BREAKING: ICE agent charged in Operation Metro Surge shooting is arrested in Texas
Shares rose on international markets as investors took comfort in expectations that a proposed deal to extend the Middle East ceasefire and restore shipping through the Strait of Hormuz could be finalized.
Some changes have been made to the draft text of a possible deal between the U.S. and Iran, semiofficial news agency Tasnim reported. It said the text had yet to be finalized.
Citing an informed source, Tasnim said the text had undergone changes over the past days. NBC News was not able to independently confirm the reporting.
It comes after two U.S. officials said President Donald Trump was reviewing the latest version of a potential agreement with Iran but had not yet signed off on it.
Oil prices fell today as hopes grew for a deal to be agreed to between the U.S. and Iran to end the war that has consumed the Middle East for the past three months.
Brent crude, the global benchmark, was trading 1.8% lower today at around $92 a barrel, with the price falling almost 20% in May amid signs of a potential deal between the U.S. and Iran to end the war and see the Strait of Hormuz reopened.
The war and subsequent closure of the strait, a key trade route through which some 20% of the world’s oil passes, has sent energy prices soaring over the last three months.
The drop in oil prices came following reports that President Donald Trump was reviewing the latest version of a potential agreement with Iran, but had yet to sign off on it after the two countries traded attacks, initially fueling fears of a return to fighting.
European shares also rose today as investors pinned their hopes on a possible deal to at least extend the ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran and restore shipping through Hormuz.
France has asked for its public prosecutor to investigate the treatment of French nationals who were detained by Israel after taking part in a flotilla headed for Gaza, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said today.
“Based on a report I requested from our Consul General in Turkey, who informed me of sexual violence, exposure to the cold, beatings, and repeated humiliation of French nationals, all of these acts are likely to constitute criminal offences,” Barrot told France Inter radio, according to Reuters. He said he decided yesterday “to refer the matter to the public prosecutor.”
It comes after organizers of a flotilla that was detained last week while trying to get past Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip and deliver symbolic aid to the enclave said members, who have since been released, were subjected to abuse, including sexual assault, a charge the Israeli military has denied.
Israel’s far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, sparked global backlash earlier this month after releasing a video showing him taunting detained activists from the flotilla. In the footage, flotilla members can be seen with their hands tied behind their backs, kneeling with their heads touching the floor, with one member seen being pushed to the ground by security personnel after shouting “Free Palestine.”
Israel issued several mass evacuation orders in southern Lebanon today, as military officials for the two countries got ready to hold another round of security talks in Washington.
IDF spokesperson Avichay Adraee on X warned residents in the Ain Qana village to leave their homes and move at least 1,000 meters away, about 3,300 feet, saying the military was targeting Hezbollah operatives in the area.
The Israeli military then said it had intercepted an “aerial target” in the areas where its soldiers were operating. The IDF later also issued warnings for towns of Ansariyeh, Khraibeh, Shabriha, Sarafand, Adloun and Baysariyeh.
Today’s warnings came after at least three people, including a woman and her daughter, and a Syrian child, were killed in Israeli attacks on the town of Al-Sharifat, south of Beirut, according to a statement by the Lebanese health ministry yesterday.
Israel and Hezbollah have accused each other of violating the ceasefire, which was declared last month.
Since March 2, over 3,300 people have been killed in Lebanon, and more than 10,000 have been injured. Meanwhile, the Israeli military has leveled swaths of villages in southern Lebanon, seeking to establish control there.
Israel announced today that it had killed a senior Hamas commander in northern Gaza earlier this week.
In a joint statement, Israel’s military and security agency said they had “eliminated” Imad Hassan Hussein Aslim. The statement added that another Hamas member was also killed in the strike.
“Prior to the strike, steps were taken to mitigate harm to civilians, including the use of precise munitions and aerial surveillance,” the statement said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday said that Israel aims to control about 70% of the Gaza Strip, up from the around 65% it controls now.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said yesterday that he has directed the country’s military to expand its control to cover 70% of the Gaza Strip.
