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US Vice President JD Vance. (AFP) The United States waived sanctions on Iran for 60 days from Monday after the first talks under a nascent peace deal, and officials reported calm in Lebanon after fighting that had prompted Iran to declare the Strait of Hormuz closed. After a weekend that had seemed to put the week-old peace agreement in jeopardy, including threats from US President Donald Trump to restart the war if Iran closed the strait, tanker traffic started to pick up through the waterway and oil prices resumed their slide. US Vice President JD Vance said his talks with Iranian officials in Switzerland had laid a good foundation for a final peace deal, although Iran denied that it had begun discussions of its nuclear programme. The two sides, trying to build on the interim deal they signed last week, agreed to a roadmap towards a permanent agreement within 60 days at the talks in the Qatari-owned Swiss mountain resort of Buergenstock, mediators Pakistan and Qatar said. They also agreed on a mechanism to end fighting in Lebanon between US ally Israel and Iran-aligned Hezbollah, and opened a communications line to help ensure safe passage for commercial ships through the strait. In the first major step of several foreseen under the agreement to provide Iran with economic benefits, the US Treasury announced a waiver until August 21 on sanctions, allowing Iran to sell oil and related products and receive payment for them. Vance, who has maintained a largely upbeat tone since the memorandum of understanding was signed, said Tehran had agreed to allow in nuclear inspectors, and to establish mechanisms to handle its assets frozen abroad and manage ceasefires. “We laid a very good foundation for a successful final deal,” he told reporters after taking part in the talks. However, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei told the official IRNA news agency that Iran had not yet discussed nuclear issues or made new commitments. Iran has limited inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency since the US and Israel launched a first round of air strikes last year, and suspended them entirely when war broke out in February. It says its nuclear programme is peaceful. Vance played down the tensions that had emerged over the weekend, which were driven by escalating fighting in Lebanon, Iran’s new declaration it had again closed the strait, and an angry response from Trump. “There was a little bit of threatening, there was a little bit of whining, but at the end of the day the talks continued and we made great progress,” Vance said. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on social media that Tehran had secured waivers for oil and petrochemical exports, the release of some of its frozen assets abroad and the launch of a reconstruction and development plan for Iran. Vance said White House envoy Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, had come up with a process whereby the US and Qatar would have control over Iranian funds when they are unfrozen, and the money could be spent on US corn, soy and wheat. Technical talks were due to continue for the rest of this week. The interim peace agreement calls for ending all hostilities, including in Lebanon, which Israel invaded in March after Hezbollah fired across the border. Israel was not party to the peace agreement and says it will not withdraw its troops from Lebanon, but on Friday it agreed a new ceasefire. Though intense fighting continued for another day, Lebanese officials said it had abated since Saturday night. Related Story Source link
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced Monday he was quitting following months of pressure, with veteran Labour politician Andy Burnham the frontrunner to become the country's seventh prime minister in a decade. Burnham could be installed in 10 Downing Street in just over three weeks after would-be rival Wes Streeting said he was backing the ex-Manchester mayor for the premiership. Source link
The United States temporarily suspended sanctions on Iranian oil on Monday after Vice President JD Vance said Iran would allow UN nuclear inspectors to return to the country, following talks in Switzerland.Last week, Tehran and Washington signed a memorandum of understanding laying the groundwork for the negotiations, after nearly 40 days of fighting that were followed by a shaky ceasefire.”We laid a very good foundation for a successful final deal,” Vance told reporters at Switzerland’s luxury Burgenstock resort, adding that “the final deal is the house… We haven’t built the house, but we’ve laid a successful foundation to get to a good place for the American people”.Separately, the US Treasury said it was temporarily lifting sanctions on Iran to allow it to produce, sell and deliver crude oil and related products through August 21.US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent cited Tehran’s commitment to “free and open transit” in the Strait of Hormuz and permission for International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors to enter their country as a reason for pausing the sanctions.The negotiations aim to tackle some of the most intractable issues that have dogged US-Iranian relations for decades, including Tehran’s nuclear programme.Iranian foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said “a very brief discussion took place regarding the nuclear issue, but there was no discussion of details” and that nuclear talks had not begun.Vance, meanwhile, said Tehran had agreed to invite IAEA inspectors “back to their country”, calling it “a major milestone… and the first step in permanently denuclearising” Iran.Tehran suspended some cooperation and blocked IAEA inspectors from accessing key nuclear sites bombed by the US and Israel in 2025’s 12-day war, but inspectors continued to visit Iran, last doing so in November.’Classic Trump deal’ As part of the deal, Tehran is set to get some form of sanctions relief from Washington, as well as the unfreezing of assets.Vance insisted assets had not yet been unfrozen and that, if they were, they would be used to buy US goods such as soy beans and would not fund terrorism.He called it “a classic Trump deal, where if Iranian assets are ever unfrozen, they’re going to go to make American farmers richer and to feed the Iranian people”.Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, meanwhile, posted on social media: “Oil and petrochem exports are waived, blockade lifted, some frozen assets released, and major reconstruction & development plan launched for Iran.”US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is due to start a trip to the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Bahrain, to discuss the deal and “efforts to secure full and free safe transit through the Strait of Hormuz,” his spokesman Tommy Pigott said.Iran’s negotiating delegation, including Ghalibaf and Araghchi, meanwhile left Tehran on Monday, headed for Omani capital Muscat to discuss “joint efforts to stabilise Iranian arrangements for managing the Strait of Hormuz”, according to state news agency IRNA.’Roadmap’ Tehran and Washington have set up communication lines to end the fighting in Lebanon and to keep the vital Strait of Hormuz open, mediators said.Iran closed the strait, through which much of the world’s oil and gas travels in peacetime, early in the war, sending economic shockwaves across the globe.Before the conflict began, there was free international passage through the strait, but Tehran appears keen to monetise the waterway as part of any deal.Tracking data on Monday showed vessels were still transiting the strait, despite Iran saying on Saturday it had closed it again over Israeli attacks in Lebanon.Mediators Pakistan and Qatar said the negotiators reached agreement on a “roadmap towards reaching a final deal within 60 days”, with technical talks to continue for the rest of the week at the Swiss resort.”Encouraging progress has been made,” they said, including a contact channel set up to “avoid incidents and miscommunication” in the Strait of Hormuz.LebanonIn the weeks and days before the US-Iran talks, the war in Lebanon between Israel and Iran’s close ally Hezbollah threatened to collapse the ceasefire, though the country has been relatively calm since Saturday evening.A “de-confliction cell”, between the parties and the Lebanese authorities has been agreed to prevent fighting from erupting again.Israeli leaders have nonetheless expressed deep misgivings over the deal, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday insisted Israeli troops “have full freedom of action to thwart any direct or developing threat” in south Lebanon.The overall death toll from the fighting in Lebanon has now surpassed 4,100, the health ministry said.A survey by the UN Development Programme and Lebanon’s government-linked National Council for Scientific Research (CNRS) said damage to buildings in south Lebanon in the latest fighting was estimated at around $1.38 billion. Related Story Source link
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced his resignation on Monday after fewer than two years in office in a term characterised by policy U-turns and deep public unpopularity.”Every decision I have taken has been about putting the country I love first. That is why I will resign as leader of the Labour Party,” Starmer said as he choked up in an emotional speech outside 10 Downing Street.Starmer said the process of picking a new Labour Party leader would be launched in July and he would remain as prime minister until his successor is chosen, to be in place in September. Source link
The Iranian delegation in talks with the United States has left the Swiss venue to return to Tehran after 18 hours of “intensive” negotiations, state media reported Monday.The group, headed by chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, “left the building where the talks were held after about 18 hours of intensive talks and consultations”, the IRNA state news agency reported, saying they were en route to Tehran. Source link
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced a limited extension of the fuel excise cut, keeping petrol and diesel prices about 16 cents per liter lower than the full price in July. The current excise will be reduced from 32 cents to 16 cents per liter. This measure follows a previous decision to cut the excise three months ago, after disruptions in global oil markets due to tensions in the Middle East, the Australian Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) reported. That discount is scheduled to expire on June 30, by which time it will have cost the federal budget an estimated $2.9 billion in foregone revenue. “This extra month of fuel discount will help Australian motorists and businesses with the cost of living as this support tapers off,” Albanese told reporters, indicating that it will give some certainty amidst volatile global energy prices and ongoing pressure on Australian households. Related Story Source link
India’s 2.2 million aspiring medical students sit a re-examination under tight security on Sunday, after the last test was scrapped following a paper leak that triggered widespread outrage.The failure of the hugely competitive exam, along with a separate marking fiasco in high school tests, sparked an outcry and fuelled youth protests demanding the education minister’s resignation.The authorities say they have deployed more than 200,000 officials, including police, and restricted the Telegram messaging app.The National Testing Agency (NTA) said it had put in a place a “multi-layered security framework to ensure a fair and transparent examination”.That includes biometric authentication, AI-enabled camera surveillance and GPS tracking of question papers, it said.The examination is scheduled to begin at 2:00 pm local time (0830 GMT).The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), the gateway to India’s medical colleges, is taken annually by millions of candidates competing for just over 100,000 undergraduate seats.The intense competition has fuelled a vast coaching industry and created opportunities for organised criminal networks seeking to profit from paper leaks and exam fraud.The leak prompted a backlash from students and parents after last month’s exam was scrapped, with Indian media reporting suicides of some teenagers.India’s Central Bureau of Investigation has arrested the alleged kingpin behind the leak, identifying him as a chemistry lecturer.The NTA said that messaging apps were used “by cheating rackets to defraud candidates” by sharing leaked questions.Telegram head Pavel Durov said the week-long ban would not work, arguing that the “leaks just moved to other apps” and that the issue was the “insiders who leaked the exam materials”.The controversy came on top of another dispute over the online marking system used for tests taken by nearly two million high school students, with many alleging incorrect grades or results were assigned to the wrong candidates.Public anger has also fuelled the rise of the satirical “Cockroach People’s Party”, which has attracted millions of followers since its launch in May and demanded the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. Related Story Source link
Flags of Switzerland, United States, Qatar, Pakistan and local Swiss canton of Nidwalden are photographed at the Burgenstock luxury hotel complex overlooking Lake Lucerne, Switzerland, on…
A National Park Service worker uses a vacuum to remove algae from the bottom of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool on June 20, 2026 in Washington,…
An Iranian delegation landed in Switzerland late Saturday ahead of talks at the Burgenstock resort on the preliminary US-Iran deal to halt the Middle East war, said Bern.”We welcome the arrival of the Iranian delegation in Switzerland,” the Swiss foreign ministry said on X, adding that the talks were part of the implementation of the memorandum of understanding signed with the United States.Iran’s official news agency IRNA also said Tehran’s delegation had arrived in Switzerland ahead of the talks. Related Story Source link