Lebanon updates death toll to 3,798
The Lebanese ministry of public health said Monday that at least 3,798 people have been killed since the fighting began in Lebanon on 2 March.
An additional 11,781 were wounded. More than 1.1m were displaced, but even with the US and Iran signing a memorandum of understanding to end the war, the Lebanese army and civil defence are warning residents to not to return to their villages just yet.
Read more here:
Netanyahu announces he will run in upcoming elections
Benjamin Netanyahu used his first public statement after Washington and Tehran agreed to a deal to end the war to announce that he will be running in elections scheduled for later this year.
Netanyahu has been prime minister since 2022, but also held office from 1996 to 1997 and 2009 to 2021, making him Israel’s longest serving prime minister.
Netanyahu says Israeli forces will remain in Lebanon ‘buffer zone’
In his first address since the US and Iran signed the memorandum of understanding, Benjamin Netanyahu said Israeli forces will also remain in Gaza, Lebanon and Syria, AFP reports.
“We established deep security zones around the state of Israel. We did this in Gaza, in Lebanon, and in Syria,” Netanyahu said. “And I want to make it clear: we will remain in these security zones for as long as necessary to protect our country.”
Netanyahu also said that though the war saved Israel from the threat of nuclear annihilation, Israel will continue to thwart threats in the region and will do what it takes to stop Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, Netanyahu said.
Benjamin Netanyahu, prime minister of Israel, is making his first statement since the memorandum of understanding between Iran and the US was signed.
Stay tuned for more.
Israel says it has killed two Hamas commanders in strikes in Gaza
Israel’s military said it has killed two Hamas commanders in strikes in Gaza on Monday.
The Israeli Air Force identified the targets of the strikes as Saleh Ramadan Muhammad Khalifa, killed in central Gaza, and Muhammad Musa Diab al-Bil, who was killed in the north of the strip.
In a post on X, the air force said the two commanders had “planned to carry out terror attacks against IDF forces, posed an immediate threat to the forces, and were eliminated in precise strikes.”
The announcement came after Donald Trump said the tentative deal between the United States and Iran had been signed, with the text of the agreement set to be released later this week.
During the address in Paris, ahead of a G7 meeting in France, the US president said the Strait of Hormuz would be fully opened.
Today so far
-
A memorandum of understanding between the United States and Iran has been signed by president Donald Trump, vice-president JD Vance and Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, a senior US official said on Monday. Speaking at the start of bilateral talks with French president Emmanuel Macron ahead of a G7 summit in France, Trump said that ships are starting to pass through the strait of Hormuz now and that by Friday, the strait “will be completely open”.
-
The deal included a ceasefire in Lebanon but did not provide for a withdrawal of Israeli troops from areas that they occupied. Lebanon’s prime minister Nawaf Salam has said diplomatic efforts with the US are continuing in order to achieve the full withdrawal of Israeli troops from territory in southern Lebanon.
-
Israeli defence minister, Israel Katz has said that “the IDF will remain in the security zones in Lebanon, Syria and Gaza – indefinitely – to defend the border and Israeli communities against jihadist elements,” the Israeli newspaper Hareetz reports. Israel currently occupies swathes of southern Lebanon and Katz said that troops won’t withdraw from the land.
-
Hezbollah has welcomed the memorandum of understanding between the United States and Iran, saying it had resulted in a comprehensive ceasefire across all fronts, including Lebanon. In a written statement, the Tehran-backed group warned Israel that it would not accept any attacks that violate Lebanon’s sovereignty or targeted its people. It said Lebanon’s inclusion in the agreement reflected Iran’s commitment to ending the war.
-
Fury has continued to mount in India over the US’s refusal to apologise for the deaths of Indian sailors killed in strikes in the strait of Hormuz, further straining relations between the two countries as their leaders meet at the G7 summit in France this week.
-
Global oil prices have tumbled amid fresh hopes that a US-Iran peace deal may end the greatest energy supply crisis in the history of the market. The price of Brent crude dropped below $84 a barrel as the new trading week began in financial centres across Asia-Pacific.
The US and Iran have reached a tentative deal to end the conflict in the Middle East, but competing claims from Donald Trump and Tehran have left the details shrouded in uncertainty.
Questions remain over the reopening of the strait of Hormuz, Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon, and the future of Iran’s nuclear programme.
Nosheen Iqbal speaks to the Guardian’s senior international correspondent Julian Borger…
Trump says strait of Hormuz will be 'completely open' on Friday
The strait of Hormuz will be “completely open” from Friday after a deal between Iran and the US to end the Middle East war that limited shipping in the critical bottleneck, president Donald Trump has said.
Speaking at the start of bilateral talks with French president Emmanuel Macron ahead of a G7 summit in France, Trump added “I don’t think we will need much help” on keeping the strait open, after London and Paris proposed a joint naval mission.
