You are logged in
Loading…
You don’t have any Active Subscription.
Subscribed with another email? Logout and Login with that one.
Your active subscription(s)
Account subscription benefits alongside Premium Stories, Editorials, Opinions and more. Unlock these with Subscription
Products you’ve access to
Additional Subscription Benefits
Account Settings
Need help with your subscription?
June 19, 2026e-Paper
The View From India Looking at World Affairs from the Indian perspective.
First Day First Show News and reviews from the world of cinema and streaming.
Today's Cache Your download of the top 5 technology stories of the day.
Science For All The weekly newsletter from science writers takes the jargon out of science and puts the fun in!
Data Point Decoding the headlines with facts, figures, and numbers
THEdge At the cutting edge of education and careers
Health Matters Ramya Kannan writes to you on getting to good health, and staying there
Gender Agenda Stories from beyond the binary.
The Hindu On Books Books of the week, reviews, excerpts, new titles and features.
June 19, 2026e-Paper
Updated – June 19, 2026 04:56 pm IST
Smoke rises into the sky after an Israeli strike in southern Lebanon, as seen from northern Israel on Friday, (June 19, 2026). | Photo Credit: AP
Israel’s military said on Friday (June 19, 2026) that it had struck more than 80 Hezbollah targets in Lebanon and killed dozens of its members in response to what it described as ceasefire violations.
Israel’s military also said that intense fighting in southern Lebanon killed four soldiers. The military identified one of the dead, a lieutenant colonel, and said the three others would be identified later. Lebanon’s state-run news agency says at least 18 people were killed in Israeli airstrikes in the south overnight.
A newly signed deal to end the West Asia conflict was already under strain, after talks in Switzerland were postponed and fighting flared between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon. The developments came after Iran’s supreme leader announced that he had only allowed the preliminary deal to stop the war from going ahead despite reservations, and as his top negotiator warned Washington, the Islamic Republic stood ready to retaliate in the event of any breach.
Meanwhile, Iran’s chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said that talks with the United States would remain bound by Tehran’s “red lines”.
Iran’s Strait of Hormuz body said on Friday (June 19) it would waive planned fees to use the strait during a 60-day negotiation period under the memorandum of understanding signed with the United States this week.
Ships seeking passage through the strait while the interim agreement is in force must submit transit requests at least 48 hours before arrival, Iran’s Persian Gulf Strait Authority (PGSA) said in a notice.
– Reuters
Israel’s military struck targets throughout southern Lebanon overnight into Friday (June 19), and Hezbollah reported intense fighting in the area, threatening the nascent agreement between Iran and the United States to end their war.
Lebanese media reported at least 18 people killed in the strikes, and Israel said four soldiers died.
The conflict between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah is the most precarious part of the Iran deal. Neither Israel nor the militant group signed the agreement — but it is supposed to end their fighting, and Iran has signalled its willingness to risk renewed war in the region for the sake of its interests in Lebanon and its most important regional ally.
– AP
Israeli troops will stay in Lebanon “as long as necessary”, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday (June 19), vowing to make Iran-backed Hezbollah pay a “heavy price” for its attacks.
“Israel will not tolerate attacks on our soldiers or our territory, and it will exact a very heavy price from Hezbollah for these attacks,” Mr. Netanyahu said in a statement after the military announced the deaths of four Israeli soldiers in Lebanon. “Israel will remain in the security zone in southern Lebanon for as long as necessary for the protection of the communities of the north.”
Defence Minister Israel Katz had also said the military would stay in Lebanon, adding it would respond “with considerable force” to any attack.
AFP
Lebanese Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah told Reuters that Iran had informed the group that talks with the United States could not continue without the implementation of a comprehensive ceasefire.
He called on the Lebanese government to reject any direct negotiations with Israel while Israeli attacks on Lebanon continue, and said Washington bore responsibility for ensuring Israel halted its attacks and implemented the terms of the agreement.
