Vance says 60-day-period to reach final Iran agreement starts today
JD Vance has said that the 60-day period in which to reach a final agreement with Iran has started today.
“I would say the 60-day period officially started today. It was signed late, and it may have even been signed technically, you know, because of the time shift, I think it’s signed technically today, Iran time,” he said during a press briefing at the White House on Thursday.
If this is true, that would set a deadline for the final agreement between Iran and the United States as 17 August.
The interim pact signed by President Donald Trump and Iranian leaders kicked the hardest issues down the road to the next phase of negotiations, with no guarantee they will ever be resolved, Reuters reports. Most analysts are sceptical the two sides can forge a final settlement within the 60-day window laid out in the memorandum of understanding.
Vance also confirms that Congress is due to be briefed about the agreement with Iran soon. “We do plan to brief Congress very soon,” Vance told reporters in the White House briefing room.
In the same press briefing, he said he is “not at all” worried about being blamed for any potential fall out of the agreement with Iran.
Key events
EU policy chief says she was representing bloc’s position on Middle East
Jennifer Rankin
The EU’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said she was representing the bloc’s position on the Middle East, after Israel announced it was severing diplomatic relations over allegations she had compared the country to apartheid South Africa.
Israel’s foreign minister Gideon Sa’ar announced on X earlier on Thursday that he would sever all contact with Kallas over a Euractiv report that she had compared Israel to apartheid-era South Africa.
Sa’ar said that she had for some time Kallas had been “acting obsessively and with blatant unfairness toward the state of Israel”, while accusing her of a “blood libel” over the alleged comments.
Kallas told reporters she had made tens if not hundreds of statements on Israel and Gaza “and you see what I have been saying” but did not deny the report. “I cannot fight shadows all the time,” she said, asking reporters to refer to her public statements.
She said she was representing the EU and “it is true we don’t always see eye to eye” with the Israeli government.
The former Estonian prime minister has faced criticism inside the EU for not denying the remarks.
EU leaders meeting in Brussels will express “grave concern” over the “deteriorating situation in Gaza and the West Bank, including the persistent and devastating humanitarian crisis in Gaza”, according to a draft summit communique due to be released on Friday. But the bloc has been unable to agree trade sanctions against Israel. Under growing pressure to take action, Kallas announced on Monday that she would ask for “a list of options for possible trade measures”, including stopping commerce from occupied territories.
EU diplomats say it remains unclear whether the bloc can find a majority to pass sanctions on Israel.
Israel has to ‘respect this peace process’, says US vice-president JD Vance, adding that civilian deaths ‘not acceptable’
Asked about Trump’s recent criticisms of Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel’s attacks on Lebanon, Vance says that while Israel has the right to defend itself, “the Israelis, just like everybody else, have to respect this peace process.”
He added:
The president has grown frustrated sometimes that we seem to be right on the cusp of a major breakthrough in the agreement, and then all of a sudden, there’s a major explosion that goes off in a civilian population center in Beirut, and a lot of people who have nothing to do with Hezbollah lose their lives. That’s not acceptable.
Vance also said that he may go to Switzerland for talks with Iran this weekend, but that the plan could change.
“We think these technical negotiations are going to start sometime this weekend. That’s still the plan, but that could change,” Vance told journalists at the White House.
US vice-president JD Vance is asked about the shift in Trump’s stance regarding Iran’s ballistic missile arsenal.
Trump stated on 28 February that destroying Iran’s missiles and missile industry was a key objective of the war. Yesterday, however, he told reporters in Paris that it would be “unfair” for Iran to not have “some” ballistic missiles, because other countries have them.
Attempting to clarify Trump’s comments, Vance says:
Countries don’t give up the right of self-defence.
Israel doesn’t give up the right of self-defence if Hezbollah fires rockets or drones at Israel. The Iranians don’t give up the right of self-defence in their country.
But we do expect that, as part of the final deal, they are not going to be able to build the kind of missiles that can broadly threaten the entire world.
Vance also repeated the administration’s claims that the US’s war has destroyed Iran’s military and nuclear capabilities, but it has been reported that US intelligence estimates suggest that Iran has retained about 70% of its pre-war ballistic and cruise missile stockpile.
The vice-president also stresses that “the United States isn’t giving up a cent of money to Iran” and that the sanctions relief and other economic benefits in the bargain “only happens if the Iranians perform”.
Vance says 60-day-period to reach final Iran agreement starts today
JD Vance has said that the 60-day period in which to reach a final agreement with Iran has started today.
“I would say the 60-day period officially started today. It was signed late, and it may have even been signed technically, you know, because of the time shift, I think it’s signed technically today, Iran time,” he said during a press briefing at the White House on Thursday.
If this is true, that would set a deadline for the final agreement between Iran and the United States as 17 August.
The interim pact signed by President Donald Trump and Iranian leaders kicked the hardest issues down the road to the next phase of negotiations, with no guarantee they will ever be resolved, Reuters reports. Most analysts are sceptical the two sides can forge a final settlement within the 60-day window laid out in the memorandum of understanding.
Vance also confirms that Congress is due to be briefed about the agreement with Iran soon. “We do plan to brief Congress very soon,” Vance told reporters in the White House briefing room.
In the same press briefing, he said he is “not at all” worried about being blamed for any potential fall out of the agreement with Iran.
Palestinian journalist Hind Khoudary has reported the “first explosion heard in days” inside Gaza, and accuses Israel of violating the ceasefire agreement.
Reporting to Al Jazeera, she wrote: “This is the first explosion we’ve had in Gaza City over the past couple of days, which have been calm and quiet. Minutes after the strike locals said the target was a jeep driven by civilians.