The US and Iran have signed a deal to open the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for a lifting of a US naval blockade on Iran, senior administration officials have said, as part of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that will allow free movement through the crucial waterway for the next 60 days.
The deal was signed electronically by US president Donald Trump, vice-president JD Vance, and Iranian parliament speaker Mohammed Ghalibaf. A formal signing ceremony is set for Geneva on Friday.
“We have now signed a memorandum of understanding with Iran,” an official said during a briefing call with reporters. “All the details of the agreement have not been put out yet. They will be put out in the next 24-48 hours.”
Technical discussions led by Vance from the US side will begin later this week. That includes the more thorny issues of the fate of Iran’s nuclear program, which Trump has declared must never be able to produce a nuclear weapon.
It would also include provisions to lift sanctions and unfreeze billions of dollars in frozen assets but officials said that would be tied to “Iran meeting their commitments.”
“We discussed the possibility of releasing frozen funds, sanctions relief, you know, a big $300 billion fund to rebuild their country, and all of these things are going to be tied to performance,” one of the officials said.
They said that zero funds had been released as a result of signing the MOU. “We don’t pay for play, we don’t pay them to show up at a meeting,” the official said.
The deal has been heavily scrutinised as an official copy of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) has not yet been released publicly. But administration officials claimed it contained provisions that would prevent Iran from achieving a nuclear weapon.
“We have an Iran that is substantially weakened,” one adminsitration said praising the deal. “In order to rebuild [their nuclear program], they need a lot of money, and this deal really has two pathways.” The first option, the official said, is that Iran don’t get any money won’t have the resources to rebuild their industrial base or their nuclear weapons program. Option two is they are “invited into the world economy with all the prosperity that comes along with it, but only if they provide us the enforcement verification mechanism to ensure they’re not going to rebuild that nuclear weapon. So it’s a win either way for the United States.”
The deal also included a ceasefire in Lebanon but did not provide for a withdrawal of Israeli troops from areas that they occupied.
“The deal is a ceasefire, and it will not be a one-way ceasefire, meaning that if Iran is not able to control Hezbollah, and if they attack Israeli positions or Israeli towns, Israel will have the right to defend themselves and respond,” the officials said.
The officials credited the US military operation in the region and the “degradation” of Iran’s economy with providing a breakthrough in the negotiations. They also credited Pakistani and Qatari mediation, while saying that they were unhappy with Oman’s earlier efforts to broker a deal.
“We were very unhappy with the job the Omanis did,” an official said. “We felt they were very duplicitous and almost like employees of the Iranians in the way that they maneuvered. So we kind of threw them out of this process.”
Updated
A framework peace deal between the US and Iran has been reached, Donald Trump and senior Iranian officials have said, bringing the 15-week conflict to a tentative end and offering hope of relief for the Middle East and the world economy.
Thousands of people have been killed in the conflict, most of them in Iran and Lebanon, since US and Israeli forces first attacked Iran on 28 February.
Hours after the US-Iran ceasefire was announced, residents of south Lebanon began to race back to their villages. One man filmed as he drove into the entrance of Harees, his arrival interrupted as the car in front of him suddenly veered off the road. An Israeli armoured vehicle was parked in the middle of the road less than 100 metres ahead; he scrambled to turn around.
“It was packed with explosives. I guess they still want to blow things up,” said Abdullah al-Ali, a municipal official in Harees. Ali added that the entrance to the town was blocked off after two other explosive-laden vehicles left by the Israelis were discovered in the area.
The Lebanese army and civil defence told people not to return to their villages, warning that the war, which had so far claimed almost 3,800 lives in Lebanon, was not yet over. Their point was punctuated by the Israeli shelling that met people attempting to return to their homes south of the city of Nabatieh, still occupied by Israeli soldiers.
It was the third ceasefire declared in Lebanon in less than two months; the fourth in two years. This time, war-weary Lebanese did not greet the apparent truce as they had before, with fingers held up in a V for victory sign, but with a question. Would it last?
Trump, Vance and Iran's parliament speaker signed the MoU
The memorandum of understanding between the United States and Iran has been signed by president Donald Trump and vice-president JD Vance and Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, a senior US official said on Monday.
The basic structure of the US-Iran deal reached late on Sunday – a return to the prewar status quo – has been on offer from Iran for more than a month. So has the specific architecture: an immediate unwinding of the consequences of the US-Israeli war through the reopening of the strait of Hormuz and a deferral of the actual negotiations on Iran’s nuclear programme, the ostensible cause of the war.
The concept of a 60-day ceasefire to resolve these issues has also been a fixture for more than a month.
