Middle East crisis live: Trump says US expects ‘complete ceasefire on all fronts, including Lebanon, Hezbollah and Israel’

Three people have been killed in Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon, according to Lebanese state media, and Hezbollah said its fighters were engaged in fresh clashes with the Israeli military today. The strikes occurred despite the signing of the US-Iran agreement which provides for the end of the war on all fronts in the Middle East, including Lebanon. ” JD Vance said that the 60-day period in which to reach a final agreement with Iran has started today.

If this is true, that would set a deadline for the final agreement between Iran and the US as 17 August. US central command (Centcom) has ended its blockade in the strait of Hormuz, it announced on social media. The US blockade of the strait had been in effect since 13 April, with control of the waterway being a key point of conflict in the war.

Marine Traffic data showed that at least seven ships have crossed the strait so far today. The US defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, said at a meeting with Nato defense ministers in Brussels that the US will restart military action and ⁠reimpose a ⁠blockade against Iran if it does not fulfill its commitments ⁠under the agreement signed yesterday. Pakistan’s foreign ministry said that the signing ceremony in Switzerland, which was due to take place on Friday, is cancelled as it is understood that the Memorandum of Understanding between the US and Iran has already been signed remotely.

The EU’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, said she was representing the bloc’s position on the Middle East, after Israel announced it was severing diplomatic relations over allegations she had compared the country to apartheid South Africa. Special envoy Steve Witkoff reportedly told US lawmakers that Iran plans to invite the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to inspect its nuclear sites following the deal with the US, sources told the Associated Press. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu emphasized the importance of maintaining close ties with the US on Thursday, saying Washington had stood by Israel during the Middle East war.

“The struggle is not yet over, and further challenges lie ahead. They require calm judgement, steadfast defense of Israel’s security interests, and at the same time the preservation of our vital relationship with our American friends, who stood shoulder to shoulder with us in this fight – a partnership we deeply appreciate,” Netanyahu said at a function, reported AFP. His comments come as relations between the US and Israel have come under strain over the US-Iran agreement to halt the conflict, a deal which has faced sharp criticism from Israeli analysts.

Netanyahu has still not commented directly on the deal, though some of his coalition members dismissed it even before the text’s details were released on Wednesday. The latest episode of the Guardian’s Today in Focus podcast centers on the 14-point agreement between the US and Iran, the content of which reveals significant concessions to Tehran. The Guardian’s diplomatic editor, Patrick Wintour, discusses the deal in detail.

Check it out here: Hezbollah said its fighters were engaged in fresh clashes with the Israeli military today, AFP reported, hours after Lebanese state media reported that Israeli strikes in the south killed three people. The fighting came just a day after the US and Iran signed an agreement to end the Middle East war on all fronts, including in Lebanon. Hezbollah, an Iran-backed militant group, said on Thursday it was fighting “a force of the Israeli enemy army that attempted to advance from the town of Arnoun towards the outskirts of Kfar Tibnit”, near the key town of Nabatieh.

“The clashes are still ongoing,” it added in the statement released in the late afternoon. Earlier, Lebanon’s official National News Agency reported an “enemy drone targeted a car” in Kfar Tebnit, a village near the city of Nabatiyeh, killing two people. Another drone attack in the neighboring village of Zebdine killed one person, according to the news agency.

” “We ‌encourage everyone ‌in the ‌Middle East Region to maintain their commitment to allowing our negotiations ‌to beautifully unfold,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, one day after he ⁠signed a memorandum of understanding to end the nearly four-month ‌conflict with Iran. Iran’s supreme leader, Mojtaba ⁠Khamenei, said on Thursday he had authorized the ⁠memorandum of ⁠understanding signed by the Iranian and US presidents despite “⁠holding a different view” after receiving assurances from president ⁠Masoud Pezeshkian and other senior officials that ‌Iran’s rights ‌and the interests of the “Resistance ‌Front” would be safeguarded, Reuters reported. In a written message to the Iranian nation, Khamenei said Pezeshkian, in his capacity as ‌head of the Supreme National Security Council, had accepted responsibility for ensuring the agreement protected Iran’s interests and pledged not to yield ⁠if Washington made what he described as excessive demands.