– Reuters
Israel’s military said on Friday (June 19, 2026) that it had struck more than 80 Hezbollah targets in Lebanon and killed dozens of its members in response to what it described as ceasefire violations.
“Overnight, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF military) struck more than 80 command centres, terrorists, launch positions, and additional terrorist infrastructure sites in the area of Nabatieh and additional areas in southern Lebanon, within the Security Zone and beyond it,” an Army statement said.
“Furthermore, during the strikes, dozens of Hezbollah terrorists operating in the command centres were eliminated.” – AFP
A total of 25 commercial vessels crossed the newly-reopened Strait of Hormuz on Thursday (June 18, 2026), the highest number since mid-April, according to data from maritime tracking firm AXSMarine published on Friday (June 19, 2026).
After an agreement was struck to reopen the strait, it saw the highest single-day figure since April 18, when Iran briefly reopened the global trade artery to commercial traffic. — AFP
A newly signed deal to end the West Asia conflict was already under strain, after talks in Switzerland were postponed and fighting flared between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The developments came after Iran’s supreme leader announced that he had only allowed the preliminary deal to stop the war to go ahead despite reservations, and as his top negotiator warned Washington the Islamic republic stood ready to retaliate in the event of any breach.
Mediators in the conflict — including Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye — were due to gather for talks in the Egyptian city of Alamein to discuss the deal, Cairo and Islamabad said.
Preparations had been made to host Iranian and U.S. delegations at the Swiss resort of Burgenstock, overlooking Lake Lucerne, to begin negotiations on implementing the deal signed this week by President Donald Trump and his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian.
Iran’s top negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf warned that Tehran would deliver a “decisive response” in the event of “breach of contract” or “excessive demands”. “They were once slapped during the war; if they wish to head on that path again, they will get an even harder slap,” he wrote on X. – AFP
Iran’s chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said on Friday (June 19, 2026) that talks with the United States would remain bound by Tehran’s “red lines”.
“As we have shown in the past path of negotiations, we are steadfast in fulfilling the conditions and red lines set, and in achieving the interests of the Iranian nation,” Mr. Ghalibaf said in remarks published by the official IRNA news agency.
“If the enemy seeks to be excessive, we have proven that our fingers are on the trigger and we have no hesitation in giving a crushing response to the enemy.” — AFP
The Israeli military said Lieutenant Colonel Dor Gedalia Ben Simhon had “fallen in combat” along with three other soldiers it did not immediately identify.
In a separate statement it reported a reserve officer was severely wounded “as a result of an explosive drone impact in southern Lebanon”, with four other soldiers lightly injured in the incident.
The soldiers’ deaths prompted a furious reaction from far-right Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir. – AFP
Beirut: Lebanon said 18 people were killed on Friday (June 19, 2026) in Israeli airstrikes in the south, while Israel’s military reported its first soldiers killed there since the sealing of a U.S.-Iran deal to halt the West Asia East war, including in Lebanon.
Israel had said it was striking Hezbollah targets overnight and into the morning, while the Iran-backed militant group said it was attacking Israeli forces around the southern town of Nabatieh.
“The intensive Israeli airstrikes carried out from midnight until this morning have prevented the evacuation of the martyrs and wounded, and have resulted in a preliminary toll of 18 martyrs and 33 wounded in at least 10 villages and towns,” the Lebanese Health Ministry said. – AFP
“France urged Israel to “respect” a deal signed between the United States and Iran to end the Middle East [West Asia] war,” the French Foreign Minister said after overnight Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon.
“This agreement provides for a cessation of hostilities, the Israeli government must respect it, and the United States in particular must exert all the necessary pressure on the Israeli government to ensure that this is the case,” Jean-Noel Barrot said on FranceInfo radio. – AFP
Jerusalem: Israel’s military said on Friday (June 19, 2026) that intense fighting in southern Lebanon killed four soldiers.
