At Versailles, Trump signs Iran-US agreement as Israel rages over restraints in Lebanon and beyond

The Lebanese Ministry of Health said that the total death toll in Lebanon due to Israeli attacks has reached 3,912 killed and 11,873 wounded, since March 2.

Qatar's Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani spoke by phone with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan with the US-Iran agreement the focus of discussion.

Israel has killed more than 1,000 Palestinians in Gaza since the US-brokered alleged ceasefire last October, the enclave's health ministry said on Thursday, as at least three people were reported killed in the latest strike.

Medics said an Israeli strike hit a vehicle on the main Omar Al-Mokhtar road in Gaza City, killing three, as Israeli attacks continue despite a new truce push by mediators. 

Including the latest incident, the number of Palestinians killed since an October 2025 truce brokered by US President Donald Trump was 1,008, the health ministry said.

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What is the likely trajectory of the war in Lebanon after the US-Iran deal to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz? 

Malek Jadah examines that delicate question.

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US gas prices fell below $4 a gallon on average Thursday, but just barely.

It is the first time since March that the average cost for a regular gallon has been that low. Prices fell overnight after President Donald Trump signed an agreement with Iran that calls for Tehran to dilute its stockpile of highly enriched uranium and waives US-backed sanctions on the country.

Gas prices are at an average of $3.999 in the US, according to the motor club AAA.

But gas prices remain volatile across the country. In California, gas prices average $5.64 per gallon, while in South Carolina, they average $3.58 per gallon.

Even as gas prices start to decline, it is expected to take weeks or months for oil to flow through the Strait of Hormuz again.

Lebanon's National News Agency reported that at least three people were killed by an Israeli drone strike in south Lebanon earlier today.

Lebanese media reported an Israeli drone strike that targeted a motorcycle in the village of Ain al-Tinah in the Western Beka'a region of Lebanon.

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has signed the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding as mediator after US President Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian both endorsed the agreement.

The announcement was shared on X.

Islamabad :18 June 2026.

Prime Minister of Pakistan Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif signed the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding (Islamabad MoU)، as mediator.

The Islamabad MOU has been signed by President of USA Donald J. Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. pic.twitter.com/M0LKK9XoK8

— Prime Minister's Office (@PakPMO) June 18, 2026

Three Saudi-flagged supertankers carrying 6 million barrels of crude sailed through the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, hours after US President Donald Trump signed a deal with Iran to end the war that has disrupted global energy supplies.

Shippers say it will still take time for transit across the strait to return to pre-war levels, with the need to ensure safe access and clear mines. But there were immediate signs of an impact.

Ships which once might have concealed their positions by switching off their transponders were now broadcasting their locations, poised to transit the strait.

Benchmark Brent crude futures prices fell by another 2% to below $78 a barrel, the lowest since the shooting began.

The US-Iranian memorandum starts the clock on a 60-day negotiation period to reach a final settlement to the war, which Trump launched in February alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

While receiving the Qatari, French and British ministerial delegations, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun insisted that stability and security in Lebanon are important not only to the region but also to Europe.

He stressed that stability in the region and Europe cannot be achieved without Lebanon’s stability.

"The president has pointed out that we will be prepared to recommence if underneath the timeline of these ⁠talks Iran does not ⁠do what it says it's going to do," US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth ⁠said in Brussels after meeting NATO ⁠defence ministers.

"If Iran ⁠doesn't comply, then we’re more than able to reimpose an ‌ironclad blockade," he added.

The Israeli military spokesperson released a map showing where the forces will occupy in southern Lebanon, following the signing of the memorandum of understanding between Iran and the United States.

"In accordance with operational needs, [the Israeli military] is deployed in the security zone, approximately 10 kilometres inside Lebanese territory," it was reported.

The International Atomic Energy Agency said Thursday that it was ready to begin defining the "concrete steps" needed to implement a deal to end the US-Israeli war on Iran

"Now it's for us to sit down with our American colleagues, our Iranian colleagues, and start formulating the concrete steps that will have to be taken," IAEA chief Rafael Grossi told reporters in Geneva.

Under the terms of the deal released by US officials, Iran will dilute its enriched uranium stocks, possibly by "down-blending on site under the supervision of the IAEA", the UN's nuclear watchdog.

"This is a very complex operation and it's not a secret so we will have to be very, very detailed," Grossi said, adding that the outcome would depend "on the political will of both sides".

"Anything can work when two sides decide that they want something to be done," he said, adding that they were looking to his organisation to tell "them what is needed".

Russia’s Foreign Ministry said it is "imperative" that all "strictly adhere" to the understandings reached, including in Lebanon.

Moscow is ready to contribute to diplomatic efforts to help create sustainable, long-term stability in the Middle East, the ministry said in a statement on Telegram.