But it has taken the mounting pressure on the US and Iranian economies for both sides to recognise politically that a return to all-out war was unlikely to resolve the impasse, and if so, compromises would have to be struck.
Both sides had to relent on the complex issues holding up a deal: the future governance of the strait of Hormuz, the economic sweeteners – including sanctions relief – that needed to be offered to Iran, and the agenda for the deferred nuclear talks, including what preconditions would be set and how much ambiguity could be tolerated.
Iranian negotiators will now travel to Doha to try to work out some of the shaky implementation aspects of the deal before a signing ceremony on Friday in Geneva – the city US negotiators left on 28 February, the day the war began, when a far superior nuclear offer to now was being offered by the Iranians.
Shipping through the strait of Hormuz remained virtually at a standstill on Monday, tracking platforms indicated, despite US president Donald Trump’s claim that crossings were resuming under his deal to end the war with Iran.
Trump said Monday that loaded oil tankers were “starting to move” out of the strait, apparently on a route near to Oman, in a post on his Truth Social platform.
Announcing the accord with Iran on Sunday, he had said that the strait could reopen immediately after the scheduled signing of the agreement on Friday.
At 2pm GMT on Monday, tracking firm Kpler had detected only one commodities carrier crossing the strait during the day with its transponder switched on.
An Israeli drone strike targeted a car in southern Lebanon, killing its driver, Lebanese security sources and state media reported on Monday.
The strike was the first reported deadly Israeli attack in Lebanon since the announcement of the US-Iran agreement.
Here are some of the latest images being sent to us over the newswires from Lebanon, where displaced people have begun to make their way back to their homes despite fears of a resumption of Israeli attacks occurring in the south:
Gaza’s health ministry said in its latest update that at least six people were killed and six others injured in Israeli attacks across the territory over the past day. It said one other person’s body had been recovered in that time frame.
The health ministry says 992 people have been killed in Israeli attacks since the ‘ceasefire’ between Israel and Hamas came into effect in October 2025.
It says that 73,003 people, many of whom were women and children, have been killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza since October 2023, when Israel launched its assault on the territory following the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage.
Lebanon’s prime minister Nawaf Salam has said diplomatic efforts with the US are continuing in order to achieve the full withdrawal of Israeli troops from territory in southern Lebanon. Speaking to his cabinet, Salam said:
Since the start of the war imposed on Lebanon, the Lebanese government has continuously worked to bring it to an end and to spare Lebanon and the Lebanese people further harm.
Today, we hope that the ceasefire announced by the United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran will succeed in putting an end to this war and stopping the killing, destruction, displacement, and all the tragedies and suffering inflicted upon the Lebanese people.
I can only extend my sincere thanks to all those who contributed to reaching this outcome.
As we have mentioned previously in the blog, Israel’s defence minister, Israel Katz, said this morning that Israeli military forces will not withdraw from a vast swathe of territory they have seized in southern Lebanon despite the US-Iran agreement.
Speaking on the first day of the G7 summit in in Évian-les-Bains, French president Emmanuel Macron said a joint France-UK mission to ensure the strait of Hormuz opens was prepared to deploy “very quickly”, with the French flagship aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle ready to be in the zone “on a timescale of two to three days”.
“We do every thing so that this accord is a reality and that Hormuz can reopen,” Macron said. He added that any deployment would be done with the agreement of the US and “in parallel with the Iranians”, ensuring that “the reopening of Hormuz to take place peacefully and in a lasting manner”.
In an interview with CNBC, the US vice president, JD Vance, said the “two big wins” for the American public is the immediate reopening of the strait of Hormuz, which has seen oil prices fall already, and the “long term commitment” that Iran will never develop or procure a nuclear weapon.
He said:
The agreement is fundamentally built around a two step verification process. We say to the Iranians you are welcome to have access to an unsanctioned economy, you are welcome to be re-invited into the world economy. But only if you honour the commitments that you make in this agreement. So, that is the leverage point and simultaneously the enforcement mechanism we have over their nuclear programme.
Vance went on to say that the expectation is for the strait to be “toll-free” for “the long term”, echoing Donald Trump’s comments yesterday. “That’s the sort of thing that we are going to figure out in these technical negotiations,” he said.
Iranian state media has reported the strait will open to toll-free transits for commercial vessels for a 60-day period. The waterway will be managed by Iran and Oman after that period and its exact management system from then on is unclear.
Trump claims ships carrying oil are moving out of the strait of Hormuz
In a post to Truth Social, the US president, Donald Trump, has just claimed that ships carrying oil are “starting to move” out of the strait of Hormuz, even though many shippers say the arrangement to cross the waterway remains unclear and consider it too risky for ships to commence transit again. Trump wrote:
Ships are starting to move, many loaded up with Oil, out of the Strait of Hormuz. They are going along the Southern “Highway,” which is totally safe, secure, and pristine. There are other areas of travel, also!!!
