In Switzerland, US-Iran agree on 60 day roadmap for final deal

Qatar's energy minister Saad al-Kaabi said Monday that 13 people had been killed and 66 injured in a gas plant explosion, but added that the accident will not affect exports.

"I find myself today having to do something I have always hoped will never happen, and that is to announce, the tragic loss of 13 lives of our people who hold Indian and Pakistani nationalities. 66 people have been reported injured and are receiving medical treatment, none of whom are in life-threatening condition," he told reporters.

The US Treasury Department issued a general license for Iran on Monday, authorising the production, delivery and sale of crude oil, petrochemical and petroleum products of Iranian origin through 21 August. 

Top Indian and Iranian security officials met in New Delhi on Monday, the foreign ministry said, as security chiefs gathered for a BRICS meeting that also included China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

India's National Security Advisor Ajit Doval met Iranian official Ghadir Nezamipour, a senior member of Tehran's Supreme National Security Council, and discussed the "ongoing situation" in the Middle East and India-Iran ties, the foreign ministry said.

India has long maintained cordial ties with Iran but has had to carefully balance its relationship with the United States, especially during the recent weeks of the war in the region.

India is heavily dependent on imported energy, and its fuel supplies were hit hard during the US-Iran war.

"The equation must be very simple and clear: the State of Israel must be safe. If Israel is not safe, Beirut will look like Beit Hanoun. The State of Israel must act out of a clear principle. We appreciate our friends. We love President Trump. But first and foremost, the soldiers of Israel. First of all our fighters, first of all our residents," declares National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir at his Otzma Yehudit party's weekly faction meeting in the Knesset.

"If Lebanon allows its territory to be turned into a terror base against the State of Israel, Beirut needs to understand that it cannot continue to conduct business as usual. Whoever chooses war against Israel must bear the consequences. My position is that we cannot tolerate a single tear from an Israeli mother, even if there are tears from a thousand Lebanese mothers, and we need to keep going," he said.

European stocks and US futures steadied while oil prices dipped on Monday after mediators said progress had been made in US-Iran peace talks, helping calm fears that the fragile process to end the war was breaking down.

Meanwhile, the pound and UK bonds rose after Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced his resignation, paving the way for Britain's seventh leader in 10 years.

The apparent progress in discussions saw Brent crude futures shed early gains, easing 1.8% to $79.07 a barrel, far below its May peak of $126.41.

Europe's STOXX 600 index wavered and was last up 0.15%, while U.S. S&P 500 futures pared early losses, trading 0.1% lower.

"There does appear to be further progress being made during talks in Switzerland towards a lasting settlement, and oil prices have dipped again," Susannah Streeter, chief investment strategist at Wealth Club, said of the Iran talks.

"It is clear there is still a long way to go, and more obstacles may emerge before a long-term deal is signed."

The Iranian presidency confirmed on Monday that President Masoud Pezeshkian will pay an official visit to Pakistan tomorrow, Tuesday. The Director General of Public Relations at the Iranian Presidential Office, Habib Abbasi, said in a statement to the Iranian Tasnim Agency that the visit will last one day.

Abbasi pointed out that this is a follow-up to the outcomes of previous visits by the leaders of the two countries and to discuss areas for expanding economic relations between the two countries.

He also pointed out that through this visit, Pezeshkian seeks to thank Pakistan for its efforts and follow up on files related to mediation between Iran and the United States.

The visit comes in the wake of the success of Qatari and Pakistani mediation in reaching a memorandum of understanding last week between Tehran and Washington, and the launch yesterday, Sunday, of the first rounds of negotiations between them in Switzerland.

Three Palestinians were killed, and 11 were wounded by Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip over the past 24 hours, the Palestinian health ministry says, adding that many other people remain trapped under rubble.

The ministry noted the latest figures bring the total number of people killed by Israel since an alleged "ceasefire" took effect in October 2025 to 1,024, with 3,260 injuries recorded and 784 bodies recovered during that period.

"We wanted to make sure that we set up a process where if, if we ever unfreeze Iranian assets, we can ensure that that that Iranian money goes to help the people of Iran and not to fund terrorism," the US VP told reporters.

"Jared Kushner actually came up with a very interesting solution with the Qataris, where basically—again if—there is any frozen Iranian assets that are unfrozen, then we have approval over that process, the Qataris have approval over that process, and then the money would actually go to buy to buy American soy, American corn and American wheat for the benefit of the Iranian people."

Vance addressed the press, saying talks in Switzerland with senior Iranian officials set "a good foundation" to reach a permanent deal to end the US-Israeli war on Iran.

"We wanted to build a mechanism that would ensure the opening of the Strait of Hormuz, and it is open. We have, of course, seen fuel and oil prices drop, and millions upon millions of barrels of crude oil and natural gas flowing through it, but we also wanted to make sure we are actually establishing a mechanism to prevent friction within the framework of the regional ceasefire. As Trump himself said, sometimes these ceasefires simply mean shooting a little less. But we wanted to make sure the appropriate coordination mechanisms exist, so that if there is indeed shooting—if Hezbollah fires toward Israel or if Israel responds, if other confrontations arise in the region—we are actually talking to each other and figuring out how to stop the shooting," Vance added. 

Notably, IAEA nuclear inspectors are set to return to Iran to verify its compliance with the preliminary agreement, the US vice president said.

"Our hope is that we get to the final deal and a permanent settlement. But right now, I think we’ve made great progress, and we should all celebrate that in terms of when the nuclear inspectors are going to start," Vance remarked to the media.

There is no way around the fact that the US-Iran deal constitutes a major strategic defeat for Israel as a country, and for Netanyahu personally, writes Giorgio Cafiero.