Iranian media quoted Mohammad Shariatmadari, head of the largest petrochemical holding group in Iran, as saying on Thursday that Tehran had restarted about 89 per cent of the petrochemical units that stopped working during the war with Israel and the United States.

Shariatmadari, head of the Persian Gulf Petrochemical Industries Company, added that the facilities that were disrupted returned to production following what he described as rapid reconstruction efforts, with some units operating at more than their nominal capacity, while others have not yet reached their full production capacity.

Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Saar declared that the country will sever ties with European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, after reports that she compared Israel to the apartheid regime in closed-door meetings held in Mexico

Ms Kallas, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, has been acting for some time with obsessive and disgracefully dishonest behaviour against the State of Israel," he announced. "I have no choice but to sever all contact with her until she retracts this blood libel."

US President Donald Trump lashed out at critics over his Iran deal, calling them "jealous, bad people, or stupid," in a post on Truth Social.

"These fools, who think I haven't been tough enough on Iran, when the Stock Market Just Hit A RECORD HIGH, and Oil prices are 'tumbling' down, are either jealous, bad people, or stupid. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!"

Israel is holding negotiations with the US as it seeks to continue its deployment of troops in southern Lebanon, two Israeli officials, including a senior Israeli official close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, told Reuters on Thursday.

Israel invaded southern Lebanon on March 2 in support of its ally Iran.

Israel describes the territory it has seized in Lebanon, Gaza and Syria as "buffer zones" between it and its enemies, a core facet of Israel's recent security policy. Netanyahu has rejected calls for Israel to withdraw from those territories.

The senior Israeli official told Reuters that Israel was "conducting stubborn negotiations" with Washington over continuing its deployment of troops in southern Lebanon.

The official said Israel would not back down on its positions, including keeping troops deployed in the area south of Lebanon's Litani River.

A second Israeli official told Reuters that the outcome of the talks would ultimately depend on whether US President Donald Trump "decides to force the issue" by threatening repercussions if Israel does not abide by the interim Iran pact's terms.

The Lebanese National News Agency reported that an Israeli drone attack, which targeted a car near the town of Kfar Tebnit, killed one person and seriously wounded another.

Israeli attacks on Lebanon continue, with strikes by drones and artillery reported in the south, notably near Nabatieh.

Oil prices fell over three per cent on Thursday after US President Donald Trump and his Iranian counterpart signed off on a deal to end their war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

At around 0625 GMT, the main US oil contract, West Texas Intermediate, sank 3.4 per cent to $74.18 a barrel.

International benchmark Brent North Sea crude was down 3.02 per cent at $77.15 a barrel.

Initial talks between the United States and Iran are planned at the Buergenstock mountaintop resort in Switzerland on Friday, following the signing of a ceasefire agreement between Tehran and Washington, the Swiss government said on Thursday.

"As things stand, the plan is still for the US and Iran, along with mediators Pakistan and Qatar and other involved countries, to meet tomorrow at Buergenstock for initial negotiations about implementing the agreement. No further information is currently available regarding the schedule and details of this meeting," the Swiss foreign ministry said in a statement.

According to a Wall Street Journal report, several sources familiar with the details told the newspaper that recent calls between Trump and Netanyahu are no longer friendly.

In one example highlighted, Trump told Netanyahu, "Why are you blowing up buildings? Stop it." 

According to the report, Trump told his advisers that no one can deal with Netanyahu, "who wants to bomb everyone".

It was also reported that officials in the administration wondered whether Netanyahu wanted to continue the war because of his political constraints.

An Iranian official close to the negotiations said to the Iranian press that "Gaza is present in the spirit of the understandings" between the US and Iran.

According to him, "continued escalation in Gaza or Lebanon could undermine the foundations of any political agreement. The arenas are interconnected. What happens in Gaza affects the entire region."

He stressed that "signing is not the end. Commitment on the ground is the measure of success for any agreement."

The United States and Iran have signed a deal to end the US-Israeli war on Iran, with a ceremony set for Friday in Switzerland to mark the start of a 60-day negotiation period.

US President Donald Trump signed the memorandum of understanding on Wednesday after he attended the G7 summit in France, during a candlelit dinner at the Palace of Versailles, according to a video posted by a Trump aide.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei, quoted by the state news agency IRNA, said the document "was finalised with the signatures of the presidents".

Iran's chief negotiator and parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said the deal represented a US "failure".

The memorandum "shall enter into force with immediate effect and as a first step, Islamic Republic of Iran will instantly reopen the Strait of Hormuz and the United States of America will immediately lift the naval blockade", Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif wrote on X.

Sharif also confirmed that Pakistan, with Qatari support, would host a ceremony in Switzerland on Friday to "commemorate this landmark event and commence with the technical level talks".