By Usaid Siddiqui and Heba Habib
Published On 21 Jun 2026
AL JAZEERA
- Hussein Gurbanzadeh a member of Iran’s team negotiating with the US, told state television that talks on the opening day in Switzerland covered frozen assets as well as oil sanctions relief proposal.
- Negotiations between the United States and Iran with the mediation of the Gulf country and Pakistan kicked off in Switzerland earlier today.
- Iran says the Strait of Hormuz is closed again over Israel’s continued attacks on Lebanon, but the US military says the waterway remains open to all vessels.
- Hezbollah has rejected the Lebanese government’s direct talks with the US, saying the negotiations would undermine Lebanon’s sovereignty and serve Israeli interests.
- Israeli forces have killed dozens of people in Lebanon despite the “ceasefire” with at least six soldiers killed and 20 others wounded over the past few days in Hezbollah attacks.
Pakistan’s PM hails Iran’s leadership for handling crisis with ‘dignity’
PM Shehbaz Sharif has praised Iran and the US for their roles in seeking to ease regional tensions.
Speaking to reporters at Buergenstock, Sharif said Iran’s leaders have “handled this entire crisis with a sense of dignity to de-escalate this situation”.
“I think they genuinely mean promoting peace in the region, [the] Iranian leadership,” he said. “I think so is President Trump… I have no second thought about the fact that he is a man of peace.”
31m ago (18:00 GMT)
Trump to blame for Strait of Hormuz closure, German minister says
Germany’s Defence Minister has blamed the US president for the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
“Ultimately, the cork in the bottleneck of the Strait of Hormuz was pushed in by Donald Trump, not by us, but we have an interest in getting it out again,” Boris Pistorius said in an interview with ARD.
Tehran had agreed to reopen it under a preliminary accord signed by Trump and his Iranian counterpart Pezeshkian, and shipping traffic had begun to recover. But on Saturday, Iran said it was once again closing the vital waterway because of Israeli attacks in Lebanon.
“The opening of the Strait of Hormuz, or rather safe passage through it, is in Europe’s interest, in the interest of our energy supply and our economic recovery,” Pistorius said.
46m ago (17:45 GMT)
Qatar PM says talks mark ‘turning point’ for regional stability
Speaking at a high-level meeting in Burgenstock, Switzerland, Qatar’s PM hailed the MoU signed earlier this week as a landmark achievement and expressed hope it would mark a turning point towards regional stability.
“The past period has been among the most difficult our region has witnessed, with its peoples bearing heavy burdens due to uncertainty and escalation,” he said.
“We hope that the agreement we witness today will help create an environment that enables states to direct their energies towards development, cooperation, and providing opportunities for their peoples.
“The work does not end with the signing of an MoU,” he added, stressing that technical talks would be critical to translating commitments into tangible outcomes.
1h ago (17:30 GMT)
US Senator outlines Trump’s plan to take Strait of Hormuz if Iran deal fails
US Republican Senator Lindsey Graham says that Trump plans to seize control of the Strait of Hormuz and impose tolls if diplomatic efforts with Iran fail.
In an interview on CBS, he said he had spent four and a half hours with Trump on Friday and outlined what he described as the administration’s fallback strategy.
“If this deal fails, President Trump is going to take the Strait of Hormuz over by force,” Graham said. “The United States will control the Strait of Hormuz, we’ll charge a fee for all those who go through to pay for the operation.”
1h ago (17:15 GMT)
US pressure could be why Israel is minimising attacks on Lebanon
By Nida IbrahimReporting from Ramallah, Palestine
We’re hearing a lot of emphasis on the fact that Israel is not withdrawing from southern Lebanon.
Military analysts are saying that it’s only allowed for the Israelis to attack a Hezbollah operative or someone who’s coming close to the troops there, but rather not being able to do more than that.
This restraint might be happening, but it is not publicly announced by the Israelis. And according to certain officials telling Channel 12, they believe that the American pressure on the Netanyahu government is the reason why the Israelis are trying to minimise their attacks on southern Lebanon, as well as on other areas while they continue to lobby and to talk about the need to stay in southern Lebanon.
1h ago (17:10 GMT)
He added that discussions had focused on sanctions relief tied to Iran’s energy sector.
“In Switzerland, we discussed the temporary exemption from sanctions on oil and its derivatives, and the final draft of a proposal on this matter has been completed.”
1h ago (17:00 GMT)
Reporting from Tehran, Iran
Military analysts are saying that it’s only allowed for the Israelis to attack a Hezbollah operative or someone who’s coming close to the troops there, but rather not being able to do more than that.
This restraint might be happening, but it is not publicly announced by the Israelis. And according to certain officials telling Channel 12, they believe that the American pressure on the Netanyahu government is the reason why the Israelis are trying to minimise their attacks on southern Lebanon, as well as on other areas while they continue to lobby and to talk about the need to stay in southern Lebanon.
1h ago (17:10 GMT)Iran says talks covered frozen assets, oil sanctions relief proposal
“In today’s negotiations, we discussed the issue of our frozen assets and the arrangements for their release,” Hussein Gurbanzadeh, a member of Iran’s team negotiating with the US, told state television.
He added that discussions had focused on sanctions relief tied to Iran’s energy sector.
“In Switzerland, we discussed the temporary exemption from sanctions on oil and its derivatives, and the final draft of a proposal on this matter has been completed.”
1h ago (17:00 GMT)
Iran says this is the beginning of a more ‘complicated phase’ with US
By Almigdad AlruhaidReporting from Tehran, Iran
Iranian officials have been saying this is just the beginning of a much more complicated phase.
- We’ve known this is just an MoU signing to cease hostilities in the region and now they are speaking about implementation.
- Regarding mutual compliance and the implementation of the MoU, we have seen many questions being asked in Tehran.
- Firstly, will the Israeli army stop military operations in Lebanon? The second is about the situation in the Strait of Hormuz.
- There is optimism as they are engaging in heavy talks so we are just waiting to see the demonstration of that on the ground.
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