Shipping companies and insurers will feel like the strait is safer for passage after the framework peace deal with Iran is signed and the remaining mines cleared.
Updated
Hezbollah has welcomed the memorandum of understanding between the United States and Iran, saying it had resulted in a comprehensive ceasefire across all fronts, including Lebanon.
In a written statement, the Tehran-backed group warned Israel that it would not accept any attacks that violate Lebanon’s sovereignty or targeted its people.
It said Lebanon’s inclusion in the agreement reflected Iran’s commitment to ending the war.
Iran’s foreign ministry said on Monday that Tehran still holds “deep mistrust” of the United States despite an agreed framework aimed at ending the war.
“Unfortunately, it must be acknowledged that Iran’s deep mistrust of the United States stems from long history of wrongdoing by American leaders,” said foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei in a weekly press briefing.
“The United States still has a long way to go before it can earn the trust of the Iranian people,” he noted, adding that the framework was “merely a step toward reducing tensions and end a war” which broke out late February.
Iran’s stocks of enriched uranium need to be neutralised and placed under the supervision of the UN atomic agency, French president Emmanuel Macron said on Monday.
“We will ensure that the enriched uranium capabilities that remain are properly neutralised,” Macron said after US president Donald Trump announced a deal with Iran.
The sensitive stocks should be “either taken out, or diluted” and then looked after by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Macron said.
Hezbollah has not carried out any operations since Iran-US deal, official says
A Hezbollah official has told the Reuters news agency that the militant group has not carried out any operations since the Iran-US framework peace deal was announced yesterday, adding that its position on the ceasefire was linked to Israel’s adherence to it.
The official said Hezbollah rejects Israeli “freedom of movement” in Lebanon and said Iran delayed signing the deal with the US to monitor Israel’s adherence to the ceasefire in Lebanon.
Israel has fiercely resisted Lebanon’s inclusion in the deal, where its forces have mounted a broad assault and occupied a swath of land in the south.
The US president, Donald Trump, called for restraint on Sunday after Israel launched fresh airstrikes on the Lebanese capital of Beirut.
Pakistan, a key mediator between the US and Iran in peace talks, says it will oversee the formal signing ceremony of the framework agreement in Geneva, Switzerland, on Friday, according to Al Jazeera.
The country’s prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, told the National Assembly session in Islamabad that “after three months and 16 days of unparalleled trials, the immediate and permanent cessation of military operations has been announced across all fronts, including Iran, America, and Lebanon”.
Indian outrage over US killing of sailors mounts as leaders attend G7 summit
Fury has continued to mount in India over the US’s refusal to apologise for the deaths of Indian sailors killed in strikes in the strait of Hormuz, further straining relations between the two countries as their leaders meet at the G7 summit in France this week.
Last week, three Indian seafarers, who were working on board commercial oil tankers, were killed when the US launched missile strikes on the vessel as it sailed through the strait of Hormuz.
The deaths were the first since the US military began in April its blockade of the strait in an attempt to squeeze Iran’s economy and push its government towards a peace deal.
However, the seemingly blase response from the US government to the killing of the sailors has been the cause of great consternation in India. Headlines over the weekend simply read: “No apology from Washington.”
The initial US government statement initially did not even make any mention of the deaths, instead just confirming that its forces had carried out a strike on a vessel in the strait that was allegedly in violation of sanctions, and which had been “uncooperative”.
The Indian government first condemned the strikes with “strong protest” and summoned a senior US diplomat to convey that the strikes must stop.
But as pressure over the attack continued to build in Delhi, India’s foreign minister, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, spoke directly to the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, sending a signal that India would not simply let the matter slide. You can read the full story here:
Iraq’s foreign ministry expressed its “satisfaction with the announcement on the imminent reopening of the strait of Hormuz to normal navigation, given its crucial importance in ensuring the flow of oil and gas to global markets”.
The US-Israel war on Iran badly hit Iraq’s economy. Iraq relies on oil revenues for roughly 90% of its budget, and most of its oil is exported through the strait of Hormuz, which was effectively closed by Iran in response to being attacked.
The war also led to a sharp reduction in the volume of imported goods reaching southern Iraq’s ports, while attacks halted traffic at the border it shares with Iran.
The Lebanese army has warned residents displaced by Israel’s war to “exercise caution” in returning to their homes in the border villages in the south because of the ongoing risk of Israeli attacks. In a statement posted to social media, the army said:
In light of the recent developments in the region and amid circulating news regarding the achievement of a ceasefire, the army command emphasizes the necessity for residents to exercise caution in returning to the southern border villages and towns, and to adhere to the directives of the deployed military units, to safeguard their safety from the dangers of violations and Israeli attacks.
