Trump & iran negotiations: 1)U.S. push to get Iran talks started hits an early bump as weekend negotiations are put on hold; 2)Iran, U.S. sign deal that Washington says calls for diluting uranium at minimum, opening strait; 3)Tentative deal on ending the Iran war sends stocks soaring while oil prices fall – [note from Patricia: there was no deal yet]

1)U.S. push to get Iran talks started hits an early bump as weekend negotiations are put on hold

Courtesy Barrie360.com By Aamer Madhani And Jamey Keaten, June 19, 2026

The U.S. push to quickly begin high-stakes talks with Iran hit a snag just two days after the signing of an agreement that opens a 60-day window to negotiate a permanent understanding about Iran’s nuclear program while getting oil traffic moving through the Strait of Hormuz back to prewar levels.

Vice President JD Vance had been prepared to make an overnight flight Friday to meet with his Iranian counterparts at a mountainside resort in the tiny Swiss village of Obbürgen and begin the technical talks.
His staff and a small pack of journalists had even gathered at Joint Base Andrews outside Washington in anticipation of the trip. Meanwhile, dozens of White House officials, advance staffers and more media gathered in Switzerland to prepare for Vance’s anticipated arrival.

But then, abruptly on Thursday evening, the trip was called off – at least for the time being.

The White House issued a statement explaining Vance – who has been tapped by President Donald Trump to lead the negotiations – and his delegation were prepared for talks, but they were unable to finalize plans and the vice president would remain in Washington.

“The logistics of these negotiations have never been simple or predictable,” the statement noted.
The announcement followed a report from Al-Mayadeen, a Pan-Arab satellite channel that is politically allied with the Iranian-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, that Iran was delaying sending its delegation to Switzerland over Israel’s ongoing military campaign in Lebanon.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that Israel’s military will stay in a “security zone” of southern Lebanon as long as “Israel’s security needs require it.”

Israel and Hezbollah are not parties to the agreement. Iran insists Israel must withdraw from the large swath of southern Lebanon it is occupying, but the wording of the interim deal doesn’t explicitly require that and only ensures Lebanon’s “territorial integrity.”

2)Iran, U.S. sign deal that Washington says calls for diluting uranium at minimum, opening strait

Courtesy Barrie360.com and The Associated Press

By Michelle L. Price, Matthew Lee, Jon Gambrell, Zeke Miller And Samy Magdy, The Associated Press

U.S. President Donald Trump said he signed an agreement with Iran Wednesday that U.S. officials say calls for Tehran to dilute its stockpile of highly enriched uranium and waive sanctions on the country, immediately allowing Iran to sell its oil freely in a major concession from Washington.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who helped mediate the initial deal to end the war, said it is taking “immediate effect” after leaders from both countries signed it, but that there will still be a formal signing ceremony on Friday.

The agreement would open the Strait of Hormuz toll-free for two months and affirm a commitment to Lebanon’s territorial integrity in the face of Israel’s invasion against the Hezbollah militant group, according to officials from both countries.

U.S. officials dictated draft language to journalists after days of secrecy, speaking on condition of anonymity. Iranian state TV later released text that largely tracked what the U.S. put out.

Though officials had said Trump and U.S. Vice-President JD Vance digitally signed the agreement Sunday and that a ceremonial signing would be held Friday in Switzerland, Trump said he signed the deal while in France on Wednesday.

“It’s signed,” Trump said as he left Versailles, the historic palace where he dined with French President Emmanuel Macron following a trip to the Group of Seven summit in France.

A U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to share details about the agreement, said Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian also signed it Wednesday, though Iran did not immediately comment. It wasn’t immediately clear if that act started a 60-day negotiating clock to reach a final deal. It was also not clear how Trump’s signing of the deal at Versailles differed from his digital signing on Sunday.

In a video posted online by a White House aide, Trump is seen seated at a table next to Macron signing a paper copy of the agreement. Trump then hands the document and pen to Secretary of State Marco Rubio as people in the room applaud.

Text of the agreement has not been formally released. The draft read by U.S. officials includes language that Iran agrees not to develop or procure nuclear weapons and requires that Iran’s highly enriched uranium be downgraded on site as a minimum.

In return, the U.S. will move to waive, but not eliminate, some wide-ranging sanctions against Iran. The agreement also secures free passage of the strait for only 60 days, and it does not preclude fees in future, according to the U.S. officials and the Iranian draft.

The deal will stop the fighting and start more negotiations

The U.S. and Israel went to war on Feb. 28 in part to prevent Iran from ever getting a nuclear weapon. Trump has cited various goals for the war, including at times vowing it would end Iran’s nuclear and missile programs and its support for Hezbollah and other proxy groups in the region. He also suggested it could lead to toppling the Iranian government.

The interim deal falls short of all those goals, but Trump hailed it Wednesday.

“Nobody knows what it is but it’s very strong,” Trump said in France, where he is attending a Group of Seven summit.

But he also opened the door to abandoning it: “It’s a memorandum of understanding and if I don’t like it, we’ll go back to shooting at them, dropping bombs.”

Much of the agreement would restore the status quo before the war, including ending hostilities, restarting talks between the U.S. and Iran over Tehran’s nuclear program, and reopening the strait, the crucial passage for the world’s oil and natural gas and whose closure created a historic energy crisis.

It opens a two-month period for nuclear negotiations and appears to offer Iran several benefits up front while extracting little in return.

The U.S. agreement to immediately allow Iran to sell its oil freely and the offer to eventually lift all sanctions represent major concessions that go beyond the terms of Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. Trump withdrew America from that Obama-era pact in his first term, declaring it the “worst deal ever.”

The Islamic Republic maintains that its nuclear program is peaceful.

The accord likely will draw intense opposition in Washington, and it appears to be a major setback for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has come under criticism at home from the media, his opponents and even some allies as details emerge.

