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| Photo Credit: Reuters

Oil prices fell in early trading on Thursday (June 18) after the U.S. and Iran signed an interim agreement that would end the Iran war, ‌reopen the Strait of Hormuz and waive U.S. sanctions on Tehran’s oil, resolving the largest energy ⁠supply disruption in history.

Brent crude futures were down 89 cents, or 1.12%, at $78.66 a barrel as of 0005 GMT, ‌and U.S. West Texas Intermediate fell 98 cents, or 1.28%, to $75.81 a barrel.

The benchmarks resumed their ‌decline, reversing gains made on Wednesday after U.S. ‌President ⁠Donald Trump said he could resume his bombing campaign ⁠if Iran’s leaders “don’t behave”.

-Reuters

Iran’s chief negotiator warned the United States is not to be trusted on Sunday (May 31, 2026), saying Tehran would not agree to any deal with Washington unless it fully secures Iranian rights.

Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf’s remarks came as reports emerged that U.S. President Donald Trump had sent a tougher peace proposal back to Iran, and underlined the rift that the parties still need to close.

Any further tweaks to the draft could further delay an agreement to formally end the West Asia war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz after weeks of fraught negotiations marked by sharp rhetoric and occasional flare-ups of violence.

Iran was already in negotiations with the United States about the fate of its nuclear programme in February, when the US and Israel launched air and missile strikes that wiped out much of the Islamic republic’s senior leadership.

And, while Tehran has long insisted that its nuclear programme is for purely civilian ends, the United States and its Western allies have long suspected it aims to develop a weapon.

Nuclear guarantees

The New York Times and Axios reported on Saturday (May 31, 2026) that Mr. Trump had sent back a “tougher” new framework to be considered by Iran, though details remain unclear.

Mr. Trump has said his priorities include stopping Iran from any nuclear weapon development and re-opening the Hormuz shipping lane, over which Iran has sought to impose control since the war began.

“The one guarantee that I have to have is that there will be no nuclear weapons. They’ve agreed to that, and it was very interesting,” he told his daughter-in-law Lara Trump in an interview on her Fox News show.

But Tehran has previously cast doubt on Mr. Trump’s assertions and the sides remain far apart on key issues.

“We will not approve any agreement until we are certain that the rights of the Iranian people have been upheld,” Ghalibaf said, in a video broadcast on state television.

According to the Tasnim news agency, “exchanges between Iran and the United States regarding the text of a possible memorandum of understanding are ongoing, with both parties regularly proposing amendments.

“No agreement has yet been finalised, and it is possible that any agreement will be rejected,” it said.

Iran has said it needs the release of $12 billion in frozen assets before engaging in substantive talks on its nuclear program, dismissing earlier Mr. Trump comments that its enriched uranium stockpile would be destroyed as “baseless”, according to Iranian media.

Tehran has also insisted that Lebanon be included in any deal, despite ongoing fighting, with Beirut accusing Israel of a “scorched-earth policy” as it expands operations against Iran-backed Hezbollah.

Flare-ups

Though daily strikes throughout Iran and the Gulf halted after Tehran and Washington struck a temporary ceasefire in April and talks mediated by Pakistan, sporadic fighting has continued.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards had shot down a U.S. military drone “about to enter Iranian territorial waters”, Iran’s state broadcaster IRIB reported, though Washington has not confirmed the incident.

Earlier this week, the worst fighting since the ceasefire erupted when U.S. forces struck the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas, prompting retaliatory fire from Iran.

Nevertheless diplomacy has continued with Mr. Trump under pressure to secure a deal that would lift competing US and Iranian blockades around the Strait of Hormuz that have strangled a vital route for global oil supplies.

After Mr. Trump said Iran would charge “no tolls” on ships passing through the strait under any deal, Iranian news agency Fars cited sources saying “no such clause” existed.

Iran’s ISNA news agency on Saturday (May 31, 2026) quoted lawmaker Alireza Salimi as saying a plan “to implement Iran’s management and sovereignty” over the strait — which includes imposing “administrative fees” for navigation — would soon go before parliament.

Lebanon front

Israeli said on Sunday (May 31, 2026) that troops had also crossed the Litani river and raised the Israeli flag over the strategic medieval fortress of Beaufort in southern Lebanon.

Smoke billowed from the surrounding area as the invading army’s banner was seen by AFP above the castle, which Israel famously used as a base during their previous two-decade-long occupation.

The push to Beaufort came as the Israeli military issued a sweeping evacuation order to areas south of the Zahrani River, north of the Litani and around 40 kilometres (25 miles) from the border, warning that it was targeting Hezbollah.

“The capture of Beaufort is a dramatic stage and a dramatic shift in the policy we are leading. We have broken the barrier of fear. We are taking the initiative, we are operating on all fronts — in Syria, in Gaza, in Lebanon,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

The Israeli military said on Sunday (May 31, 2026) that one soldier was killed the previous day in a Hezbollah drone strike.Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam has accused Israel of pursuing a “scorched-earth policy and collective punishment”, and called for “a swift and real ceasefire.”

