NPR
Fighting persists in Lebanon despite a ceasefire as U.S.-Iran deal is under threat
+866 words added -1059 words removed
− By
The Associated Press
Buildings damaged by Israeli strikes are seen through shattered glass from the Jabal Amel Hospital in the southern port city of Tyre, Lebanon, Thursday, June 18, 2026.
+ By
Willem Marx
Buildings damaged by Israeli strikes are seen through shattered glass from the Jabal Amel Hospital in the southern port city of Tyre, Lebanon, on Thursday.
− Hassan Ammar/AP hide caption
TYRE, Lebanon — Iran dealt two quick blows to the interim agreement with the United States on Saturday, angered by Israel's continued attacks in Lebanon, saying it had closed the Strait of Hormuz and announcing that while its negotiators were going to Switzerland for talks, not much is likely to happen there.
Key mediator Pakistan, meanwhile, said the technical-level talks will begin on Sunday in Bürgenstock, Switzerland, with Qatari mediators also participating.
Middle East conflict What you need to know about the preliminary U.S.-Iran agreement signed by Trump In Tehran's first salvo, Iran's joint military command said the strait had been closed, citing the Israeli attacks and U.S.
+ Hassan Ammar/AP hide caption
Iran's military said it has closed the Strait of Hormuz in response to Israel's latest strikes in Lebanon, even as Iranian and U.S.
− "bad faith" and "clear breach of its commitments" by failing to end the war. Its statement on state television warned that "if the aggression continues, subsequent steps have been planned."
Shortly after that, the state broadcaster announced that Iran's negotiating team was going to Switzerland, a trip that had been originally planned for Friday. State media said the team includes parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and central bank and oil officials, among others.
+ negotiators prepare to meet Sunday in Switzerland for talks.
− Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Bagahei, however, signaled that little might happen until Iran feels the U.S.
+ Middle East conflict What you need to know about the preliminary U.S.-Iran agreement signed by Trump The U.S.
− is living up to the deal.
+ military, meanwhile, denied the claim that the strait was closed, leaving a key piece of the freshly signed Memorandum of Understanding between the two countries up in the air.
− "This trip is therefore about demanding that the other side fulfill its obligations," he said, adding that negotiations toward a final agreement will begin only once key commitments are upheld.
+ On Saturday Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps declared the strait closed, according to state-controlled Iranian media, citing what it called "the explicit breach of the first clause of the post-war memorandum of understanding by the United States" and the latest exchange of fire between Israel and the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.
− If they are not, he said, "then the memorandum of understanding as a whole will be jeopardized."
In Washington, Vice President JD Vance confirmed that the top U.S.
+ Iran's state broadcaster Press TV reported the IRGC Navy was warning all vessels to "absolutely refrain from any movement in the Strait of Hormuz until further notice."
But U.S.
− negotiators — Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff — were already in Switzerland and have been working through technical details of the anticipated negotiations on Iran's nuclear program.
Vance told Fox News that he expects to leave for Switzerland "sometime the next couple of days" but acknowledged that "it's always a delicate coordination dance."
Vice President JD Vance points to a reporter to take a question in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House, Thursday, June 18, 2026, in Washington.
+ Central Command said shipping through the strait was proceeding normally, insisting on social media that 55 commercial vessels had completed the transit successfully, carrying more than 17 million barrels of oil, and that "safe passage through the international waterway remained intact." The U.S.
− Jacquelyn Martin/AP hide caption
As part of efforts to revive the direct talks, Pakistani Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi met Araghchi in Tehran earlier Saturday, according to officials in Islamabad who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the of the issue.
Meanwhile, the global economy braced for more uncertainty.
Shortly after Iran's announcement, which it did not address, the U.S.
+ added that its forces remained "present and vigilant" to ensure all terms of the agreement with Iran were being honored.
− military said commercial ship traffic continued through the strait on Saturday, with 55 merchant ships transiting, "moving large amounts of cargo and more than 17 million barrels of oil to global markets."
It was not clear when in the day they had transited.
+ Even with this disagreement over the vital waterway, both nations appear to be proceeding toward the next phase of diplomatic talks.
− Ships began transiting after the interim U.S.-Iran agreement was signed earlier in the week, a milestone that has left plenty of questions unanswered.
Earlier Saturday, Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon killed at least 16 people, including two children, hours after reports emerged of a ceasefire agreement there.
+ Vice President Vance confirmed Saturday morning on Fox News that presidential envoy Steve Witkoff and former senior White House adviser Jared Kushner had already arrived in Switzerland.
− Seven people remained trapped under the rubble after the strikes hit the southern city of Nabatiyeh and nearby villages, Lebanon's National News Agency said.
+ "Jared and Steve have been on the ground now for a few hours dealing with some of the technical elements of this negotiation," Vance told Fox and Friends, adding that full talks could begin "as soon as tomorrow."
It wasn't immediately clear if Vance, who was scheduled to travel to Switzerland for Friday's talks before they were postponed, would attend Sunday's meeting.
− The death toll in the latest war between Israel and Hezbollah has now surpassed 4,000, Lebanon's health ministry later announced.
