Iran closes Hormuz on Israel's Lebanon strikes; Peace talks to start Sunday

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Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered the army to stops its attacks in Lebanon, Israel's Channel 12 is reporting.

The military will not withdraw from Lebanese land it controls but will stop offensive actions against Hezbollah.

The US military said Saturday it remained "present and vigilant" in the Strait of Hormuz, shortly after Iran announced it was closing the critical shipping lane.

"US forces remain present and vigilant to ensure all aspects of the agreement with Iran are adhered to, obeyed, and in full force and effect," US Central Command said in a statement.

Pakistan's foreign ministry says that Iranian and US negotiators will begin technical talks in Switzerland on Sunday.

Mediators Pakistan and Qatar will also attend the negotiations, it said.

Talks in Burgenstock were supposed to start on Friday but were postponed after Israel continued attacking Lebanon in violation of Iran and the US's memorandum of understanding.

Lebanese health authorities say that 83 people were killed and 141 wounded in Israeli attacks on Thursday, taking the overall death toll during the war past 4000.

Israel on Thursday conducted one of the most intense waves of bombing of the war, a day after an agreement between the US and Iran imposed a ceasefire in Lebanon.

The killings took the death toll from Israeli attacks since 2 March to 4,057, including 135 health and emergency workers. More than 12,100 people have been wounded.

The Iranian Revolutionary Guards' navy has warned ships not to approach the Strait of Hormuz after Tehran earlier said it was closing the waterway due to Israel's ongoing attacks in Lebanon.

"Vessels should not approach the Strait of Hormuz; otherwise, their security will be at risk," it said in a statement.

Iran's Mehr news agency says Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araghchi will this afternoon travel to Switzerland, where a first round of negotiations with the US is expected to take place.

US Vice President JD Vance said earlier that the talks could take place on Sunday.

In his Fox News interview, Vance said there was "no evidence" that Iran has closed the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran's military command said this afternoon it was closing the strait due to Israel's refusal to abide by the ceasefire in Lebanon.

US Vice President JD Vance said in a Fox News interview on Saturday that he expects to soon travel to Switzerland for talks, which he said could start on Sunday.

"I expect that I will leave sometime in the next couple of days, but you know it's always a delicate coordination dance and the diplomatic protocols," Vance said.

Iran's central military command announced on Saturday that it had once again closed the vital Strait of Hormuz over Israel's attacks on southern Lebanon, describing them as a breach of Tehran's agreement with the US.

"It is hereby announced that the Strait of Hormuz will be closed to vessel traffic; It is noted that this first step is a response to the enemy's breach of promise, and if the aggression continues, further steps will be planned and taken to force the enemy to comply with its obligations," said the Khatam-al Anbiya Central Headquarters in a statement carried by state TV.

The Swiss foreign ministry said Saturday that diplomats from various countries are currently in the country "continuing their efforts to maintain the dialogue".

Peace talks between the US and Iran were due to take place in the Swiss resort of Burgenstock on Friday to build on a memorandum of understanding aimed at reaching a final settlement.

They were abruptly cancelled on Thursday after Israel continued its offensive in Lebanon in defiance of the US-Iran agreement.

Qatar's prime minister Mohammed bin Abdul-Rahman Al-Thani and Trump envoy Jared Kushner are among those currently in Switzerland.

An Israeli strike on a house in the village of Sahmar in Lebanon's Bekaa valley has killed at least four people and wounded others, Lebanon's National News Agency is reporting. 

Iraqi authorities predict oil production will return to peacetime levels "within one to two months", state media reported, after the Middle East war caused exports to plummet.

The war and Iran's ensuing blockade of the Strait of Hormuz choked off shipments and prompted production cuts in key oil-producing countries including Iraq, shaking world energy markets.

But a deal agreed this week between Washington and Tehran to end the fighting has offered some relief, despite follow-up negotiations having stalled.

The spokesman for Iraq's oil ministry, Salim Farhoud, told the state-run Iraq News Agency (INA) late Friday that "we can return within one to two months to the previous production levels".

"The fields that reduced their production capacity have currently begun raising this capacity," he said.

Hezbollah said it had targeted Israeli forces overnight that were advancing towards Lebanon's southern city of Nabatieh, according to Reuters.

The group added it was committed to the ceasefire but said it will not hesitate to confront Israeli forces that attempt to seize more Lebanese territory.

