We have an agreement that is solid: Iran will never obtain a nuclear weapon and that was the goal,” he says.

Emmanuel Macron underlines Lebanon’s place in the peace agreement obtained between Iran and the United States, emphasizing France’s “unanimous support for the ceasefire” in the region.

“In this agreement we did not forget to emphasize the importance of Lebanon and our unanimous support for the ceasefire which was obtained for Lebanon, solid and immediate, which is an absolute emergency”, affirms the President of the Republic.

At the close of the G7 in Évian, Emmanuel Macron declared that “the very good agreement was unanimously welcomed” after the discussions between Tehran and Washington to end the war in the Middle East.

“It is an agreement that we support, because it is an agreement which puts an end to a very great instability and whose consequences for our economies were terrible”, he explains.

The Israeli army indicates on Telegram that five Israeli soldiers were injured this morning “following the impact of a drone trapped in southern Lebanon”.

“One Israeli army soldier was seriously injured, two others were moderately injured and two others were lightly injured,” reported an IDF spokesperson.

“The soldiers were evacuated to a hospital to receive medical care and their families were informed,” added the latter.

The President of the Iranian Parliament and main negotiator for Tehran vis-à-vis Washington, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, calls for “regain control against the supporters of escalation, relieve the population of economic pressure and build the country”, report several media.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun affirms that “the process of negotiations” with Israel is “independent” of the agreement announced between Washington and Tehran.

“The assurances we have received and what we insist on is that the negotiation process is independent, although we certainly support the ceasefire and any country that comes to our aid, including Iran,” he declared according to a press release from the presidency, knowing that Iran and the Pakistani mediator assures that the United States/Iran agreement includes the Lebanese front.

“The Lebanese state is master of its decisions and is leading negotiations for the first time, without anyone negotiating for it,” insisted the Lebanese president.

Moscow supports the deal between the United States and Iran to end the Middle East conflict, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Wednesday in a phone call with his Iranian counterpart, stressing that Israel should respect it.

“The Russian minister expressed his support for the memorandum of understanding reached through the effective mediation of Pakistan and Qatar to lead to a de-escalation of tensions in the region. The importance of its respect by all parties involved in the armed conflict, including Israel, was underlined,” said a summary of this appeal published by Russian diplomacy.

Since the G7 summit in Evian, President Donald Trump has threatened to start “throwing bombs” again if Iran “does not behave well”.

“It’s a memorandum of understanding. And if I don’t like it, we’ll start shooting at them again, dropping bombs on their heads,” the American president told the media.

The TotalEnergies CEO told a parliamentary committee that capping the prices of his fuels has cost his group some 200 million euros since the start of the war in Iran.

Heard by the finance committee on his taxation and the price of fuel, Patrick Pouyanné also underlines “having difficulty (…) in understanding” the criticisms of this cap, and repeated that he could stop it if this “gesture” was considered “insufficient”.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte welcomes the agreement reached between the United States and Iran to end the war, stressing that the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz would be “a huge step forward”.

“The restoration of free movement in the Strait of Hormuz will be a huge step forward. I know that many Allies – through the initiative led by France and the United Kingdom – are ready to provide their support”, he declared during a press briefing at the Alliance headquarters in Brussels.

Hezbollah leader Naïm Qassem is due to speak on television about his movement at 6 p.m. local time (5 p.m. in Paris).

The day before, he expressed his “deep gratitude” to Iran for having pushed for the agreement to include the end of hostilities in Lebanon, as specified by Tehran, Washington and the Pakistani mediator. The text, however, has not been made public.

Pope Leo

He also mentioned the “painful news” about the war in Ukraine, “which continues to spread”, and invited to pray for the opening of “paths of dialogue” allowing “to extinguish hatred and make possible a just and lasting peace”.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun discussed the situation in southern Lebanon and the future of UNIFIL operations with the commander of the Blue Helmets, General Diodato Abagnara.

“President Aoun renewed his condolences for the martyrs of the international forces in the South, saluting their sacrifices for peace in Lebanon,” wrote the Lebanese presidency on X without giving further details.

No outpouring of joy. Many Iranians based in France welcomed Donald Trump’s announcement of an imminent peace agreement with the Islamic Republic with restraint.

Some people speak of a feeling of waste at the end of these three months of bombing. “I thought perhaps I would be able to return home soon, but that will not be possible. The United States started this war, they are finishing it. What was the point?”, testifies Saleh, a refugee at the microphone of RMC.

“Any agreement signed with Iran must also impose an end to executions and an end to massacres of demonstrators. For around forty years, the question of human rights in Iran has been ignored. This must change,” insists the committee supporting human rights in Iran.

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The International Energy Agency once again revises downward its forecast for global oil demand for 2026 in its latest monthly report published today, pointing to the “considerable” impact of the war in the Middle East on the market.

The IEA now expects global oil demand to fall by 1.1 million barrels per day in 2026, a decline almost three times larger than it forecast last month.

Oil stocks in OECD countries have reached their lowest level since 1990, says the International Energy Agency (IEA) in its monthly report, in a context of oil supply difficulties linked to the blockage of the Strait of Hormuz in recent months.