Khamenei added that future face-to-face negotiations with the ‌US would not mean accepting “the enemy’s position“. ” “The idea that he is going to strike a deal that’s bad for the American people, it’s preposterous” Vance said, adding that the administration has to continue to explain the deal to the American people. “I think that when people get to understand not just the agreement, but our negotiating posture as a country, they will realize this is an excellent thing for the American people,” Vance told reporters.

“That’s part of our job. ” US central command (Centcom) said in a statement on social media that they have ended their blockade in the strait of Hormuz. “Today, US forces lifted the blockade on all maritime traffic entering and exiting Iranian ports and coastal areas, in accordance with the President’s direction,” the statement said.

“American forces are not impeding the transit of vessels to or from Iranian ports on the Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman. ” The US blockade of the strait had been in effect since 13 April, with control of the waterway being a key point of conflict in the war. Marine Traffic data showed that at least seven ships have crossed the strait so far today.

The Centcom statement added that naval ships will remain in the general area “to make sure that all aspects of the agreement are adhered to, obeyed and in full force and effect”. The EU’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said she was representing the bloc’s position on the Middle East, after Israel announced it was severing diplomatic relations over allegations she had compared the country to apartheid South Africa. Israel’s foreign minister Gideon Sa’ar announced on X earlier on Thursday that he would sever all contact with Kallas over a Euractiv report that she had compared Israel to apartheid-era South Africa.

Sa’ar said that she had for some time Kallas had been “acting obsessively and with blatant unfairness toward the state of Israel”, while accusing her of a “blood libel” over the alleged comments. Kallas told reporters she had made tens if not hundreds of statements on Israel and Gaza “and you see what I have been saying” but did not deny the report. “I cannot fight shadows all the time,” she said, asking reporters to refer to her public statements.

She said she was representing the EU and “it is true we don’t always see eye to eye” with the Israeli government. The former Estonian prime minister has faced criticism inside the EU for not denying the remarks. EU leaders meeting in Brussels will express “grave concern” over the “deteriorating situation in Gaza and the West Bank, including the persistent and devastating humanitarian crisis in Gaza”, according to a draft summit communique due to be released on Friday.

But the bloc has been unable to agree trade sanctions against Israel. Under growing pressure to take action, Kallas announced on Monday that she would ask for “a list of options for possible trade measures”, including stopping commerce from occupied territories. EU diplomats say it remains unclear whether the bloc can find a majority to pass sanctions on Israel.

” He added: The president has grown frustrated sometimes that we seem to be right on the cusp of a major breakthrough in the agreement, and then all of a sudden, there’s a major explosion that goes off in a civilian population center in Beirut, and a lot of people who have nothing to do with Hezbollah lose their lives. That’s not acceptable. Vance also said that he may go to Switzerland for talks with Iran this weekend, but that the plan could change.

“We think these technical negotiations are going to start sometime this weekend. That’s still the plan, but that could change,” Vance told journalists at the White House. US vice-president JD Vance is asked about the shift in Trump’s stance regarding Iran’s ballistic missile arsenal.

Trump stated on 28 February that destroying Iran’s missiles and missile industry was a key objective of the war. Yesterday, however, he told reporters in Paris that it would be “unfair” for Iran to not have “some” ballistic missiles, because other countries have them. Attempting to clarify Trump’s comments, Vance says: Countries don’t give up the right of self-defence.

Israel doesn’t give up the right of self-defence if Hezbollah fires rockets or drones at Israel. The Iranians don’t give up the right of self-defence in their country. But we do expect that, as part of the final deal, they are not going to be able to build the kind of missiles that can broadly threaten the entire world.

Vance also repeated the administration’s claims that the US’s war has destroyed Iran’s military and nuclear capabilities, but it has been reported that US intelligence estimates suggest that Iran has retained about 70% of its pre-war ballistic and cruise missile stockpile. The vice-president also stresses that “the United States isn’t giving up a cent of money to Iran” and that the sanctions relief and other economic benefits in the bargain “only happens if the Iranians perform”. JD Vance has said that the 60-day period in which to reach a final agreement with Iran has started today.

“I would say the 60-day period officially started today. It was signed late, and it may have even been signed technically, you know, because of the time shift, I think it’s signed technically today, Iran time,” he said during a press briefing at the White House on Thursday. If this is true, that would set a deadline for the final agreement between Iran and the United States as 17 August.