Mediators were scrambling to halt the fighting between Israel and the militant Hezbollah group after a heavy exchange on Friday killed at least 47 people in Lebanon and four Israeli soldiers.
An Israeli military official said Hezbollah had fired more than 50 projectiles at Israeli forces in southern Lebanon overnight.
+ Vice President Vance points to a reporter to take a question in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House on Thursday.
− The official spoke anonymously in line with regulations.
+ Jacquelyn Martin/AP hide caption
Meanwhile an Iranian state-controlled news agency said Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araqchi would also travel to Switzerland to "follow up on the implementation" of the MoU signed by Washington and Tehran.
− Israel's army said it struck dozens of Hezbollah targets and militants in southern Lebanon, including Hezbollah command centers.
+ Pakistan's Foreign Ministry confirmed the location and timing of what it called "technical-level" talks, in the Swiss resort town of Bürgenstock, adding that Pakistani and Qatari mediators would be participating alongside the U.S. and Iranian representatives.
− On Friday, the Israeli ambassador to Washington, Yechiel Leiter, said Israel "remains firmly committed to an immediate ceasefire" if Hezbollah honors the agreement and ceases hostilities.
+ The stakes for these talks are considerable.
− On Saturday, Hezbollah said it had committed to the ceasefire but blamed Israel for violating it several times Friday night.
+ A 2015 agreement between the U.S.
− A statement by the group's military wing said it would abide by the ceasefire but would also repel attacks by Israeli troops.
+ and Iran brokered under the Obama Administration, the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA, took almost two years to negotiate and placed hard limits on Iran's uranium enrichment in exchange for international sanctions relief.
− Barber Wissam Srour, 41, holds his daughter's bicycle recovered from his barbershop as he searches for belongings in the rubble of the shop, damaged in an Israeli strike, in the southern port city of Tyre, Lebanon, Friday, June 19, 2026.
+ The first Trump administration withdrew from it unilaterally in 2018.
− Hassan Ammar/AP hide caption
Hezbollah and Israel went to war two days after the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran on Feb. 28, with Hezbollah firing rockets and drones at northern Israel and Israel seizing large swaths of southern Lebanon.
+ Years of diplomatic dead-ends followed, including indirect talks via the Omanis and again in Geneva earlier this year, before a joint U.S.-Israeli military campaign launched against Iran in late February.
− Neither Israel nor Hezbollah are signatories to the deal, which calls for a halt to military operations in Lebanon and for the country's sovereignty to be respected.
+ The Memorandum of Understanding signed this week does not involve other nations, as did the JCPOA, but commits both countries to 60 days of talks, which could be extended, on a final nuclear agreement, with significant incentives for Tehran including reconstruction funds and eventual sanctions relief.
− Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to keep Israeli forces in southern Lebanon until any threat to Israel is eliminated.
+ On Saturday, President Trump said on social media that the U.S.
− Hezbollah has refused to halt its attacks unless Israel commits to withdrawing from Lebanon, which Iran says is also a condition of the deal.
+ could impose tolls in the Strait of Hormuz if a deal isn't reached. "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," Trump said.
− A new round of U.S.-backed talks between the Lebanese government and Israel is expected to take place in Washington next week.
A strike on Barish village killed four members of a family: parents and two children.
+ The more immediate threat to this broader peace process are events in Lebanon.
− In Arab Salim village, a body was pulled from a destroyed house, and in Doueir and Kfar Rumman villages, drone strikes killed a person on a motorcycle and a Lebanese soldier.
+ Israeli forces and Hezbollah exchanged heavy fire throughout Saturday, hours after a ceasefire announced Friday appeared to — very briefly — take hold.
− Nine people were killed in strikes in Qannarit, Sohmor and Shehour villages.
+ The Lebanese National News Agency reported strikes on the southern town of Nabatiyeh and surrounding villages killed at least 16 people, with civilians among the dead.
− Smoke rose into the sky over southern Lebanon and Israeli jets flew low over the coastal city of Tyre.
+ Israel's military said Hezbollah fired more than 50 projectiles at its forces overnight who were operating in southern Lebanon.
− Residents told The Associated Press they were relieved that Tyre had been spared in recent days, but now they were reminded that the war is not over.
+ Hezbollah said it was responding to Israeli advances toward Lebanese territory and insisted it remains committed to any genuine ceasefire.
− "Our entire lives would change if there's a ceasefire," said one resident, Hussein Khoshman.
− lifts blockade on Iranian ports as 60-day clock for a final deal starts ticking Netanyahu's office did not immediately comment on ceasefire efforts.
+ lifts blockade on Iranian ports as 60-day clock for a final deal starts ticking Neither Israel nor Hezbollah signed the U.S.-Iran MoU, though the agreement explicitly calls for a halt to military operations in Lebanon and respect for Lebanese sovereignty — a provision Iran says the United States is obligated to enforce.
− Military spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin said Israeli forces were operating in a "forward defense zone" and would continue doing so.
+ Talks originally scheduled for Friday in the Swiss resort town were postponed because of the fighting in Lebanon.