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Iran says it is closing the Strait of Hormuz and accuses the US and Israel of violating the ceasefire deal, after Israel continued strikes on Lebanon
A US Central Command spokesperson says "traffic continues to flow" in the strait, with US forces "monitoring the situation", according to several media outlets – why is the strait so important?
Donald Trump insists there will be no tolls in the strait, unless imposed by the US in the event a broader deal cannot be reached with Iran
It comes as Israel and Hezbollah have both accused each other of violating a new ceasefire. The conflict raises questions about the future of a permanent US-Iran deal, writes Hugo Bachega in Beirut
Talks between Iran and the US are set to take place in Switzerland on Sunday – an Iranian delegation has arrived in the country, while JD Vance is currently on his way
Edited by Ben Hatton
Katie Williams
Live reporter
An Iranian delegation has landed in Switzerland ahead of further talks with the US on Sunday, with JD Vance having departed Washington to attend.
Speaking to reporters before boarding his flight, the US vice-president said he hoped to make progress on "the nuclear issue" and the "Lebanon ceasefire issue".
Iranian state media says the country's delegation, led by Parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, is there to follow up on the implementation of the existing deal – not to begin the second phase of negotiations.
Agreement on a 14-point deal signed by both sides earlier this week – which aims to end the war and begins a 60-day negotiating period to resolve wider issues, including on Iran's nuclear programme – appears fragile.
Earlier today, Iran's military claimed it was shutting the Strait of Hormuz in response to Israeli strikes in Lebanon. US Central Command said traffic in the waterway had continued.
The existing deal demands an "immediate and permanent" end to fighting on all fronts, including in Lebanon. A US official said on Friday that a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah had been reached, but the two have continued to exchange fire, each blaming the other for violating the agreement.
US President Donald Trump said there would be "NO TOLLS" in the strait "unless they are imposed by and for the United States of America".
We're now bringing our live coverage to a close, but you can read more in our news story.
Iranian state news agency IRNA says the country's delegation has arrived in Switzerland, led by Parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.
The delegation is there to follow up on the implementation of the existing deal – not to begin the second phase of negotiations, IRNA says.
Switzerland's foreign affairs office has also welcomed the Iranian delegation to the country in a post on X, adding that it is now on its way to Bürgenstock.
Before departing for Switzerland, Vice-President JD Vance told reporters he hopes to make progress "on the nuclear issue" and on the "Lebanon ceasefire issue".
He says those are the "two big things" that will likely be focused on, adding: "I'm sure the Iranians are going to have issues they'd like to discuss as well."
Asked about fighting in Lebanon and the possibility it could up-end the diplomatic process, he says: "Things are actually getting better there, and things are slowing down a little bit."
But he describes the situation as something "we're just going to have to continuously manage".
Vance says there would likely be a "couple days of talks" in Switzerland and that he can "only be there for a day or two".
Vance arrives at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, to depart for Switzerland
US Vice-President JD Vance has departed Washington for Switzerland, his press secretary Luke Schroeder says.
Paul Brown and Richard Irvine-Brown, BBC Verify
As well as tracking vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, we’ve also been monitoring what may be a flight carrying an Iranian delegation to Switzerland, ahead of diplomatic talks tomorrow.
We followed a Meraj flight from Tehran to Zurich, touching down at 22:14 local time (20:14 UTC) this evening. It's not clear who was aboard, but Iranian state media has reported that a group of national officials had departed this afternoon.
Meraj is an airline identified by the US, and sanctioned, as being used by the Iranian government. It is also listed by aviation market intelligence company the Centre for Aviation as a "VIP charter carrier, offering services to the Heads of State and Government of Iran".
The airplane used has the registration EP-SSM and is logged on Flightradar24 as having made flights in the past fortnight to several Iranian cities including Rasht and Najaf, as well as international return flights to Istanbul on 11 June and Moscow on 12 June.
It is scheduled to fly from Zurich to Geneva later tonight.
Lyse Doucet
Chief international correspondent
First, the talks were off; now they seem to be on.
Iran’s delegation, headed by its lead negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, is now enroute to Switzerland for high-level meetings meant to take place on Friday in the luxury resort of Bürgenstock.
That means the US Vice-President JD Vance should soon be boarding a plane in Washington.
There’s friction in the air too.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmael Baghaei emphasised this was not the start of negotiations, as set out in the new 14-point Memorandum of Understanding.
"Negotiations for a final agreement will begin when the implementation of the commitments starts" he told the state-run IRINN news channel.
Iran accuses the US of violating this framework, most of all the clause which calls for an "immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon".