The military identified one of the dead, a lieutenant colonel, and said the three others would be identified later. Lebanon’s state-run news agency says at least 16 people were killed in Israeli airstrikes in the south overnight.
The attacks came as planned talks in Switzerland between Iran and the United States over their efforts to reach a permanent end to the Iran war were delayed.
Al-Mayadeen, a pan-Arab satellite channel that is politically allied with Hezbollah, reported that Iran was delaying sending its delegation to Switzerland over ongoing Israel’s military campaign in Lebanon. Israel maintains it must continue to hold the territory and have a free hand to battle Hezbollah as it has been launching attacks into northern Israel. – AP
“France will not approve the lifting of United Nations Security Council (UNSC) sanctions on Iran unless it is satisfied that talks on Tehran’s nuclear programme meet its expectations,” its Foreign Minister said on Friday (June 19, 2026).
Jean-Noel Barrot, whose country is a veto-wielding member of the UNSC, said there would be no stability in the region unless U.S. talks with Iran resolved questions around Iran’s ballistic missile programme and support for proxies. “We need a radical change of posture by Iran,” he said. – Reuters
Gulf airlines are back in business. The West Asia is home to some of the world’s biggest carriers, whose networks have been upended by the Iran conflict, with Iranian missile and drone attacks at times shutting airports in recent months and redrawing traffic routes across the Gulf.
Flightradar24.com data shows that the overall number of flights by major Gulf airlines has now returned to some 82% of the level on February 27, the day before the war started. Gulf Air and Kuwait Airways have topped 100% of that level in recent days.
Emirates, Qatar Airways and Etihad – the biggest three – are above or near 90% of their pre-war level. Etihad and Qatar Airways were as low as 40-50% just a month ago. Emirates, which has spent big to keep flights going, has been higher for longer.
After the U.S. and Iran signed an interim agreement on Wednesday to end the near four-month conflict, and are expected to discuss implementing the ceasefire deal, the outlook for Gulf airlines is potentially looking much brighter.
The end of hostilities would lead to a reopening of the region’s airspace allowing regional carriers to completely resume their operations, said James Halstead, managing partner at Aviation Strategy.
“If it gets back to normal, I just see them acting as normal, coming back in full force,” Mr. Halstead said. – Reuters
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has set up secretive new cells in Iraq to carry out attacks on Gulf countries that host American forces, bypassing established militia networks to avoid detection, eight Iraqi sources said.
“Three or four cells, each comprising about 10 elite Iraqi Shi’ite Muslim fighters, launched at least seven drone attacks from desert locations near the southern cities of Basra and Samawa against sites in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates between April 20 and May 17,” three of the sources said.
A number of their members were drawn from Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of hardline Shi’ite factions with thousands of fighters. But the new groups operate outside its command structure, reporting directly to the IRGC, according to the sources, who include two Iraqi military officials, another security official and five local militia commanders.
“The establishment of the new Iraqi cells, which has not previously been reported, reflects a shift in IRGC tactics aimed at preserving Iran’s ability to project force across the region at a time when its armed proxy groups are greatly diminished and its own military and economic resources are depleted,” the five militia commanders said. – Reuters
In the memorandum of understanding signed by the U.S. and Iran to end the war, Tehran has pledged never to develop a nuclear bomb in return for U.S. sanctions relief and access to a $300 billion development fund. Beyond that commitment, the MoU offers few details on how the U.S. and Iran intend to solve the nuclear dispute.
Iran still possesses hundreds of kilograms of highly enriched uranium and retains the technical capacity to produce more. While the modalities of a final agreement are to be negotiated in the second phase of talks, the MoU states that both sides have agreed to take steps to downblend Iran’s uranium stockpile. U.S. President Donald Trump said last week that the U.S. would “go and get” Iran’s highly enriched uranium “at some point” and “dilute” (downblend) it either in America or in Iran.