The interim pact signed by President Donald Trump and Iranian leaders kicked the hardest issues down the road ⁠to the next phase of negotiations, with no guarantee they will ever be resolved, Reuters reports. Most analysts are sceptical the two ‌sides can forge a final settlement within the 60-day window laid out in the memorandum of understanding. Vance also confirms that Congress is due to be briefed about the agreement with Iran soon.

“We do plan to brief Congress very soon,” Vance told reporters in the White House briefing room. In the same press briefing, he said he is “not at all” worried about being blamed for any potential fall out of the agreement with Iran. Palestinian journalist Hind Khoudary has reported the “first explosion heard in days” inside Gaza, and accuses Israel of violating the ceasefire agreement.

Reporting to Al Jazeera, she wrote: “This is the first explosion we’ve had in Gaza City over the past couple of days, which have been calm and quiet. Minutes after the strike locals said the target was a jeep driven by civilians. “Only one of the three victims has been identified.

Abdul Jawad Abu Lebn was set to get married next week. ” According to Khoudary, the health ministry said that the bodies found inside were badly disfigured – which made it hard to identify who was inside. She also reported that a girl was killed in Israeli gunfire in Beit Lahia.

“So we have been seeing a series of Israeli attacks in which more people have been killed and a lot of others injured,” she wrote. Pakistan’s foreign ministry has said that the signing ceremony in Switzerland, which was due to take place on Friday, is cancelled as it understood to have already been signed remotely. “The proposed visit has been postponed as the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding has already been electronically signed, has entered into force, and is now under implementation,” spokesperson Mosharraf Zaidi said, adding Pakistan would support the next phase of several “technical-level” tracks.

The Kuwaiti and Iranian foreign ministers have discussed the US agreement in their first known call since the start of the war. The foreign ministry of Iran and Kuwait has said that representatives from both countries spoke about the deal over the phone. Kuwait’s foreign minister sheikh Jarrah Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah has said he hopes his country will “contribute to enhancing stability in the region, ensuring the security and freedom of navigation in the strait of Hormuz, and addressing outstanding issues through the achievement of sustainable solutions,” in a statement issued by the Kuwaiti authorities.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said there needs to be continued dialogue within the Gulf to “enhance mutual cooperation and resolve existing ambiguities,” the Iranian foreign ministry said in its statement. The Lebanese president, Joseph Aoun, held a meeting with Beirut negotiators as they prepare for the next round of talks with Israeli counterparts in Washington next week, his office has said. The negotiations are scheduled to begin on Tuesday, with Aoun directing the Lebanese delegation of his country’s position, including “the final cessation of hostilities and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the lands they occupy”, the Lebanese presidency said in a statement posted on social media.

Other key demands include “the deployment of the Lebanese army to the international borders, the return of Lebanese prisoners, and the launch of the reconstruction campaign”. In a statement yesterday, Aoun expressed hope that next week’s fifth round of talks “will be more positive, particularly considering the US administration’s great interest in Lebanon”. UK wholesale gas prices have fallen to their lowest level since the start of the Iran war.

The month-ahead UK gas price fell as low as 95p per therm this morning, following the signing of the interim peace deal by the US and Iran. That’s the lowest since 2 March, the Monday after the conflict began. Reminder: Brent crude oil has also fallen to its lowest since 2 March today (see earlier post).

57p per therm. 6 per megawatt hour. Hopes for a resumption of traffic through the strait of Hormuz are pushing down energy costs, despite concerns that it will take time for the situation to return to prewar levels.

Oxford Economics say: With the new US-Iran ceasefire including an agreement to reopen the strait of Hormuz, Oxford Economics anticipates an initial surge in traffic as ships that have been stuck are finally able to exit. Flows are then expected to slow until confidence builds that the ceasefire is durable. ” Follow our business live blog for the latest economic and financial news: Three people have been killed in Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon, according to Lebanese state media, despite the signing of the US-Iran agreement which provides for the end of the war on all fronts in the Middle East, including Lebanon.