It also stresses the need for utmost caution and vigilance in areas that have been subjected to Israeli attacks, and to report any unexploded ordnance or suspicious objects to the nearest army centre or other security forces.
Updated
Lebanese president hopes US-Iran deal will put 'definitive end' to Israel's war on Lebanon
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun has said he hopes the US-Iran framework deal would put a “definitive end” to the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, the Iranian backed Lebanese militant group and political party.
In a statement issued by his office, Aoun praised the memorandum’s affirmation that “Lebanon’s security and safety are an integral part of any effort to consolidate stability in the region”.
The Lebanese people “look forward to these understandings transforming into practical steps that put a definitive end to the cycle of violence and establish a phase of stability, security, recovery and reconstruction,” the statement added.
Hezbollah, which operates independently from the Lebanese state, has not been a party to the negotiations between Israel and the government of Lebanon. Despite having been engaged in diplomacy with Lebanon, Israel was striking southern Lebanon and ordering mass evacuation orders on a near-daily basis. This was before the US-Iran agreement was announced yesterday.
It is yet to be seen if the Israeli attacks, which killed many civilians and destroyed civilian infrastructure, will continue in Lebanon going forward, a red line for Iran and something that will derail peace talks with the US.
Hezbollah had fired rockets and drones into northern Israel and against Israeli troops in southern Lebanon as the group rejected pushes for its disarmament and Israeli occupation of large areas of the south.
Donald Trump is set to head to the French spa town of Évian-les-Bains later today for the annual G7 summit.
The reopening/demining of the strait of Hormuz will likely be high on the agenda during his meeting with world leaders over the course of the three days.
Britain and France are among the countries that have expressed interest in assisting with demining efforts once the fighting had stopped.
You can keep up with all the latest developments in our Europe live blog here:
Iran’s Fars news agency said on Monday, quoting what it said was an informed source, that Tehran added a clause on imposing maritime service fees to the framework deal with the US shortly before its announcement.
“In the final moments of the negotiations, the text of the memorandum of understanding was amended to clearly and explicitly emphasise the issue of the Iranian-Omani sovereignty over the strait of Hormuz,” reported Fars, a news agency close to the Iranian security services.
“The use of the term ‘maritime services’ means that the United States has accepted that fees will be paid to Iran,” it added. There has been no official comment from the US on these fees, but Donald Trump claimed the agreement ensures the strait will be “permanently toll free” and has repeatedly insisted that Iran will not be allowed to impose tolls on commercial vessels trying to transit the waterway.
Updated
Iran’s foreign minister holds calls with Turkey, Iraq and Egypt on US-Iran framework
Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, has held phone calls with his counterparts in Turkey, Iraq and Egypt, according to a post on his Telegram channel.
He updated them on the contents of the US-Iran framework peace deal, thanked them for their mediation efforts and reiterated Iran’s position that Israel must halt its attacks on Lebanon for the agreement to be honoured.
Araghchi also held a telephone call with his Japense counterpart, Toshimitsu Motegi, who welcomed the memorandum of understanding with the US, according to the statement. Both foreign ministers also vowed to stay in close contact “regarding future cooperation on the issue of the strait of Hormuz”.
Updated
The head of the International Maritime Organization, Arsenio Dominguez, has welcomed the framework agreement, saying it is an indication of a “crucial return to peace”.
“This signals a crucial return to peace, dialogue, multilateralism and diplomacy, and in particular, an important step toward restoring safety in this vital maritime corridor for seafarers and ships, as well as safeguarding the fundamental principle of freedom of navigation,” he said in a statement.
“The agreement also allows IMO to advance its plan to evacuate the thousands of seafarers stranded in the area. The organization is working in close collaboration with member states and partners to implement this plan safely and effectively. However, its implementation will require time to ensure that all necessary safety and security guarantees are in place.”
Donald Trump said the strait of Hormuz will reopen on Friday after the initial memorandum of understanding is signed (in Switzerland), and confirmed the US naval blockade on Iranian ports will be lifted.
Under the terms of the deal, the strategic waterway, through which a fifth of the world’s oil and liquid gas usually passes, would be gradually reopened as Iranian forces clear mines during the first month.
However, there remains uncertainty about the status of the strait going forward. In an interview with the NY Times on Sunday, Trump claimed the waterway will be “permanently toll free” . But on Iran’s Mehr state news, it was reported that a memorandum of understanding between the governments calls for the reopening of the strait within 30 days under “Iranian arrangements”.