Read the full story here:
Explore downblending, a crucial process in the U.S.-Iran nuclear agreement, reducing uranium purity to enhance non-proliferation efforts.
Israel’s military said on Friday (June 19, 2026) its forces struck targets throughout southern Lebanon overnight as Hezbollah reported intense fighting in the area.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported at least 16 people were killed in Israeli airstrikes.
The attacks came as planned talks in Switzerland between Iran and the United States over their efforts to reach a permanent end to the Iran war were delayed.
Israel’s occupation of southern Lebanon and its continued attacks on the Iranian-backed Shiite militia Hezbollah has been a key issue in the talks.
Israel maintains it must continue to hold the territory and have a free hand to battle Hezbollah as it has been launching attacks into northern Israel.
AP
Talks that had been planned for Friday (June 19, 2026) between the United States and Iran at the Burgenstock mountaintop resort in Switzerland will not take place, according to a Swiss foreign ministry statement.
The announcement came after a White House spokesperson said overnight that U.S. Vice-President J.D. Vance had pulled out of a planned trip to meet Iranian negotiators in Switzerland to begin talks on implementing an agreement struck between Tehran and Washington to end the war.
U.S.-Iran talks scheduled for June 19 in Switzerland are canceled after Vice-President J.D. Vance withdraws from the trip.
Oil prices fell on Friday (June 19, 2026) as prospects brightened for more supply after oil tankers began moving through the reopening Strait of Hormuz following a peace deal between the United States and Iran.
By 0328 GMT, Brent crude futures fell 43 cents, or 0.54%, to $79.42 a barrel and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude slipped 17 cents, or 0.22%, to $76.43 a barrel, with the front-month July contract expiring on Monday (June 22).
The more actively traded August contract was down 30 cents at $75.55 a barrel.
Check the latest oil prices here
Oil prices drop as supply increases through the Strait of Hormuz following a U.S.-Iran peace pact, raising market concerns.
United Arab Emirates state-owned producer Abu Dhabi National Oil Co has told its customers to resume loading its crude oil from its ports at Das and Zirku islands, in the Gulf, Bloomberg news reported late on Thursday (June 18) citing a notice sent to customers.
Reuters could not immediately verify the report.
Here’s the timeline of Iran’s nuclear programme
Explore the timeline of Iran's nuclear program and the recent interim accord aimed at resolving regional tensions.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance lashed out at members of Israel’s government, saying that the country is deeply isolated and its leaders have failed to appreciate American diplomatic and military support.
The comments deepened a rift that has emerged between the two allies over the interim deal reached by the United States and Iran to end their war.
“Donald J Trump is the only head of state in the entire world who is sympathetic to the nation of Israel at this moment in time,” Mr. Vance said during a news briefing at the White House on Thursday (June 18, 2026).
Read about his full speech here
JD Vance criticizes Israeli officials over the Iran deal, highlighting a growing rift between the U.S. and Israel.
Catch the full timelines of U.S.-Iran war here
U.S.-Iran war: Timeline of key events
Explore the U.S.-Iran war timeline, highlighting key events leading to a recent peace agreement and regional tensions.
Explore the U.S.-Iran war timeline, highlighting key events leading to a recent peace agreement and regional tensions.
Hezbollah said on Friday (June 19) its fighters destroyed three Israeli tanks and that clashes were ongoing, hours after Lebanese state media reported that Israeli strikes in the south killed three people.
The fighting came a day after the United States and Iran signed an agreement to end the West Asian war on all fronts, including in Lebanon.
Hezbollah, an Iran-backed militant group, said on Friday that its fighters targeted “three Merkava tanks with guided missiles, which led to their destruction and setting them on fire”.
This was after Israeli forces “consisting of an armoured platoon and an infantry platoon (tried) to infiltrate towards the northern side of the Ali al-Taher hills” — a strategic site overlooking the key town of Nabatieh.