Lebanon’s official National News Agency reported an “enemy drone targeted a car” in Kfar Tebnit, a village near the city of Nabatiyeh, killing two people. Another drone attack in the neighbouring village of Zebdine killed one person, according to the news agency. Meanwhile, the Israeli military said one of its soldiers was killed last night in an incident in southern Lebanon that left seven others injured.

While Israel’s strikes in Lebanon have been sporadic since a ceasefire was announced in the country in April, the fighting between the Israeli military and Hezbollah has not stopped. The Iran-backed group, however, has not claimed responsibility for any new attacks against Israel since the US-Iran agreement was announced earlier this week. At least seven vessels have crossed the strait of Hormuz so far today, according to Marine Traffic data.

Four cargo ships, a French flagged LNG tanker and a Cook Islands flagged bitumen tanker all exited the strait towards the Gulf of Oman – CNN reports. Additionally, a Panama flagged Starway entered the strait heading toward the Gulf. This marks an increase in traffic on the strait, but still far below the prewar average of about 135 ships per day moving through the vital waterway.

This comes after the route was reopened as part of a deal between the US and Iran was made on Wednesday. European leaders have largely been sidelined from the negotiations, but expressed relief that the strait of Hormuz would reopen, allowing the flow of oil to resume. Emmanuel Macron said it would put a stop to a “situation of great instability that had terrible consequences for our economies”.

President of the Philippines Ferdinand R Marcos Jr was also optimistic, saying the freedom of navigation returning to the Hormuz strait was “what we have been hoping for since the day after the war started”. Pakistan and Turkey’s politicians hope for “lasting peace” in the region, after discussing the US and Iran peace deal over the phone. According to the office of Pakistan’s foreign minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar, he had a phone call with his Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan, about the news of the deal.

“Fidan congratulated Pakistan on the historic signing of the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding between the United States and Iran and endorsed by Pakistan as the mediator,” a statement said. “Both leaders expressed hope that this significant development would contribute to lasting peace, stability, and progress in the region and beyond,” it added. Here are some of the latest images from the Middle East on our wires: The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) issued a statement saying it would continue operating in southern Lebanon within an area it has occupied since the start of the current war.

The IDF posted a map on social media showing its so-called “security zone” that stretches 10km (more than 6 miles) into Lebanese territory from the northern Israeli border. The military has forced thousands of people to flee their homes in the towns and villages within the zone through mass “evacuation” and no-return orders. “IDF forces have established themselves in their area of operations in southern Lebanon and continue to operate to remove threats and improve protection for residents of the north,” it said.

The US-Iran preliminary memorandum of understanding signed last night stipulates “the immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon”, but Israel said it will continue its war against Hezbollah in Lebanon and does not feel bound by the agreement, which it took no part of. The Iranian president, Masoud Pezeshkian, has praised what he called a “historic” deal with the US to end the war between the two countries and pave the way for negotiations towards a final settlement. In a post on social media, he said: “This is a historic document and a message from a powerful Iran: peace will be realised in the shadow of mutual respect.

” He also posted an image of the document bearing his signature and that of US president Donald Trump. Kaja Kallas has responded to the Israeli foreign minister’s announcement that he was severing all contact with the EU’s top diplomat (see post at 10:05). In a message to Gideon Saar, she said she valued the “dialogue and engagement” between the EU and Israel but did not address reports that she allegedly compared Israel’s treatment of Palestinians to apartheid South Africa.

In a post on X, Kallas said: Dear Gideon, as you know, the EU and Israel have a lot that binds us. I value our dialogue and engagement, and I’m open to continue in that spirit, respectfully and constructively. Dialogue is the foundation of diplomacy, especially when differences arise.

The EU is always committed to a constructive relationship with Israel. To bring peace to the Middle East, the two-state solution remains the only viable path. The EU has condemned the illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank that make it increasingly difficult to get to that goal.

” Earlier this week, Kallas said the EU would explore options for restricting trade with Israeli settlements following calls from several member countries, according to AFP. The US defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, has been speaking in Brussels after meeting with Nato defence ministers there. He said the US will restart military action and ⁠reimpose a ⁠blockade against Iran if it does not fulfil its commitments ⁠under the agreement signed yesterday.