Updated
US-Iran deal is 'bad for Israel and the entire free world' - Smotrich
The far-right Israeli finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, has said the framework peace deal is “bad for Israel” and “the entire free world”. In a post on X, he wrote:
The joint campaign had many achievements in weakening Iran, and they will not go to waste. We will have to continue the campaign to topple the regime ourselves and in creative ways, and ensure that Iran will never have nuclear weapons.
None of the candidates who see themselves as fit for the premiership would withstand even ten percent of the pressure currently being applied to the Israeli government, and especially to the one at its head.
In Lebanon, we will be tested. This is our war, our fighters, and the immediate security of our northern residents. I will continue to act so that we continue to stand firm on ours and allow the IDF full freedom of action to continue pushing Hezbollah away.
Benjamin Netanyahu is at the helm of the most right-wing coalition in Israeli history, which includes Smotrich, an ultranationalist who has called for government reprisal attacks on Palestinians and is a leading, many would say extreme, figure in the Israeli settler movement. He wields a considerable influence over Netanyahu, who is running in an election that must be held by October.
It will be the first since the Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage. Netanyahu has repeatedly refused to take direct responsibility for the security and intelligence failings that occurred in the lead-up to the attack, which triggered the Israeli assault on Gaza, widely viewed as a genocide against the Palestinian population.
Netanyahu had wanted to go into the election being able to boast about the fall and eradication of the Iranian regime, according to the Times of Israel, but is now reportedly trying to buy himself time and delay the election date to as late as possible after this goal failed to materialise, with the US wanting a swift end to the war and a more hardline regime calcifying in Iran.
Updated
Egypt also welcomed the framework peace deal, saying it could be a “turning point” for stability in the region. Cairo’s foreign ministry said:
Egypt hopes that this agreement will constitute a major turning point toward strengthening mutual trust, laying new foundations for cooperation, creating a supportive environment for peace and advancing diplomatic efforts aimed at addressing remaining regional issues.
Although Egypt, a close US ally, was not directly involved in the war, it has been heavily affected, particularly in the energy sector, as it depends on imported fuel. Costs have soared with the disruption of oil and gas production and trade across the region.
Egypt sought to position itself as a mediator between the US and Iran as it tried to contain the spiralling economic and security fallout from the conflict.
Updated
Speaking at the start of a press conference in Downing Street where he was announcing a ban on social media use for under-16s, the UK’s prime minister, Keir Starmer, said he welcomed the US-Iran deal.
He said:
This is a hugely significant moment. We have long called for de-escalation, and it is vital that all parties seize this opportunity to secure stability in the region and risk of freedom of navigation in the strait of Hormuz, which in turn will ease the economic pressures felt by people here in the United Kingdom and around the world.
We will now work closely with our partners to support this agreement and to ensure it turns into a durable lasting peace.
An “Israeli source” has told CNN that Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has privately blamed Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, and Steve Witkoff, his special envoy, for creating a wedge between himself and the president.
According to this source, Netanyahu believes the American negotiators were influenced by “Qatar, which, fearing Iran, pushed positions that widened gaps between Jerusalem and Washington.”
Qatari mediators travelled to Tehran yesterday to finalise terms of the US-Iran memorandum of understanding and have been a key diplomatic channel alongside Pakistan.
Qatar has close contacts with leaders in Tehran and shares access to the world’s biggest field of natural gas deposits with Iran.
Like other Gulf countries, it is incredibly vulnerable to attacks from Iran and was targeted by missiles and drones at the beginning of the war as Tehran started striking US allies in the region in retaliation for being attacked by the US and Israel.
Updated
IDF will remain in Lebanon, Syria and Gaza 'indefinitely', Israel's defence minister says
Israeli newspaper Hareetz has quoted the country’s defence minister, Israel Katz, as having said that “the IDF will remain in the security zones in Lebanon, Syria and Gaza – indefinitely – to defend the border and Israeli communities against jihadist elements.”
Israel currently occupies swathes of southern Lebanon and Katz said that troops won’t withdraw from the land.
Despite launching the war on Iran alongside the US in late February, Israel was frozen out of the Pakistan-mediated negotiations over the peace deal – and many Israeli politicians and members of the public want the IDF to continue its war on Lebanon to degrade Hezbollah’s capabilities further.
At least 3,711 people have been killed in Israeli attacks on Lebanon since the start of the war on 2 March, according to the country’s health ministry. Israel’s renewed war on Lebanon was triggered in response to Hezbollah firing rockets at northern Israel after the US and Israel killed the former Iranian supreme leader in Tehran on 28 February.
As well as killing many civilians, the Israeli assault on the country has led to the widespread demolition of homes in southern Lebanon and triggered a refugee crisis in which hundreds of thousands of people were forced to flee in response to sweeping evacuation orders often given at little or no notice.