At least seven people have been killed and 13 wounded in an Israeli strike on the village of Qennarit in southern Lebanon, the country's' state-run news agency is reporting.

Two Syrian soldiers were killed in an attack by unidentified assailants near the city of Manbij in northeastern Aleppo, Syria's Defence Ministry said on Saturday, without providing further details.

Lebanon's civil defence agency said ongoing Israeli strikes on the Nabatieh district in the country's south on Saturday had killed 16 people.

Civil defence personnel have transported "16 dead and 12 wounded" to hospital, a statement said, adding that the personnel were working "since the early morning hours" in the Nabatieh district in response to "ongoing attacks targeting the area".

Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah on Saturday said his group had the right to respond to Israeli attacks on Lebanon, which have continued despite a new ceasefire announced a day earlier.

"There is talk of a ceasefire. For us, what concerns us is that the enemy fully and comprehensively respects the ceasefire, and doesn't attempt to attack our country and villages or seek to occupy any new position," Fadlallah said in a statement, adding that "the resistance has the full right to confront this enemy when it attacks us, as it is the aggressor and the occupier".

The Trump administration will unfreeze $6 billion of Iran's oil revenues during the 60-day negotiating period outlined in the memorandum of understanding, a diplomat has told the Financial Times.

The funds, held in Qatar, would be released in stages and could only be used to purchase American humanitarian and other non-sanctioned goods.

Releasing the money would be conditioned on progress in implementing the agreement, including reopening the Strait of Hormuz and advancing negotiations toward a final deal.

The money is a fraction of Iran's total frozen assets, which is thought to exceed $100 billion.

The Lebanese army said an Israeli strike killed one of its soldiers in the country's south on Saturday, despite a new ceasefire deal between Israel and Hezbollah reached a day earlier.

"An Israeli enemy strike targeted an army soldier on the Kfar Rumman-Nabatieh road, leading to his martyrdom," an army statement said, charging that "the continuation of brutal Israeli attacks aims to obstruct any solution that would allow for restoring stability in Lebanon".

Lebanese official media said fresh Israeli strikes on the country's south on Saturday killed five people, despite a new ceasefire between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah group announced a day earlier.

The state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported Israeli airstrikes on more than a dozen south Lebanon locations after midnight and into Saturday morning, many in and around the Nabatieh area.

It also reported Israeli artillery shelling on Nabatieh city and its outskirts, a region where fighting has been focused in recent days.

The NNA said three people were killed in airstrikes on the town of Arab Salim, while one person was killed in Deir Zahrani, and another after "an enemy drone launched a strike on a motorbike" at the entrance of the town of Dweir.

Pakistan's Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi departed for Tehran on Saturday for meetings with senior Iranian officials, Iran's state news agency IRNA reported.

IRNA said Naqvi would discuss the progress of negotiations between Iran and the United States during his visit, without providing further details.

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) says Nabatieh is in a "devastating" condition amid continued Israeli attacks on the southern Lebanese city.

“What our teams are describing resembles a death trap," the group's Lebanon emergency coordinator said on social media.

“What our teams are describing resembles a death trap. People are caught under heavy shelling, while rescue teams are unable to safely reach them. Civilians and first responders must be protected, and unhindered access for rescue teams is urgently needed."

Relentless Israeli attacks are hitting Nabatiyeh, southern Lebanon. Civilians and medical and rescue workers must be immediately protected. Pierre Boulet-Desbareau, our emergency coordinator in Lebanon, shares more about the deadly conditions:

“Since the morning of 19 June, 25…

— MSF International (@MSF) June 19, 2026

Palestinian media is reporting that five people were killed and several wounded this morning in an Israeli airstrike on an apartment building in Gaza City. 

Medical sources told Wafa news agency that the dead included a father and two daughters.

Iranian and American officials are reportedly heading to Switzerland for the first round of negotiations since signing an MOU to permanently end the war.

Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araghchi, Qatar's prime minister Mohammed bin Abdul-Rahman Al-Thani, and Trump envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner will attend the talks, according to Axios.

Talks had originally been scheduled for Friday but were reportedly postponed by Iran after Israel refused to observe the ceasefire in Lebanon.

The US and Qatar brokered a tentative ceasefire between the two sides on Friday though Israeli forces have continued to launch strikes in the south.