Despite yesterday’s statements by Israel, and Iran-backed Hezbollah forces, that they would hold fire, their truce appeared to immediately fall apart.
President Trump and his team want this deal to work – they’re exerting pressure on their Israeli ally not to jeopardise it.
And Iran is also trying to stick to what it calls its red lines – without bringing the deal to breaking point.
Mohammad Mokhber pictured in 2023
In a post on X, also shared by Iran's state broadcaster IRIB, an adviser to Iran's supreme leader, Mohammad Mokhber, threatens that energy supplies will "come to a halt" if other parties fail to adhere to the US-Iran deal.
He suggests the agreement is currently "on paper" only, adding that Iranian negotiators will only be satisfied with "full implementation".
On the economic threat, he says: "Americans understand the language of economics and cost-benefit better."
Donald Trump says there will be "NO TOLLS" in the Strait of Hormuz, either now or after the 60-day negotiation period set out for further peace talks ends.
He also suggests the US could impose its own tolls if a broader deal is not reached between the US and Iran during the 60-day negotiation period.
He writes on social media: "There will be NO TOLLS in the Hormuz Strait for 60 days during the Cease Fire Period, and there will be NO TOLLS after the 60 day period has expired, unless they are imposed by and for the United States of America, should the deal not be completed, for services rendered as the Guardian Angel to the countries of the Middle East for purposes of both past, present, and future reimbursement of costs. Thank you for your attention to this matter!!!"
Tomos Morgan
News correspondent in Washington DC
For the past few days, President Donald Trump has been explicit in his language towards Israel – urging it to cease the fighting with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.
The tone from the US leader has been far stronger, far harsher, far blunter than any used by his predecessors towards its ally in the Middle East – lambasting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for continued attacks.
Those clashes delayed the original signing of the peace deal, the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which specifically declared a ceasefire in Lebanon as well as between the US and Iran.
Overnight, Tehran warned the US that if clashes continued there would be consequences.
According to US media, US intelligence had also warned the American administration that Israel would undermine, and put the MoU in jeopardy, by continued fighting.
Israel says it is in fact Hezbollah which has broken the ceasefire by firing more than 50 projectiles at Israeli troops. It says its own strikes, which have reportedly killed 20 people, are a retaliation.
Yet in Washington there is confusion and contradiction, with both Vice-President JD Vance and US Central Command announcing the Strait of Hormuz is still open.
No doubt this latest development will give even more ammunition to critics of the MOU like Republican senator Bill Cassidy, who branded it "the worst foreign policy blunder in decades".
Rescue teams work in the rubble of destroyed buildings after an Israeli air strike targeted the town of Qanarit on 20 June
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will attend the start of US-Iran talks in Switzerland on 21 June, his office has told the BBC.
Pakistan has acted as a mediator throughout the war, and hosted a previous round of negotiations between the US and Iran in its capital, Islamabad, in April.
Shehbaz Sharif signs MoU between US and Iran as mediator
Ghoncheh Habibiazad
Senior reporter, BBC Persian
Iran's nuclear programme has been the focus of diplomatic talks, sanctions on Iran, and inspections for decades.
It was often referred to by Donald Trump as the reason the US joined with Israel in launching strikes on the country in late February this year.
Iran maintains its programme is peaceful.
The US and Israel have consistently rejected this and say there have been efforts to develop nuclear weapons.
Under a nuclear deal agreed in 2015, Iran had limited its enrichment to 3.67%, which can be used to produce fuel for commercial nuclear power plants. Weapons-grade uranium is 90% enriched or more.
Iran began openly escalating its enrichment levels after Donald Trump abandoned the previous agreement in 2018.
By June last year, Iran was enriching at 60% and had amassed a stockpile of 400kg, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
In the 14-point US-Iran deal signed this week, Iran "reaffirms that it shall not procure or develop nuclear weapons", but other parts of the programme are still to be negotiated.
The two parties also "agreed to discuss the issue of enrichment and other mutually agreed matters related to the Islamic Republic of Iran’s nuclear needs".
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, is in Switzerland and is expected to lead some of the negotiations around Iran's nuclear programme, a source tells the BBC's US partner CBS News.
The memorandum of understanding between the US and Iran includes a provision that the IAEA – the United Nations' nuclear watchdog – at a minimum oversees the process of diluting Iran's enriched uranium.
Iran's nuclear programme has been a major sticking point in negotiations with the US, with the precise details of a nuclear agreement yet to be reached.
The Israel Defense Forces says five soldiers have been killed in southern Lebanon in the past two days.
It says that in an incident on 19 June, four soldiers were killed in combat.
In another incident on 20 June, one soldier was killed and three were injured, it says.