Israel confirmed it was expanding its ground offensive in a statement released early on Sunday (May 31, 2026), saying “a significant number” of its forces were operating against Hezbollah beyond the Litani river.

A truce between Israel and Hezbollah formally began on April 17 but it has never been observed, with both sides accusing each other of violating it.

Published – May 31, 2026 10:11 pm IST

U.S. President Donald Trump held a White House Situation Room meeting with his advisers on Friday (May 29, 2026) but has not yet made a decision on whether to move forward with a deal to extend the Iran ceasefire and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Iran said the agreement has not been finalised.

Also read: West Asia war updates on May 30, 2026

Ahead of the meeting, Mr. Trump said he was looking to make a “final determination”. A senior administration official later said the roughly two-hour meeting with national security aides had concluded without a decision.

The official, who was not authorised to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, said Mr. Trump would only sign a deal that “satisfies his redlines” and curbs Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

Mr. Trump confirmed the high-level talks the day after The Associated Press and other news outlets reported that U.S. and Iranian negotiators had come to terms on a tentative agreement. The deal would extend the fragile ceasefire by 60 days as new talks are held on Iran’s disputed nuclear programme.

Mr. Trump wrote on social media that “Iran must agree that they will never have a Nuclear Weapon or Bomb”. He said the strait must be reopened for international navigation and all sea mines destroyed.

Iran’s main negotiator said on Friday (May 29, 2026) that it has “no trust in guarantees or words”, only actions, underscoring lingering distrust after the U.S. and Israel have twice attacked Iran over the past year while it was engaged in nuclear negotiations.

Also read: U.S., Iran exchange fire threatening peace talks

“No step will be taken before the other side acts,” Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf wrote on X. “We do not gain concessions through talks but through missiles.”

Nuclear issues remain unresolved

Later, but before Mr. Trump’s meeting concluded, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei told a state broadcaster that the agreement “has not been finalised yet”.

On Thursday (May 28, 2026), U.S. Vice-President J.D. Vance suggested negotiators were trying to strike general terms on Iran’s nuclear programme, with the specifics to be hammered out in the ensuing talks.

Mr. Baghaei, however, said on Friday (May 29, 2026) that Iranian officials were “focused on the end of war and are not discussing the details of the nuclear plan at this point”.

Iran also wants any deal to include a truce between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah militants in Lebanon, where fighting has intensified despite a nominal ceasefire. And the Islamic Republic has been seeking the release of billions of dollars in frozen funds.

Ebrahim Azizi, who heads the Iranian Parliament’s national security commission and is close to top leaders, posted on social media on Friday (May 29, 2026) that Iran “sets the terms: cash for cash, credit for credit, nothing for nothing”.

The Islamic Republic has 440.9 kilograms (972 pounds) of uranium that is enriched up to 60% purity, a short, technical step from weapons-grade levels of 90%, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Iran has long maintained its nuclear programme is peaceful and has not publicly committed to giving up the stockpile. It is believed to be buried under three nuclear sites that were badly damaged by U.S. strikes last year.

Mr. Trump returned on Friday (May 29, 2026) to his on-and-off demand for the removal of the cache as part of a deal. The material would be unearthed by the U.S., in coordination with Iran and the IAEA, “and DESTROYED”, he posted.

Deal would reopen the Strait of Hormuz

The proposed memorandum makes clear that Iran would not be able to impose tolls on the Strait of Hormuz and that it would have to remove all mines from the vital waterway within 30 days, according to a U.S. official who was not authorised to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The U.S. would gradually lift its blockade on Iranian ports and would also agree to relax sanctions, allowing Iran to sell more of its oil.

Mr. Baghaei said Iran and Oman, which lie on opposite sides of the strait, would manage it and “adopt mechanisms” for transit through it, “based on their own national interests and the interests of the international community”.

The two nations’ Foreign Ministers discussed the issue by phone earlier on Friday (May 29, 2026), according to Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who wrote on X that he had expressed solidarity “in the face of any threat”.

On Wednesday (May 27, 2026), Mr. Trump had warned Oman — a U.S. ally — not to enter into any agreement with Iran to share control of the strait or the U.S. will “have to blow them up”.

Iran has effectively closed the strait since the US and Israel launched a surprise attack on February 28 that killed Iran’s supreme leader and other top officials. Before then, the waterway was open to international traffic, and around a fifth of the world’s oil and gas passed through it.

The closure of the strait has caused the price of fuel and other goods to soar, with the effects felt far beyond the Middle East.

Iran has said it lets some commercial vessels pass — about two dozen daily in recent days, compared with more than 100 a day before the war. But the Islamic Republic also has charged tolls for at least some ships and established a formal gatekeeper agency earlier this month, spurring a new round of US sanctions this week.

The agency, called the Persian Gulf Strait Authority, condemned the sanctions on Friday (May 29, 2026) but deemed them a sign of its own “positive performance”.

Since the ceasefire began about seven weeks ago, the US and Iran have traded strikes and accusations of ceasefire violations. But they have not returned to full-scale hostilities and have kept negotiating.

Published – May 30, 2026 07:59 am IST