“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,” Hegseth said. ” He also slammed Nato for its perceived lack of support on the Iran war, as my colleague, Jakub Krupa, reports on the Europe live blog. Hegseth said: The United States has defended Europe for generations, and the President said all he said was that our jets would need to take off from bases in Europe or our ships from ports to strike targets in the Middle East, Iranian targets that threaten European interests even more directly than they threaten us.

But too many of our allies said no, or tried to drown us in arcane legal debates, or criticised us publicly for doing what they aren’t prepared or able to do themselves. It was shameful. ” The UK foreign secretary, Yvette Cooper, met with the head of the Palestinian committee tasked with overseeing the future administration of Gaza, as part of efforts to “revive” the peace plan aimed at ending the war between Israel and Hamas.

Cooper’s meeting with Ali Shaath, the general commissioner of the National Committee for Gaza Management (NGAC), came as the US and Iran signed an initial agreement to end the war between the two countries. Cooper said the deal serves as an opportunity to rescue the US-brokered 20-point Gaza ceasefire plan signed in October, which calls for an interim Palestinian administration to govern the Strip and launch a reconstruction programme for the devastated territory. The NGAC was established as part of the peace plan to oversee the transition of power in Gaza, but the process appears to be at a standstill as Israel tightens its grip on the Palestinian territory and Hamas retains administrative control.

“The 20-point peace plan is on life support,” Cooper said in a statement. While she praised Egypt, the US, Turkey and Qatar for their efforts, she added: “Momentum has stalled and we need to see rapid progress on implementation as living conditions for ordinary Gazans remain dire. ” Donald Trump has hit out at critics who say he has “not been tough enough on Iran”, calling them “jealous, bad people, or stupid”.

Among his critics are top Republicans, who have said the agreement achieves even less than the deal negotiated by former US president Barack Obama in 2015. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said: 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. ” The Israeli foreign minister, Gideon Saar, said he is cutting off contact with EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas after she reportedly compared Israel’s treatment of Palestinians to South Africa’s racist apartheid era.

In a post on social media, Saar accused Kallas of “acting obsessively and with blatant unfairness” against Israel and claimed she has not denied, clarified or addressed the remarks reported in Euractiv, a European news website. “Therefore, as Israel’s minister for foreign affairs, I have no choice but to sever all ties with Ms Kallas,” Saar said. Kallas did not immediately comment.

According to Euractiv, Kallas made the apartheid comparison during closed-door and confidential talks with officials in Mexico City last month as part of a senior EU delegation attending a summit there. The director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, said the organisation was ready to start defining the “concrete steps” that will need to be taken after the signing of the agreement between the US and Iran which provides for the dilution of Iranian uranium stocks under its supervision. “It is good that the memorandum is there.

Now the technical work starts,” Grossi told reporters in Geneva. ” One person was killed in an Israeli drone strike in southern Lebanon this morning, according to the country’s official National News Agency. The strike hit a car near Kfar Tebnit, a village near the city of Nabatiyeh, where the Israeli military has been operating, the news agency reported.

Israel has continued to bomb Lebanon despite a ceasefire agreed in April, but it is facing pressure to halt attacks after the US and Iran signed a deal to wind down the conflict. ⁠Israel is “conducting stubborn ⁠negotiations” ⁠with the US on ⁠the issue of ⁠continuing its deployment ‌of ‌troops in ‌southern Lebanon, a senior Israeli official ‌close to Benjamin Netanyahu ⁠told Reuters. Israel has no intention of backing down ‌on its positions, the official said.

Donald Trump had urged Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “stop blowing up buildings” during a phone call about Israel’s military campaign in Lebanon, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. The newspaper cited sources who overheard the phone conversation between the two leaders, whose relationship has grown increasingly hostile as the war raged on. The report followed the US president’s public rebuke of Netanyahu’s war against Hezbollah in Lebanon, when he told reporters at the G7 summit earlier this week that Israel did not need to bomb entire apartment buildings to target the Iran-backed group.

“We have a little dispute over Lebanon,” he said. “I say, ‘You can do a little softer touch, Bibi. ” He added: “I’m not saying they shouldn’t protect themselves.

I’m saying when two drones are shot into the desert and drop harmlessly, you don’t have to knock down buildings in Beirut. ” You can hear more of his remarks here: The Swiss foreign ministry said planned talks between the US and Iran in the Buergenstock mountaintop resort in Switzerland are still going ahead tomorrow, after both sides signed a ceasefire agreement last night to end the war. “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,” the ministry said in a statement.