“We were at 50; we moved to 60. My directive is to move to — let’s go step by step,” Netanyahu said. “First of all, 70. Let’s start with that. We’re pressing [Hamas] from all sides. We’ll deal with the remnants.”
Since the Israeli assault on Gaza following the deadly Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks, Israeli forces have retained control of more than half of the enclave. The continued Israeli presence has squeezed 2 million mostly displaced Palestinians into a small area, many living in tents among the ruins of shattered cities.
Under an October U.S.-brokered truce that has failed to halt Israeli attacks or secure Hamas’ disarmament, Israeli troops were meant to initially withdraw to a “Yellow Line” demarcating the extent of their control, which was to have been followed by an expected longer-term withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.
Israeli attacks in Gaza have killed more than 75,000 people, including thousands of women and children, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
People survey the destruction at the Al-Mawasi area where an Israeli strike today hit a food warehouse in Khan Younis, Gaza. Abed Rahim Khatib / Anadolu via Getty Images
European shares rose today and were on track to end the month higher, as investors took comfort from expectations that a proposed deal to extend the Middle East ceasefire and restore shipping through the Strait of Hormuz could be finalised.
Vessels in the Strait of Hormuz visible near the beach of Bandar Abbas, Iran, on May 22. Majid-Asgaripour / WANA via Reuters
The agreement was yet to be approved by U.S. President Donald Trump, sources said, and did not address more complex issues such as Iran’s nuclear program.
The pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.3% at 626.91 points, as of 3:15 a.m. ET, and poised to end the week higher.
The benchmark index had come within striking distance of record highs earlier this week and is on course for a second consecutive monthly gain, but escalating tensions in the Middle East capped further advances.
Prices of crude oil, a key resource for energy-deficient Europe, slipped and were on track for their first weekly drop in two months.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says it’s up to Iran what happens next.
Referring to Trump’s comments during a Cabinet meeting earlier this week, Hegseth said, “He looks in the camera and says, well, Iran can either do it the right way with a deal across the table, or they can deal with my guy on the left,” referring to Hegseth.
Hegseth was speaking on board the USS Boxer in Singapore, where he arrived early today to address an Asian security forum.
On Saturday, Trump posted on Truth Social that a peace deal with Iran was “largely negotiated.” Less than 24 hours later, Trump walked back his statement, with the phrase “largely negotiated” becoming “not even fully negotiated yet.”
Vice President JD Vance told reporters yesterday that Washington was “not there yet” with Iran, but said negotiators were “very close” to reaching a final agreement.
“We’re not there yet, but we’re very close,” Vance said. “We’re going to keep on working at it.”
Vance also said the U.S. had “substantially” set back Iran’s nuclear program for the foreseeable future.
“We’ve already decimated their conventional military, and we’re in a position where we could substantially set back their nuclear program, not just during the term of this president, but over the long term,” he said.
“That’s a very, very good thing for the American people.”
The State Department and the Treasury Department both announced new sanctions on Iran’s oil trade yesterday despite ongoing negotiations to reach a deal to end the conflict.
“The Department of State is sanctioning numerous entities, individuals, and vessels that form the backbone of Iran’s illicit oil economy, directly targeting the financial lifelines of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Iran’s military apparatus,” the State Department said in a statement.
The IRGC is the most powerful military, political and economic force in Iran.
The Treasury sanctions will target “key players in an oil sales network that has moved tens of millions of barrels of Iranian oil worth billions of dollars.”
“These Hong Kong-based entities have facilitated the storage, transport, and sale of this oil, directly funding the IRGC, Iran’s Armed Forces General Staff, and its military apparatus,” the statement read.
Trump is directly involved in negotiations with Iran, according to Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff for policy.
“He’s directly, personally involved in the negotiations, making sure that the results are up to his standards,” Miller said in an interview with Fox News last night.
He added: “There’s no deal until there’s a deal. Nothing is final until it’s final. And President Trump has been clear that he reserves the option now or at any time in the future to do whatever is necessary to defend and protect America’s national security.”
NBC News
Leave a Reply