-AFP
The director of a Dubai-based humanitarian logistics hub said he hoped the accord between Iran and the United States to halt the West Asian war would drive down aid delivery costs after the shocks brought on by the conflict.
With more than 150,000 square metres (1.6 million square feet) of warehouse space, Dubai Humanitarian is the largest such hub in the world, and is used by dozens of organisations and UN agencies to respond to aid needs in West Asia, Africa and Southeast Asia, taking advantage of the UAE’s location and connectivity.
But the recent signing of a memorandum of understanding between Tehran and Washington spelling out an end to the fighting and negotiations towards a final accord should have a positive effect “even in a very short time period”, Giuseppe Saba told AFP on Thursday (June 18).
“The oil (price) is dropping down,” Mr. Saba said, adding he assumed risk insurance would also “automatically” fall with the end of hostilities.
-AFP
The U.S. Department of Defense needs $80 billion to cover costs from the Iran war as well as other non-war-related bills, Deputy Defense Secretary Stephen Feinberg told lawmakers in phone calls this week, the Wall Street Journal said on Thursday (June 18), citing people familiar with the matter.
Reuters could not immediately verify the report.
Oil prices fell on Friday (June 19) on the prospect of more supply returning to the market after oil tankers began to move through the Strait of Hormuz following the signing of the U.S.-Iran interim peace deal.
Brent crude futures fell 54 cents, or 0.68%, to $78.31 a barrel as of 0146 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude slipped 46 cents, or 0.60%, to $76.14 a barrel. The front-month July contract expires on Monday. The more actively traded August contract was at $75.06 a barrel, down 79 cents.
Both benchmarks touched their lowest since early March on Thursday as several tankers, including three Saudi-flagged vessels with 6 million barrels of crude onboard, sailed through the strait hours after U.S. President Donald Trump signed a deal with Iran to end their war.
-Reuters
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei endorsed direct negotiations with the U.S. late on Thursday (June 18) in a statement read by state media.
“It is obvious that the face-to-face negotiations that will be held in the future will not mean accepting the enemy’s opinion,” he said.
It was Mr. Khamenei’s first reaction to the deal recently reached between Iran and the U.S. to end hostilities.
The supreme leader has not been seen in public since he was wounded in a strike at the start of the war.
-AP
Hezbollah said its fighters were engaged in fresh clashes with the Israeli military on Thursday (June 18), hours after Lebanese state media reported that Israeli strikes in the south killed three people.
The fighting came a day after the United States and Iran signed an agreement to end the West Asian 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.
-AFP
U.S. imports of fertilizers from West Asian ports affected by the Strait of Hormuz closure fell to zero in May, contributing to a 44% year-on-year drop in overall crop nutrient imports, trade data provider Descartes Datamyne said on Thursday (June 18), in one of the first estimates of the Iran war’s impact on U.S. farmers.
West Asia is a leading fertilizer production hub, and nearly one-third of the global fertilizer trade typically passes through the Strait of Hormuz, which has seen traffic brought to a standstill since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran in late February.
Supplies of urea – a nitrogen-based fertilizer – from the world’s largest production facility in Qatar have been halted, and flows of sulfur and ammonia, common inputs for a range of fertilizers, have also been curbed.
-Reuters
The United States is about to embark on difficult negotiations with the Iranian government, whose survival of a massive U.S.-Israeli military assault has undercut American leverage while bolstering the Islamic republic.
U.S. President Donald Trump tore up the last nuclear deal with Tehran and now faces the key test of whether his administration can come up with a better one — or any at all — in talks that are set to start soon and last for an initial 60 days.
But things are significantly different than when Washington and Tehran reached an agreement during Barack Obama’s presidency more than a decade ago — an effort that took years.
“It’s a much worse situation strategically for the US now than it was back in the 2010 to 2015 time period,” said Alan Eyre, distinguished diplomatic fellow at the Middle East Institute.