“Despite the significant drop in demand for oil (…), reserves continue to erode at a record rate,” notes the IEA in its report, indicating that the reserves of OECD countries have fallen by 163 million barrels since the start of the war in the Middle East.

In an interview granted yesterday to CNN, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said he was “very satisfied” with the agreement between Tehran and Washington.

“We are very satisfied with the agreement that has been reached. It lays the foundations to ensure that Iran does not have nuclear weapons (…) and a solution in Lebanon, which we discussed today. So it is a positive point,” declared Mark Carney from Evian.

At a time when Iran and the United States are on the verge of signing a peace agreement, Yossi Cohen, former director of Mossad (the Israeli intelligence service), says he is “worried”.

“I’m worried. Iran has threatened not only the state of Israel, but also our region,” Yossi Cohen declared on RTL.

If a peace agreement is signed between Tehran and Washington, “that means that the leader of the world (Donald Trump) accepts the Iranian regime,” he judges. “I don’t trust Iran, absolutely not (…). Iran is directing a complete lie against everyone.”

The end of the war in Lebanon is one of the conditions of the agreement concluded between Tehran and Washington. However, in Tel Aviv, some Israelis are formally opposed and remain convinced that Israel’s presence on Lebanese soil should in no case be part of the negotiating table.

“The citizens of northern Israel gave everything for three years. After what happened, we cannot give up and withdraw from southern Lebanon,” said a resident speaking to BFMTV.

The Israeli army and the Lebanese Hezbollah movement, which supports Iran, engage in daily fighting in southern Lebanon. Leaving the buffer zone would amount to letting a new massacre like that of October 7 happen again, according to Israel.

Israel struck southern Lebanon several times this morning despite the agreement reached between Tehran and Washington, reports the Lebanese National Information Agency (Ani). These strikes particularly affected the region of Nabatiyé and Kfartebnit, according to the same source.

Iran has repeated several times since announcing an agreement with the United States that it must include a cessation of hostilities in Lebanon, where Israel says it is targeting Hezbollah.

On the sidelines of the G7 summit in Evian, Donald Trump is not very kind to Benjamin Netanyahu. The American president criticizes his ally for endangering the fragile compromise reached with Iran.

Israel “has been fighting against Hezbollah for too long” and “too many people are being killed”, criticizes Donald Trump who suggests letting Syria take care of the Islamist organization in Lebanon.

“I had an excellent relationship with Bibi (…), but now Bibi must be more responsible regarding Lebanon,” says Donald Trump.

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In a joint statement published overnight, the G7 leaders assured that Iran “will never obtain nuclear weapons” despite the peace agreement reached with Washington to guarantee peace in the region.

“We emphasize that the negotiations carried out to this end must take into account the threats that Iran poses to the region and beyond and must guarantee that this country will never obtain nuclear weapons,” agreed the G7 leaders after a meeting in Evian.

The G7 leaders say they are “ready” to contribute to the implementation of the agreement between the United States and Iran.

“We welcome the announcement of an agreement between the United States and Iran, reached under the firm leadership of President Donald Trump, with the support of mediating countries, which offers a historic opportunity to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons and to combat the threats linked to its regional and ballistic activities,” they wrote in a joint statement.

“We support its implementation and are ready to contribute to it,” they added.

Iranian oil tankers have crossed the zone of the American blockade of Iranian ports which had been in place for approximately two months, indicated this morning the maritime monitoring suite TankerTrackers, before the signing of an agreement between Tehran and Washington scheduled for Friday.

“At least two supertankers from the National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC), named Diona and Hero2, crossed the perimeter of the US Navy blockade, carrying between them a total of 3.8 million barrels of Iranian crude oil,” informs the site on X, later reporting the passage of a third Iranian tanker.

“These are Iran’s first crude oil exports in two months,” he notes.

Yesterday, the Iranian army promised a “tough response” after Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon left four people dead, despite the announcement of an agreement between the United States and the Islamic Republic to end the war, according to a media report of State.

“If the infanticidal army of the Zionist regime does not put an end to its aggressions in southern Lebanon, it will have to expect a harsh response from the powerful armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” warned the command of the armed forces, Khatam al-Anbiya in a press release cited by state television Irib.

By his count, Israel has violated the ceasefire in Lebanon 84 times since the announcement of the agreement on Monday.

The first session of talks aimed at “reaching a final agreement” within 60 days on Iranian nuclear power should “probably” take place in the wake of the peace agreement signed on Friday, according to the head of Iranian diplomacy Abbas Araghchi.

The discussions will take place in a climate of distrust while previous talks were broken off twice by Israeli-American strikes.

“We have a history of commitments not kept, not applied, abandoned, all of this is present in our mind,” warned Abbas Araghchi.

Hello everyone and welcome to this live broadcast dedicated to the evolution of the conflict in the Middle East. The United States and Iran will sign their memorandum of understanding on Friday in Switzerland to end the war in the Middle East, the starting point for two months of negotiations.

The ceremony will take place in a luxury hotel in Bürgenstock, which was “proposed by Pakistani and Qatari mediators, as well as the United States and Iran”.

Iran’s chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf will be present at the signing, as will US Vice President JD Vance.