Donald Trump threatened on Wednesday to abandon talks with Iran if it tries to impose tolls or other charges on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, as both sides continue to diverge on issues key to peace talks.The US president said that Iran had informed the US that, despite reports to the contrary, there are “NO TOLLS, NO INSURANCE COSTS, & NO OTHER CHARGES OF ANY KIND BEING SOUGHT OR RECEIVED BY IRAN ON SHIPS TRAVELING THE STRAIT OF HORMUZ”.“If this is false information, negotiations would end immediately,” Trump said in a post on social media. He went on to insist that the US would buy American food to send to Iran using frozen Iranian funds, after Iran said they would determine their spending.Iran and the United States signed a 14-point memorandum of understanding last week setting out broad agreements in principle to end the war. The interim accord paved the way for 60 days of talks aimed at hammering out thornier details, including issues related to Iran's nuclear programme.Iran’s deputy foreign minister said on Wednesday that access to Iranian nuclear sites for inspections would only be addressed in the framework of a final agreement and after practical steps are taken to lift sanctions, after the US indicated Iran had agreed to allow inspections to resume.IRGC: New Hormuz route announced without Iran coordination is unacceptable, dangerousIran's Revolutionary Guards Corps on Thursday said safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz is only possible through routes designated by Iran, and that a new route announced without coordination with Iran is unacceptable and a safety risk.Ships and boats in the Strait of Hormuz, Musandam (Reuters)IRGC said it will take action against vessels that ‌fail ​to comply with ‌the ⁠requirements. Namita Singh25 June 2026 06:00Israel, Lebanon meet in Washington to discuss US-backed proposal for Israeli forces to pull out Lebanon and Israel discussed a US-backed proposal for Israeli forces to pull out of some of the territory it invaded in the war and hand it to Lebanese army control. During the discussion in Washington, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would not pull troops out of the region.Israel has been battling Hezbollah in Lebanon since the militant group attacked Israel on 2 March in support of Iran, and Tehran has made a cessation of hostilities there a central tenet of its demands in any peace deal with the US.An Israeli drone strike on a car in southern Lebanon killed at least two people on Wednesday, Lebanese sources told Reuters, while Israel said it struck two armed Hezbollah fighters. It was not immediately clear if the incidents were the same. Namita Singh25 June 2026 05:40Graeme Massie25 June 2026 05:20Middle East allies of the US sceptical about proposed peace deal with IranThe proposed peace deal between US and Iran has been met with scepticism in the Middle East, where many states came under attack from Iran during the war and view the accord as too generous to Tehran, including a $300bn fund and the waiver of some sanctions.Washington's Gulf allies fear the reconstruction fund could help Iran to rebuild its military. Ships and boats in the Strait of Hormuz, Musandam (Reuters)The accord also does not address Tehran's ballistic missile capacity. The deal requires Iran to allow shipping to flow freely through the Strait of Hormuz for 60 days, and Tehran has suggested it might impose tolls after that point. Iran could propose environmental, navigation and security fees in upcoming talks with Gulf states, according ‌to a diplomat briefed on the talks.Washington and its Gulf allies oppose such fees."We're not going to do anything that undermines the security of our allies, our longstanding allies in the region," US secretary of state Marco Rubio said in Kuwait City, where the US embassy resumed operations after a months-long stoppage due to the war. Namita Singh25 June 2026 05:00Oil prices fall as Iran lifts chokehold on the Strait of HormuzThe initial accord between the US and Iran has lifted Iran's chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz, allowing traffic to flow again through a waterway that previously handled a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments.Benchmark oil prices fell on Wednesday to their lowest level since before the war started as supply concerns eased further. But conflicting accounts have emerged over elements of the deal, which has prompted criticism of Trump at home and in the Middle East.Vessels are seen at the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, 1 June 2026 (Reuters)Financial incentives for Iran, inspections of Iran's nuclear facilities, control of the strait and Israel's parallel war in Lebanon have all been disputed, highlighting the fragility of the accord.The deal sets up 60 days of talks to tackle thornier details, including Iran's nuclear program. Namita Singh25 June 2026 04:40Trump, Republican senator engage in shouting match over Iran warUS president Donald Trump faced pointed criticism over the Iran war on Wednesday in a closed-door meeting with fellow Republicans, shortly before his administration asked Congress for tens of billions of dollars to pay for the conflict.Several Republicans in the closed-door meeting said Trump engaged in a shouting match with Republican Senator Bill Cassidy, who said the administration needed to explain a framework deal Trump signed last week that provides financial incentives for Iran but does not accomplish any of the goals he laid out at the war's beginning.US Senator Bill Cassidy speaks to reporters following a Senate Republican Steering Committee lunch with US president Donald Trump (Reuters)"The American people need to know more than we are being told," Cassidy told reporters. "It does not appear, although I don't know for sure, that the course of this is going the way that we were told."The high-volume exchange with a member of Trump's own party was another example of how the war has weighed on Trump ahead of November elections that will determine control of Congress. Namita Singh25 June 2026 04:23Trump claims he has brought 'peace to Middle East'Trump touted his achievements against Iran during a partisan rally to kick off the Great American State Fair event in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday night.“Last week we signed a historic agreement to end the conflict with Iran, fully open the Strait of Hormuz, and accomplish what no president has ever been able to accomplish before, Iran will never have a nuclear weapon, that's done,” he told the crowd.“And thanks to the power and skill of the United States Armed Forces, today Iran has no navy, no air force, no anti-aircraft capacity, no missile launches, no manufacturing, and their leadership has been obliterated, and for the first time in 3000 years, we are finally going to have peace in the Middle East.”Graeme Massie25 June 2026 04:01Lebanese on the edge of Israel's occupation live with fear and rising tensionsLooking out from a friend’s balcony, Milia el-Cheikh struggled to find her own home in the ruins of her now-deserted village, its entrances strung with barbed wire.Her village of Dibbine is one of several Shiite-majority communities across southern Lebanon destroyed by Israeli forces battling the Iran-backed Shiite Hezbollah. Israel has occupied vast areas and fighting has raged through declared ceasefires. The latest truce — part of the interim peace deal between the United States and Iran — appears to be holding.El-Cheikh, one of the few Christians from Dibbine, found shelter in another village but regularly visits Jdeidat Marjayoun, a mostly Christian village next to her hometown, to have coffee with a friend from church. Before the war, it was a comforting ritual. Now it takes place against a backdrop of loss and fear.Read the full report:James Reynolds25 June 2026 03:00Recap: Iran and the United States still at odds over nuclear inspectionsDonald Trump has said that Iran has agreed to indefinite nuclear inspections on its facilities accusing “fake news” media of distributing false rebuttals.“Iran has fully and completely agreed to highest level Nuclear inspections long into the future (Infinity!!!),” he wrote in a post on Truth Social on Tuesday.“This will insure ‘Nuclear Honesty’. If they did not agree to this, there would be no further negotiations!”Iran has denied that it will allow inspectors into its nuclear sites despite US vice president JD Vance also insisting that Tehran had agreed to the visits.Foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said on Tuesday that Tehran had agreed “no new commitments” on inspections, adding that Iran would continue its current obligations as a member of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and under its safeguards agreement with the IAEA.James Reynolds25 June 2026 02:00James Reynolds25 June 2026 01:00