“Only one of the three victims has been identified. Abdul Jawad Abu Lebn was set to get married next week. Wedding invitations were found inside the car.”
According to Khoudary, the health ministry said that the bodies found inside were badly disfigured – which made it hard to identify who was inside.
She also reported that a girl was killed in Israeli gunfire in Beit Lahia. “So we have been seeing a series of Israeli attacks in which more people have been killed and a lot of others injured,” she wrote.
Pakistan’s foreign ministry says that signing ceremony in Switzerland cancelled
Pakistan’s foreign ministry has said that the signing ceremony in Switzerland, which was due to take place on Friday, is cancelled as it understood to have already been signed remotely.
“The proposed visit has been postponed as the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding has already been electronically signed, has entered into force, and is now under implementation,” spokesperson Mosharraf Zaidi said, adding Pakistan would support the next phase of several “technical-level” tracks.
The Kuwaiti and Iranian foreign ministers have discussed the US agreement in their first known call since the start of the war.
The foreign ministry of Iran and Kuwait has said that representatives from both countries spoke about the deal over the phone.
Kuwait’s foreign minister sheikh Jarrah Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah has said he hopes his country will “contribute to enhancing stability in the region, ensuring the security and freedom of navigation in the strait of Hormuz, and addressing outstanding issues through the achievement of sustainable solutions,” in a statement issued by the Kuwaiti authorities.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said there needs to be continued dialogue within the Gulf to “enhance mutual cooperation and resolve existing ambiguities,” the Iranian foreign ministry said in its statement.
The Lebanese president, Joseph Aoun, held a meeting with Beirut negotiators as they prepare for the next round of talks with Israeli counterparts in Washington next week, his office has said.
The negotiations are scheduled to begin on Tuesday, with Aoun directing the Lebanese delegation of his country’s position, including “the final cessation of hostilities and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the lands they occupy”, the Lebanese presidency said in a statement posted on social media.
Other key demands include “the deployment of the Lebanese army to the international borders, the return of Lebanese prisoners, and the launch of the reconstruction campaign”.
In a statement yesterday, Aoun expressed hope that next week’s fifth round of talks “will be more positive, particularly considering the US administration’s great interest in Lebanon”.
Graeme Wearden
UK wholesale gas prices have fallen to their lowest level since the start of the Iran war.
The month-ahead UK gas price fell as low as 95p per therm this morning, following the signing of the interim peace deal by the US and Iran.
That’s the lowest since 2 March, the Monday after the conflict began. Reminder: Brent crude oil has also fallen to its lowest since 2 March today (see earlier post).
However, this still leaves UK gas prices above their level just before the start of the war – 78.57p per therm.
Continential European gas prices have also fallen today, down 3% to €40.6 per megawatt hour.
Hopes for a resumption of traffic through the strait of Hormuz are pushing down energy costs, despite concerns that it will take time for the situation to return to prewar levels.
Oxford Economics say:
With the new US-Iran ceasefire including an agreement to reopen the strait of Hormuz, Oxford Economics anticipates an initial surge in traffic as ships that have been stuck are finally able to exit. Flows are then expected to slow until confidence builds that the ceasefire is durable. The firm expects the recovery in shipping to be gradual as logistics are adjusted and oil and gas production restarts.”
Follow our business live blog for the latest economic and financial news:
Three people killed in Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon – state media
Three people have been killed in Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon, according to Lebanese state media, despite the signing of the US-Iran agreement which provides for the end of the war on all fronts in the Middle East, including Lebanon.
Lebanon’s official National News Agency reported an “enemy drone targeted a car” in Kfar Tebnit, a village near the city of Nabatiyeh, killing two people. Another drone attack in the neighbouring village of Zebdine killed one person, according to the news agency.
Meanwhile, the Israeli military said one of its soldiers was killed last night in an incident in southern Lebanon that left seven others injured.
While Israel’s strikes in Lebanon have been sporadic since a ceasefire was announced in the country in April, the fighting between the Israeli military and Hezbollah has not stopped. The Iran-backed group, however, has not claimed responsibility for any new attacks against Israel since the US-Iran agreement was announced earlier this week.
Ships pass through strait of Hormuz, according to shipping tracker
At least seven vessels have crossed the strait of Hormuz so far today, according to Marine Traffic data.
Four cargo ships, a French flagged LNG tanker and a Cook Islands flagged bitumen tanker all exited the strait towards the Gulf of Oman – CNN reports. Additionally, a Panama flagged Starway entered the strait heading toward the Gulf.
This marks an increase in traffic on the strait, but still far below the prewar average of about 135 ships per day moving through the vital waterway.
This comes after the route was reopened as part of a deal between the US and Iran was made on Wednesday.
European leaders have largely been sidelined from the negotiations, but expressed relief that the strait of Hormuz would reopen, allowing the flow of oil to resume. Emmanuel Macron said it would put a stop to a “situation of great instability that had terrible consequences for our economies”.
President of the Philippines Ferdinand R Marcos Jr was also optimistic, saying the freedom of navigation returning to the Hormuz strait was “what we have been hoping for since the day after the war started”.
Pakistan and Turkey’s politicians hope for “lasting peace” in the region, after discussing the US and Iran peace deal over the phone.
According to the office of Pakistan’s foreign minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar, he had a phone call with his Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan, about the news of the deal.
“Fidan congratulated Pakistan on the historic signing of the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding between the United States and Iran and endorsed by Pakistan as the mediator,” a statement said.
“Both leaders expressed hope that this significant development would contribute to lasting peace, stability, and progress in the region and beyond,” it added.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2026/jun/18/middle-east-crisis-live-us-iran-presidents-sign-peace-deal-mou-trump-tehran-strait-of-hormuz-toll-lebanon-israel
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