Read more below:

The Chinese Foreign Ministry announced that Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with an Iranian security official in India, stressing that Beijing supports Iran's right to protect its sovereignty and security.

Wang Yi said that China is ready to continue assisting in its own way and to play a constructive role in restoring peace and tranquillity in the region as soon as possible.

The Chinese Foreign Minister added that implementing the memorandum of understanding between Iran and the United States will help consolidate the hard-fought ceasefire and will open new horizons for Iranian-American relations.

Negotiations ⁠between ⁠Iran and the US have concluded successfully ⁠in Switzerland, Pakistani Prime ⁠Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced.

"The discussions were held in ‌a positive and constructive atmosphere and yielded encouraging progress, including agreement on a roadmap toward ⁠a final deal ⁠within 60 days, the establishment of a ⁠high-level committee to ⁠provide political oversight, ⁠and the commencement of further technical talks," ‌Sharif wrote in a post on social media.

Former Syrian detainees from Quneitra have described being interrogated by Israeli forces about Iran, Hezbollah and local social networks after being abducted from southern Syria, as families of dozens of missing civilians continue to demand information about their whereabouts.

Israel has continued to expand its military occupation and conduct repeated incursions into southern Syria since the fall of former President Bashar al-Assad in December 2024, carrying out raids in border communities and imposing increasing restrictions on civilian movement in ongoing violations of the country's sovereignty.

Alongside these operations, dozens of civilians from Quneitra, Daraa and the western Damascus countryside have been kidnapped and transferred into Israeli custody.

Read more below:

Israel's Foreign Minister, Gideon Saar, has told New Zealand's Foreign Minister, Winston Peters, that Israel will not withdraw.

"We don't have territorial ambitions in Lebanon, but we will not withdraw from the security zone and expose our citizens to Hezbollah’s attacks and possible invasion," Saar said in a post on X, referring to land in southern Lebanon occupied by Israel.

"It's the interest of both Lebanon and Israel that Hezbollah’s terror state will be dismantled," he added.

Iran said Monday it held a "brief discussion" with the United States on its nuclear programme during talks in Switzerland, but insisted negotiations on the issue had not begun.

"One of the points raised by the American delegation was the presentation of its positions regarding the nuclear issue," foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said.

"A very brief discussion took place regarding the nuclear issue, but there was no discussion of details, and it cannot be said that negotiations on the nuclear issue have begun," he added.

Technical talks between Iran and the United States on mechanisms for implementing their memorandum of understanding and on forming related technical working groups will begin in Switzerland on Monday, the Iranian Student News Agency reported.

Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi heads Iran's delegation, which includes political, economic and legal experts.

The talks are also being attended by representatives of the mediating countries, Pakistan and Qatar, while Iran's main negotiating team, headed by Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, has returned to Tehran. 

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun discusses efforts to maintain a ceasefire and halt the Israeli military assaults during a phone call with US Vice President J.D. Vance, the Lebanese Presidency says.

White House envoy Jared Kushner and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani also take part in the call between Aoun and Vance, the presidency says.

The Iranian delegation in talks with the United States has left the Swiss venue to return to Tehran after 18 hours of "intensive" negotiations, state media reported Monday.

The group, headed by chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, "left the building where the talks were held after about 18 hours of intensive talks and consultations", the IRNA state news agency reported, saying they were en route to Tehran.

 Four liquefied natural gas tankers controlled by Qatar were heading into the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, despite a fall in ship traffic after Iran announced that it had again closed the waterway over the weekend, shipping data showed.

The tankers, Wadi Al Sail, Mekaines, Al Sadd and Mesaimeer, were entering the strait via the Iranian route for the first time since the US-Israeli war on Iran started, shiptracking data from analytics firm Kpler showed.

The Marshall Islands-flagged dry bulk vessel Summit Success also entered the Gulf on Monday, LSEG data showed.

Five vessels passed the strait on Sunday, from 26 ships spotted a day earlier, Kpler data showed. These included three Very Large Crude Carriers carrying 2 million barrels of Saudi crude and fuel oil each, one of which was heading to Japan.

There could be more ships plying the strait with their transponders switched off.

Israeli soldiers killed two Palestinian teenagers in the occupied West Bank on Monday, Palestinian officials said.

There was no immediate further comment from Palestinian officials about the fatal incident in the area of Beit Ummar. Official Palestinian news agency WAFA said the teens were aged 15 and 19.

WAFA said the third person was hospitalised in a stable condition. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said he is 15 years old.

Condemnation without action rewards impunity and normalises violence in the region and beyond, writes Dr Luciano Zaccara.

Read more below:

US and Iranian negotiators resumed talks in Switzerland on Sunday amid hopes of advancing a landmark agreement intended to end hostilities between the two countries and stabilise the wider region.

The talks came a day after a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon was announced, and with no Israeli attacks reported in Lebanon on Sunday, following several days of strikes that had threatened to overshadow the diplomatic process.

Despite the apparent pause, Israel's assault on Lebanon remains a major source of tension.

Read more below:

Israel's former Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar and his wife were evacuated during a recent trip to the United Arab Emirates after they were alerted to an Iranian attempt to harm them, unnamed sources told Israeli media.

According to Channel 13, Bar and his wife were attending an international security convention hosted by UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan. However, a source close to the Gulf country denied to the network that the minister hosted such an event.

The Iranian FM, Abbas Araghchi, posted on X after the session in Switzerland, noting the mediation efforts of Qatar and Pakistan.

Tireless Pakistani and Qatari mediation has delivered major progress to end Lebanon War. Oil and petrochem exports are waived, blockade lifted, some frozen assets released, and major reconstruction & development plan launched for Iran.

1st real test: Lebanon deconfliction cell https://t.co/q0okD2qwSO

— Seyed Abbas Araghchi (@araghchi) June 22, 2026