Updated
German foreign minister Johann Wadephul said on Monday that the strait of Hormuz must be made navigable again without any restrictions after US and Iranian officials said they had reached an agreement to end their war and reopen the vital shipping route.
“It must be made clear that the strait of Hormuz is once again open to shipping, without any restrictions whatsoever and without any possibility of levying customs duties or similar charges,” Wadephul said before meeting with European counterparts in Luxembourg.
Updated
Israeli far-right minister criticises US-Iran deal and urges stronger campaign in Lebanon
Israel’s far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben Gvir, on Monday denounced the deal between the US and Iran to end the Middle East war, including in Lebanon, insisting his country was not bound by it.
“Trump’s agreement does not bind us... we are not party to this agreement. It does not safeguard our security,” Ben Gvir said on his Telegram channel, in what was the first reaction from an Israeli official to the deal.
“We must not settle for anything less than the dismantling of Hezbollah. We must not withdraw from a single inch of territory that our soldiers have captured and cleared of terrorist infrastructure,” he said.
Updated
The announced deal between the United States and Iran marks a “potential breakthrough” in the war and the EU will now weigh how it can be involved in the next phase, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Monday.
“From economic leverage to nuclear expertise and longstanding relationships with Gulf partners, the EU stands ready to contribute to a sustainable resolution,” Kallas said in a post on X, before a meeting of foreign affairs ministers from the 27 EU member states in Brussels.
The agreement between the United States and Iran should allow for the “immediate reopening” of the Strait of Hormuz, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Monday.
“The priority now is its swift and full implementation by all parties,” von der Leyen said about the announced deal.
“Freedom of navigation must be restored toll-free. This is essential for regional stability and the global economy. It opens the door to broader negotiations on peace and security in the Middle East,” she added.
Von der Leyen also said that peace in the Middle East was impossible “while Lebanon is in flames.“
“Once again Europe calls on all parties to respect Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and implement a genuine ceasefire,” she said.
European Union chief Antonio Costa welcomed Monday a deal between the US and Iran to end the Middle East war, adding that the bloc was ready to contribute to a strategy for “lasting peace”.
“I look forward to an end to this costly war and to the full restoration of freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz,” Costa, the European Council President, wrote on X.
What is in the US-Iran peace deal?
The United States and Iran said they reached a deal to end the Middle East war on all fronts including Lebanon, and reopen the vital strait of Hormuz, but offered little indication on the thorny question of Tehran’s nuclear programme, reports Agence France-Presse.
Washington and Islamabad said the agreement was to be signed on Friday in Switzerland. But the content of the deal, which follows weeks of fraught negotiations and periodic threats from Trump of fresh hostilities unless Iran reached a deal, remained unclear.
Iran’s Mehr news agency reported the US would release $12bn in frozen assets to Iran before the start of negotiations.
It quoted a 14-point “memorandum of understanding” between the two nations, which it said stipulated “the release of 24 billion dollars in frozen Iranian assets during the 60?day negotiation period” that begins after the MoU is signed.
The Trump administration didn’t immediately comment on the details of the agreement, which may prove contentious as the US presses its effort to end Tehran’s nuclear ambitions and deal with its stockpile of highly enriched uranium – believed to have been buried by US strikes last year.
In an interview with the New York Times on Sunday, Trump said Washington was still negotiating whether Iran would suspend its enrichment for 20 years.
Updated
French president Emmanuel Macron said the deal between the US and Iran will be discussed at the G7 summit, which begins Monday in the French resort town of Evian-les-Bains and brings together leaders of the world’s major advanced economies, including president Donald Trump.
“The aim will be to assess the implications of this agreement, support for Lebanon, the long-term reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, and, of course, reaching a deal on Iran’s nuclear and ballistic (missile) programs,” Macron said in a video posted on X.
Egypt, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates will join discussions in Evian on Tuesday. The G7 includes the US, France, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan and the UK.
Updated
Global oil prices have tumbled amid fresh hopes that a US-Iran peace deal may end the greatest energy supply crisis in the history of the market, write the Guardian’s Jillian Ambrose and Jonathan Barrett.
The price of Brent crude dropped below $84 a barrel as the new trading week began in financial centres across Asia-Pacific, amid optimism that the strait of Hormuz could reopen shortly and bring a return of Gulf oil exports to the market.
Read the full story below:
How much sticking power will the “great deal” – as Trump has described it – have given that so many details are yet to be addressed?
Speaking to Australian Associated Press, Kylie Moore-Gilbert, an expert on Middle Eastern politics who spent more than two years in an Iranian prison, said the pause in fighting would probably be temporary because of unaddressed sticking points.
The agreement failed to deal with Tehran’s ambitions to build nuclear weapons, its use of proxies in the region, its missile program and human rights abuses, she said.