” As the adage goes: no plan of battle survives first contact with the enemy. Donald Trump entered the war with Iran with maximalist goals: eliminating the country’s nuclear programme, destroying its ballistic missile programme and ending its support for regional military groups including Hezbollah and Hamas. He exits it with Iran’s word not to build a bomb and to hold further nuclear discussions, no mention in writing of the ballistic missile programme and with Hezbollah celebrating a “victory” as the memorandum of understanding (MOU) instituted a ceasefire in Lebanon, where Israel has seized a swath of the country as a “buffer zone”.

Iran’s key asset ended up being the strait of Hormuz, the waterway that almost every previous simulation of the war predicated would be quickly cut off by Iran. To reopen the strait, the administration was forced to fold on its broader goals or face what Trump called a “worldwide depression”. It has been clear for days that the Trump administration was skittish about putting out the text of its MOU.

It was only finally read out by a senior administration official on a briefing call on Wednesday, and the White House still has not published a copy online. The reasoning is clear: many in Trump’s own party will hate this deal. The outgoing US senator Bill Cassidy, of Maryland, called it the “worst foreign policy blunder in decades”.

The full analysis is here: German defence minister Boris Pistorius is being quoted as saying just now that before it can participate in any mine-clearing operation in the strait of Hormuz, it will need a permissive environment – meaning approval by Iran and Oman – as well as a parliamentary mandate. On Sunday Donald Trump said the initial reopening of the vital energy-supply route would be for the “purposes of mine removal”. What do we know about how many mines Iran has laid in the strait, what the options are for clearing them, and what are the risks?

These are other questions are answered in this explainer: The Israeli military says one of its soldiers was killed during fighting in southern Lebanon on Wednesday, while seven others were injured in the incident. ) Alexander Filin, a 29-year-old from Haifa, was killed in combat, the Israel Defence Forces said in a statement posted on Telegram on Thursday. As well, an officer, a reserve officer and a reserve soldier were moderately injured, it said.

A combat non-commissioned officer, two reserve soldiers and a female reserve soldier were lightly injured, the IDF said. Under the US-Iran ceasefire deal, Lebanon is included – a key demand from Tehran – and the agreement calls for end to the war in Lebanon, where Israel has been fighting Hezbollah. Israel and Hezbollah aren’t parties to the agreement, however.

Iran insists Israel must withdraw from the large area of southern Lebanon it has occupied since March, but as the Associated Press reports, the interim deal doesn’t explicitly require that and only affirms a commitment to ensuring Lebanon’s “territorial integrity”. Israel has vowed to keep its troops in the zone, while the Iran-backed Hezbollah says it is committed to resisting Israel “until full withdrawal is achieved”. Pakistan’s prime minister has hailed the “peaceful resolution” of the conflict between the US and Iran, while congratulating the leadership of both countries for signing an agreement that he claimed would immediately reopen of the strait of Hormuz.

But amid the celebrations from Shehbaz Sharif – who has served as mediator for the deal – the release of the memorandum of understanding (MOU) that gets the ball rolling on the next 60 days of negotiations between Iran and the US has proven more divisive, eliciting a mixture of outrage, bewilderment and relief. In France, the leaders of the G7 countries welcomed the deal, calling it a “historic opportunity to prevent Iran from acquiring any nuclear weapon”. European leaders have largely been sidelined from the negotiations, but expressed relief that the strait of Hormuz would reopen, allowing the flow of oil to resume.

Emmanuel Macron said it would put a stop to a “situation of great instability that had terrible consequences for our economies”. In Israel, however, the agreement has been greeted with less optimism. Mark Regev, a former senior adviser to prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, questioned how seriously Iran would approach negotiations over its nuclear program now that America has removed the economic and military “pressure”.

His views were reflected across Israel. See the full report here: Natasha May continues from her last post: Philippines president Ferdinand R Marcos Jr was also optimistic, saying the freedom of navigation returning to the Hormuz strait was “what we have been hoping for since the day after the war started”. However, he acknowledged that recovery from the crisis would take time due to the scale of instability, saying: Because of the enormity of the problem, of the instability that this war has caused – it’s inevitable that it will take some time for us to adjust back to what will be the new normal.