Mona Khalil, seen here in 2002, dedicated much of her life to protecting endangered turtles along Lebanon's south coast
Lebanese environmental activist Mona Khalil, whose work helped turn a stretch of coastline in southern Lebanon into one of the eastern Mediterranean's most important nesting sites for endangered sea turtles, has died after being wounded in an Israeli strike two weeks ago.
Khalil, 76, was injured when her house on Mansouri beach, near the southern city of Tyre, was hit during Israeli attacks in southern Lebanon.
She died on Friday after several days in hospital, according to a local environmental group.
The BBC has reached out to the Israeli military for a response.
Paul Brown and Richard Irvine-Brown, BBC Verify
While several vessels appear to have made U-turns around the Strait of Hormuz today, the latest tracking data shows at least five tankers appear to have passed through the Strait.
The Bitumen Star, listed as an asphalt/bitumen tanker, and Petrel 1, listed as an oil/chemical tanker, appear to have transited the strait today (they each began transmitting AIS data while already in the middle of the strait) by the northern route.
The former appeared in the strait around 10:30 UTC (11:30 BST, 14:30 local) and exited the western side around 13:45, with the latter following about an hour behind.
Meanwhile, three vessels – the Mombasa B, Al Salam and Al Bateen – all listed as types of oil tanker, each appeared at the eastern end of the southern route between 09:30 and 10:30, and appeared to transit the strait, all having left on the western side by 12:10.
However, Bahrain Prosperity appeared in the middle of the southern route around 12:45, but stopped while approaching the western edge of the strait at 14:15 without moving further, then disappearing by 15:15.
Paul Brown and Richard Irvine-Brown, BBC Verify
Monitoring shipping activity in the Strait of Hormuz, using maritime tracking website MarineTraffic, can be challenging as some vessels suddenly appear and disappear, likely because their AIS trackers are turned on or off. But there are some journeys worth noting.
Five vessels look as though they have made sudden about-turns earlier today, two of which have stopped near the western edge of the strait according to the latest data.
For example, the Lumina Ocean appeared on the western edge of the strait around 12:45 UTC (13:45 BST, 16:15 local), close to the time of Iran’s announcement.
It was following the northern route through the waterway but made a 180-degree turn around 14:30 before appearing to stop at the western edge where it remains, edging slightly north, at time of writing.
Tracking data shows another tanker, the Abu Dhabi III, approached the western side of the strait along the southern route around 10:00 and also appeared to U-turn, stop at the western edge at approximately 14:00, and then disappear from the tracking data around 14:45.
Later, the Gulf Sunrise and Monaco Loyalty were seen to make the same adjustment and leave the strait in the opposite way to their original headings.
Also on the southern route, the Titan Harmony is notable for entering the strait around 05:30, making a 180-degree turn at 07:30 (long before the announcement) and leaving by 10:30.
As we've been reporting, at least 20 people were reportedly killed by Israeli strikes less than 24 hours after a new ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah was announced.
Both acknowledge attacking the other, but each claimed they were responding to violations by the other side.
US Central Command spokesperson Tim Hawkins has told Al Jazeera, the Washington Post and Reuters: "Iran does not control the Strait of Hormuz".
He reportedly told them that "traffic continues to flow", with US forces "monitoring the situation to ensure this remains the case".
The BBC has contacted Centcom for comment.
A US official announced a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah on Friday – but fighting between the two has continued, with both sides blaming the other for ceasefire violations. Here's what both sides have said:
Israel Defense Forces
Hezbollah
Hugo Bachega
Middle East correspondent in Beirut
If there was ever a ceasefire in Lebanon, it did not last long. All day, waves of deadly Israeli air strikes took place across the south and the eastern Bekaa Valley, both areas where Hezbollah has a strong presence, hours after another truce was announced.
In one of the attacks, in the town of Barich, a family of four was killed – a father, a mother and their two children. In another, on the Kafr Raman-Nabatieh road, a soldier of the Lebanese national army, which is not a party to the conflict, was killed.
The Israeli military said it hit what it described as targets linked to Hezbollah, and that this was in response to the firing of around 50 projectiles by the group against Israeli troops occupying parts of southern Lebanon.
Hezbollah confirmed attacks, saying it had targeted Israeli forces who were trying to make advances in the south of the country. It said that, while it is committed to the ceasefire, it will not tolerate attempts by Israel to seize more Lebanese territory.
The conflict here raises questions about the future of negotiations for a permanent deal between the US and Iran. A halt to the fighting is a condition for those talks to go ahead. Israel, which was not involved in the talks, says its troops will continue in Lebanon.
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