Every single reason cited for this war by the Trump administration ... has not been addressed,” she said.
All those sticking points remain, and we can expect that the Islamic Republic will continue in its intransigence and resist coming to any kind of arrangement or agreement on those points.
This is just kicking the can down the road to the next conflict.”
Updated
World leaders react to the peace deal
News of the deal has sparked comment from leaders around the globe, including in France, Qatar, the UK, Turkey, Japan and Australia.
-
Qatar’s foreign ministry expressed its “full support for all efforts and initiatives aimed at enhancing regional security and stability’”.
-
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stressed “the need to avoid rhetoric, provocations, and actions that could escalate tensions in the period leading up to the signing of the agreement, and to remain vigilant against possible sabotage.”
-
French President Emmanuel Macron called for “the urgent and unconditional reopening of the Strait of Hormuz,” adding that France and the UK were “ready to support”.
-
British prime minister Keir Starmer said “toll-free freedom of navigation must now be restored in the Strait of Hormuz,” adding that the UK was ready “to offer support on mine clearance.” “It remains the UK’s firm and longstanding position that Iran must never have a nuclear weapon,” he added.
-
Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese and foreign minister Penny Wong called for “continued restraint and constructive engagement”. “Iran must address longstanding concerns about its nuclear program and the threat it poses to international security,” they said in a joint statement.
Updated
Crude prices plunge, stocks surge on US-Iran peace deal
News of the US-Iran peace deal has been greeted by global markets with a sigh of relief.
The strait of Hormuz – a vital maritime chokepoint through which roughly 20% of the world’s crude oil supply transits – was effectively closed by Tehran soon after US-Israel strikes on Iran kicked off the conflict on 28 February, roiling global markets for months.
Writing on Truth Social on his 80th birthday, President Trump said:
“ I hereby fully authorize the toll free opening of the Strait of Hormuz, and, simultaneously herewith, authorize the immediate removal of the United States Naval blockade. “Ships of the World, start your engines. Let the oil flow!”
Crude prices tanked as much as 5% Monday, with West Texas Intermediate approaching $80 a barrel for the first time since the start of March. Brent was down more than 4% at about $83.60
Asian equities surged, led by Tokyo and Seoul, which piled on more than 5% apiece.
Updated
It’s been an eventful day, with the most substantial development we have seen so far in reaching a peace deal.
The tentative agreement comes more than three months after the US and Israel launched strikes Iran. But a lot of questions remain.
This helpful explainer addresses what we know, and don’t, so far.
Opening summary
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of events in the Middle East, with the US and Iran agreeing to a tentative deal to end the war.
There are still many details to be ironed out after an MoU is expected to be signed in Geneva on Friday.
Here is what we know so far.
-
The US and Iran have reached a tentative peace deal to end the war, although many critical questions and details, including the reopening of the strait of Hormuz, and the future of Iran’s nuclear program, remain unanswered.
-
The agreement was first announced by Pakistan’s prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, who has been acting as a mediator. Minutes later, Donald Trump confirmed the deal, writing: “The Deal with the Islamic Republic of Iran is now complete. Congratulations to all!”
-
Trump subsequently said the “Great Deal” would bring peace and security to the region and claimed the strait of Hormuz would be reopened. “The Leaders of the Region have, for the first time, found a President who can help them achieve real Peace,” he said in a post on Truth Social. “With the opening of the Strait upon the signing of the Deal on Friday, for purposes of mine removal, oil will flow on both ends again for the Region, and the World!”
-
In televised comments, Iran’s deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi said the agreement with the United States puts an “immediate end” to the countries’ war. He said the end of the war had been declared on all fronts, including Lebanon.
-
However, how the strait of Hormuz will be managed seems uncertain, with Iran’s state media Mehr saying that an MoU expected to be signed in Geneva on Friday stipulates that it will be carried out under “Iranian arrangements”.
-
In a call to the New York Times, Trump claimed that under the deal the strait would be “permanently toll free”.
-
Trump also insisted that if Iran failed to reach a final nuclear accord with the US, he would restart military attacks on Tehran or make the US “the guardian of the Middle East” in return for 20% of the region’s revenues.
-
Some, such as Republican senator Lindsey Graham have expressed concern about the differing substance from US and Iranian negotiating teams.
-
Leaders in Europe, Japan, and Australia have welcomed the deal, while the UN chief António Guterres hailed it as a “critical step”.
-
Asian markets have responded positively to news, with benchmarks in Tokyo and Seoul gaining more than 5% early Monday. Oil prices fell more than $3 a barrel.
-
There has been no immediate reaction to the announcement from Israel, which has said it was not party to the planned US-Iran deal. The agreement was sealed despite an Israeli strike on Lebanon on Sunday that drew criticism from both Iran and Trump.