-AFP
The White House says Vice-President J.D. Vance isn’t leaving on Thursday (June 18) for Switzerland to lead a new round of talks with Iran about its nuclear programme, citing difficult logistics for negotiations meant to add details to an agreement signed by President Donald Trump a day ago.
The White House said in a statement that plans for the technical talks have not been finalised, and the U.S. delegation has been prepared to depart at the first available opportunity.
-AP
The U.S. and Iran have signed a 14-point agreement aimed at ending the West Asia conflict. We break down what’s in the deal and whether it can hold. We also look at Governor Arlekar’s maiden address to the Tamil Nadu Assembly, the West Bengal Opposition leader row, the Telegram-NEET case, and PM Modi’s visit to VivaTech in Paris.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s deal with Iran has opened a rare breach with Republican hawks, who warn that the agreement falls far short of the sweeping victory he promised and could leave Tehran richer, stronger and still able to threaten the region.
The terms have alarmed some of the same Republicans who spent years denouncing Democratic former President Barack Obama’s 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran as dangerously weak.
They have voiced concerns that Mr. Trump is offering Iran sanctions relief, access to oil markets and the prospect of a $300 billion reconstruction fund while failing to secure firm commitments on uranium enrichment, ballistic missiles or Tehran’s support for armed proxies.
Here’s the full story
Trump's Iran deal faces backlash from Republican hawks, who criticize it as a major foreign policy mistake.
Senators are seeking to block Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth’s travel funds until the Pentagon submits several overdue reports to lawmakers, including its investigation into a deadly strike on an elementary school in Iran at the start of the U.S.-Israeli war.
According to an annual defence authorization bill, filed this week, much of the travel funds for the Defence Secretary’s office may not be spent until Mr. Hegseth submits “unredacted civilian harm investigations,” including for the Feb. 28, 2026, strike on the Minab school. Officials have preliminarily said the U.S. was responsible for the strike, which was blamed on outdated intelligence.
Congress, which conducts oversight of the Pentagon, has not yet received the Defence Department’s report on the investigation. It is believed to have been completed last month.
-AP
The International Atomic Energy Agency said on Thursday (June 18, 2026) that it was ready to begin defining the “concrete steps” needed to implement a U.S.-Iran deal to end the West Asia war.
US President Donald Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian signed a deal on Wednesday (June 17) meant to end the West Asia war, with Tehran agreeing to dilute its enriched uranium in return for large-scale economic relief.
“Now it’s for us to sit down with our American colleagues, our Iranian colleagues, and start formulating the concrete steps that will have to be taken,” IAEA chief Rafael Grossi told reporters in Geneva.
Read the story here
IAEA chief Rafael Grossi announces readiness to define steps for implementing the U.S.-Iran deal to end the West Asia war.
U.S. President Donald Trump lashed out at critics of his agreement with Iran on Thursday (June 18, 2026), calling those who accused him of offering concessions to end the war “fools”, ahead of negotiations in Switzerland on implementing the deal.
Oil prices tumbled after Mr. Trump and his Iranian counterpart separately signed their accord to end the West Asia war, with the Strait of Hormuz to reopen but two months of negotiations lying ahead.
In a sudden development after uncertainty over when the deal agreed earlier this week would be formally signed, Mr. Trump put his name to it in thick black ink at a candlelit dinner with French President Emmanuel Macron at the Palace of Versailles outside Paris on Wednesday (June 17).
Read the story here
Trump defends his Iran deal, calling critics 'fools' while asserting its positive impact on the stock market and oil prices.
Published – June 19, 2026 06:54 am IST
West Asia / Iran / Israel-US strikes on Iran / USA / Israel / Lebanon / war / unrest, conflicts and war / negotiation / Live news / diplomacy / Donald Trump
Copyright© 2026, THG PUBLISHING PVT LTD. or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved.
BACK TO TOP
Terms & conditions | Institutional Subscriber
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.
Leave a Reply