Under the Obama-era nuclear agreement with Iran that Trump pulled out of, Iran also agreed to restrictions on its nuclear program and promised never to build an atomic weapon.

The new U.S.-Iran deal includes an end to the fighting in Lebanon between Israel and the Iranian-backed militia Hezbollah. That is one of the most delicate parts of the agreement because Israel has maintained it will continue to defend itself and to occupy vast swaths of Lebanon. Iran has said Israel must withdraw under the deal.

The document also has provisions to ensure the territorial integrity of Lebanon after Israel’s latest attacks against Hezbollah in Lebanese territory. Israel has rejected the prospect of withdrawing from Lebanon, but the agreement expressly states that military operations in Lebanon must stop with the signing of the memorandum.

Major concessions have been offered to Iran

Some concessions to Iran — including the full lifting of sanctions and the release of frozen assets — would happen gradually and be linked to progress in the nuclear talks, according to officials from Pakistan, a key mediator. They outlined some of the deal’s major points on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

But in the meantime, the U.S. will issue waivers to sanctions that allow Iran to sell oil freely.

The Islamic Republic’s oil export revenues in 2024 were more than US$46 billion. Its main buyer of oil, China, is believed to have bought at below-market prices because of its willingness to ignore the sanctions.

Granting oil waivers at the start of the 60-day talks strips the U.S. of a major point of leverage. Only at the conclusion of the overall deal in 2015 were sanctions on Iran’s oil lifted.

The interim deal also opens the door to ending all sanctions Iran faces from the U.S. and at the UN — including those over Tehran’s weapons programs and human rights abuses — though it says the schedule for that will be worked out later. Still, that far surpasses the 2015 deal, which only lifted some sanctions in exchange for Iran drastically reducing its enrichment and stockpile of uranium.

The accord would also provide Iran with at least US$300 billion to rebuild after an intense U.S. and Israeli bombing campaign — an extraordinary figure and another major benefit for Iran. The money also appears dependent on the progress of further negotiations.

Vance has said Gulf Arab nations would invest that amount. But Gulf countries would likely be reluctant to help Iran after Iranian attacks in the war destroyed oil facilities and other sites in their territory.

Trump reiterated Wednesday that the U.S. would not contribute and said it was up to other countries if they wanted to invest.

The pact would provide relief to the global economy

The deal provides a major win for the global economy — the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of all traded oil and natural gas once passed before the war began. Since then, Iranian attacks on shipping and the threat to vessels effectively shut the strait.

The strait’s closure drove up energy prices around the world and made many basics, including food, more expensive. Iran let through some vessels that paid tolls, something never done before in the strait, which has long been considered an international waterway. The U.S. later provided military support to get other tankers out, but traffic was nowhere near levels before the war.

The deal also says the U.S. will lift a blockade imposed on Iranian ports and that the strait will return to its prewar traffic levels in 30 days, while acknowledging Iranian mines may need to be destroyed.

3)Tentative deal on ending the Iran war sends stocks soaring while oil prices fall – [note from Patricia: there was no deal yet]

Courtesy Barrie360.com and The Associated Press

By Canadian Press, June 15, 2026

Share prices soared Monday in Asia after a tentative deal was announced on ending the Iran war and reopening the Strait of Hormuz.

Benchmarks in Tokyo and Seoul initially gained more than 5% early Monday. Oil prices fell more than $4 a barrel.

The future for the S&P 500 was up 1%, and that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.9%, auguring likely early gains for Wall Street.

U.S. President Donald Trump confirmed the initial agreement and authorized an end to the U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports.

Iran confirmed it but signalled that implementation would not start until a signing that Pakistan said would be held on Friday in Switzerland. Broader negotiations on issues like Iran’s nuclear program are expected to continue over the next 60 days.

In early trading on Monday, the price of Brent crude oil, the international standard, fell $3.61 to $83.64 per barrel. U.S. benchmark crude lost $4.27 to $80.61 per barrel.

But it may take months for oil prices to stabilize after the disruptions from the war caused them to surge, pushing costs up gasoline and many other products. Energy experts said shipping and insurance companies will want to be confident the pact will hold, ensuring that oil and gas supplies will flow freely enough for the world’s needs to be met.

“The reopening of Hormuz is a relief valve, not a full peace dividend. The market can remove some crude panic, but it still has to price the gap between a headline, a signature, and a regime that actually complies,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a report.

Still, the news was a huge relief for markets that have been roiled since the conflict began in late February.

The deal on ending the war offers relief to the global economy, more than three months since fighting began.

Stocks rallied in Asia, where Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 gained 5.4% to 69,603.91 as the benchmark logged another record high.

Buying was heaviest for technology shares, especially those related to artificial intelligence. The boom in AI has been driving gains in Japan, where the benchmark has gained more than 80% in the last year.

“This is great news,” said Takashi Hiroki, chief strategist at Monex. “Buying by foreign investors is leading the market with expectations of easing tensions around the situation in the Middle East. Then the decline in New York crude oil futures is supporting this positive market.”

The Kospi in Seoul surged 4.9% to 8,517.93.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng gained 0.6% to 24,867.94, while the Shanghai Composite index was up 1.1% to 4,073.08.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 advanced 1.4% to 8,922.90. Taiwan’s Taiex was up 2.5%.

This week will bring interest rate decisions from the Federal Reserve and Bank of England, on Thursday. On Tuesday, the Bank of Japan is due to announce its monetary policy updates. It is widely expected to raise its benchmark interest rate to 1% from the current 0.75%.

That would be the highest rate in more than 30 years.

In other dealings early Monday, the dollar rose to 160.20 Japanese yen from 160.12 yen late Friday. The euro climbed to $1.1595 from $1.1578.