The Middle East conflict has provided a “stark wake-up call” for south-east Asia’s energy system, the International Energy Agency said in a new report – exposing deep structural vulnerabilities linked to import dependence, limited diversification and concentrated supply routes. If these energy security vulnerabilities were not addressed, the report predicted, the region’s energy import bill could more than triple from $80bn in 2024 to $245bn by 2035. South-east Asian nations – which were amongst the first and the hardest hit by the energy crisis due to their heavy reliance on Middle Eastern oil – have welcomed the US-Iran agreement on ending the war, particularly relieved at the reopening of the strait of Hormuz.

Before the crisis, about 60% of south-east Asia’s imports of crude oil and a third of its imports of gas were coming from the Middle East, while 45% of its oil product supply were dependent on Middle Eastern crude. The conflict led to immediate price shocks and governments across the region implementing policies such as encouraging the public to reduce their air conditioning and working from home. Thailand’s ministry of foreign affairs said in a statement this week that the country “warmly welcomes the agreement reached” and hoped it would lead to “lasting peace and stability in the region, global economic stability and freedom of navigation through the strait of Hormuz”.

Domestic diesel prices in Thailand have seen a steady decline over the past week, with energy minister Akanat Promphan projecting that if the situation in Middle East remained stable, oil prices would likely return to normal in the near future. Pakistan’s prime minister said earlier in the day that the agreement between the US and Iran agreement was taking “immediate effect” after being signed by both sides. Shehbaz Sharif said on social media that “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”.

Sharif, who helped mediate the memorandum of understanding, also reportedly said there would still be a formal signing ceremony in Switzerland on Friday to “commemorate this landmark event and commence with the technical level talks”. Welcome to our continuing live coverage of the crisis in the Middle East. The US and Iran have released the text of an interim agreement their presidents have signed to end their war, but Donald Trump has threatening to resume attacks and kill Iranian officials if Tehran fails to honour its commitments.

Trump, attending a G7 summit with other leaders in France, also withdrew at least one of his stated rationales for initially attacking Iran, saying it would ⁠be “unfair” for Tehran not to have ballistic missiles, although he previously ⁠vowed to obliterate them. “We’re going to bomb the hell out of them if they violate the agreement,” Trump said of Iran at a press conference. “I don’t want them to.

” The 14-point memorandum of understanding extends an April ceasefire by another 60 days, including in Lebanon, to allow the two sides to negotiate a final truce over the coming 60 days. The agreement also includes the full resumption of maritime traffic “with no charge” in the strait of Hormuz, the lifting of a US blockade of Iranian ports, the waiving of US sanctions on Iran, the unfreezing of its assets, and a $300bn investment fund for Iran’s post-war reconstruction. However, lead Iranian negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said the Hormuz strait “will not return to prewar conditions” and that Iran would charge ships to transit the waterway after the 60-day toll-free period stipulated in the agreement.

Trump has previously said he will not accept tolls being imposed for crossing the vital energy route. ” The deal included the unfreezing of billions of dollars in Iranian assets, he claimed. Trump and Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian both digitally signed the memorandum of understanding in English and Farsi, ‌US and Iranian officials said.

Iran’s foreign ministry said the agreement was already in effect as of Wednesday, as did mediator Pakistan. Under the agreement Iran also undertakes not to build nuclear weapons, reaffirming a vow it had made for decades. It also agreed to an on-site “down-blending” of its stockpile of enriched uranium.

Trump signed just before a grand dinner with French president Emmanuel Macron at the Palace of Versailles, the site of the signing of the treaty that formally ended the first world war. G7 leaders hailed the agreement at their summit in France. The US has said a formal signing ceremony for the deal is due to be held in Switzerland on Friday.

Oil prices fell again on Wednesday on prospects for the reopening of the Hormuz strait, with Brent crude futures below $80 – their lowest level since the war’s start – but later regaining more than 1% after Trump threatened renewed violence. 41 a barrel. Donald Trump entered the war with maximalist goals and exits it with a pragmatic decision to end the conflict despite the political cost, Andrew Roth writes in this analysis.