live Oil Prices Fall To Pre-War Levels For First Time

WASHINGTON -- US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will travel to the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Bahrain this week on his first official visit to the Gulf since the outbreak of the Iran war and just days after Washington and Tehran signed a framework agreement aimed at bring peace to the region.

The diplomatic mission to reassure regional allies of the Trump administration's strategic trajectory with Tehran will also look to reinforce security protocols around the volatile Strait of Hormuz.

The June 23–25 tour occurs at a critical juncture for US foreign policy: It follows intensive weekend negotiations in Switzerland that Vice President JD Vance described on June 22 as having established a "good foundation for a successful final deal" to conclude the Middle East conflict.

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The United States has allowed Iran to produce, deliver, and sell its oil on international markets as part of a framework agreement for peace talks reached between the two countries last week.

"In line with the ongoing productive talks in Switzerland, Iran has committed to free and open transit in the Strait of Hormuz and to permit International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors into their country," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in ‌a post on X on June 22.

"As part of the framework, Treasury has issued a temporary 60-day general license authorizing the production, delivery, and sale of Iranian oil."

As part of the memorandum of understanding signed last week, Washington said it would issue the sanctions waivers for Iranian crude.

Earlier on June 22, Vice President JD Vance said the United States and Iran had made "good progress" over the weekend on talks aimed at reaching a full peace agreement.

US Vice President JD Vance said that progress had been made in talks with Iran, including Tehran's agreement to allow inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) back into the country.

"The Iranians have agreed to invite IAEA inspectors back into their country," Vance told reporters at Switzerland's Burgenstock resort on June 22 following an initial round of US-Iran negotiations aimed at reducing tensions in the Middle East.

He described the development as "a major milestone" and "the first step toward permanently ending Iran's nuclear weapons program."

According to Vance, the parties worked on establishing a "coordination mechanism" for keeping the Strait of Hormuz open for energy shipments and to demine the area to avoid disruptions to global oil and gas flows.

In addition, he said a similar "mechanism for deconfliction" was set up to manage ongoing regional conflicts, including exchanges involving Israel and Hezbollah, aimed at ensuring that any incidents are handled through communication channels rather than escalation.

Hezbollah is both a militant group and political party that controls much of southern Lebanon. It is considered a terrorist organization by the United States, although the European Union has only blacklisted its armed wing.

"Our teams working with the Iranians, the Qataris, and the Pakistanis made great progress yesterday," he said, adding they would continue working at the technical level with teams in Burgenstock.

"We've laid a very good foundation for a successful final deal," Vance told reporters.

China showed its support for Iran in India as senior officials from the two countries met for the first time since a framework deal between Washington and Tehran was signed last week to starts talks aimed at hammering out a long-term peace deal.

Beijing's top diplomat, Wang Yi, held talks with Qadir Nezami, deputy secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, on June 22 to discuss the ongoing peace negotiations on the sidelines of the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi.

According to a readout from China's Foreign Ministry, Wang described the provisions in the Iran-US agreement as "hard-won," adding that Beijing is willing "continue providing assistance in its own way" to play a role in the peace process.

Nezami stated that he "looked forward to China continuing to play an important role" in facilitating the implementation of the first phase of the deal.

This meeting comes as the first round of face-to-face talks between the United States and Iran since the signing of the deal concluded on June 22 in Burgenstock, Switzerland, mediated by officials from Pakistan and Qatar. The meeting had previously been postponed following an escalation of fighting in Lebanon between Hezbollah and Israeli forces.

Hezbollah is both a militant group and political party that controls much of southern Lebanon. It is considered a terrorist organization by the United States, although the European Union has only blacklisted its armed wing.

Wang expressed Beijing's thanks to Islamabad and Doha for their role in mediating discussions between the United States and Iran. China has worked closely with Islamabad, a close ally, to moderate the conflict indirectly as Pakistan stepped up as a key mediator in the conflict.

Tanker Trackers, which monitors the status of oil shipments, reported on June 21 that Iran has exported 36 million barrels of crude oil since June 15 of this year.

According to the report, Iran has stored approximately the same amount of oil in its floating cargoes.

After Iran and the United States reached an initial agreement to end the war, the naval blockade of Iranian ports by the United States military was lifted and Tehran was able to resume its oil exports.

We are now closing the live blog for the day. We'll be back tomorrow at 7:30 a.m. Central European time to cover the latest events across the Middle East.

Pakistani and Qatari mediators said on June 22 that US-Iran negotiations have concluded, with the two warring sides agreeing on a framework toward reaching a final peace deal within 60 days, including the guarantee of safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz and an end to fighting in Lebanon.

Few specific details were announced in the joint Qatari-Pakistani statement, and the agreement appears to reflect the aspirational goals announced in a previously agreed memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed by the US and Iranian presidents last week.

That MOU left many terms of a 14-point agreement open to interpretation. It was not immediately clear if those matters had been cleared up in the latest talks.

The statement said that while formal negotiations had concluded in the Swiss resort town of Burgenstock, further technical discussions would be held by the delegations in the upcoming week. It said "working groups" would be established to address "nuclear, sanctions, and a monitoring and dispute resolution group to ensure the effective implementation of the MOU, and on other matters."

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The number of vessels that passed through the Strait of Hormuz has fallen sharply ⁠after Tehran claimed it had again closed the important waterway, shipping data showed.

Tehran said it had closed the strait -- through which some 20 percent of the world's oil and gas supplies transited prewar -- saying it was in retaliation for US and Israeli violations of ⁠an interim cease-fire deal.

Data from analytics firm Kpler showed that five ships crossed the strait on June 21, down from 26 ships detected one day earlier.

Three ships were identified as very large crude carriers (VLCC) holding 2 million barrels ‌of Saudi crude and fuel oil each, one of which was heading to Japan.

Some vessels that have switched off their transponders while traveling through the Gulf may not be included in the data.

Tehran lifted its blockade of the strait last week after agreeing with the US to extend a cease-fire announced in April for a further 60 days to allow for peace negotiations to take place.

But on June 20, the hard-line Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) again declared the waterway closed in response to Israeli strikes in Lebanon.

The US military insisted commercial vessels were still operating.

With reporting by Reuters

Players on Iran's World Cup soccer team said adversity ‌has brought stronger unity after they held heavily favored Belgium to a 0-0 draw in a group ⁠match on June 21 in Los Angeles -- which gives the team a chance to reach the knockout stage for the first time.

Because of measures imposed by the US government amid the Middle East war, the team has been required to stay outside the US between matches, forcing players and officials to return to their base in Tijuana, Mexico, immediately following each outing.

Some team officials have been banned from the US because of links to the hard-line Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).

Midfielder ‌Alireza Jahanbakhsh said the difficulties had strengthened unity within the team.

"I think it is part of our culture that in a difficult situation, we perform better," Jahanbakhsh told reporters.

"It has united us even more, and that's one of the things that we've shown today. We showed great team character."

Iran has two points after two matches, having held New Zealand to 2-2 draw.

It will face Egypt in Seattle on June 26 in its final group match. A victory would send the team into the knockout stage, which would mark the first time ever for the country in World Cup competition.

With reporting by Reuters

US and Iranian delegations are "working through the night" in Burgenstock, Switzerland, as they attempt to transform a fragile memorandum of understanding into a broader political settlement, a senior US diplomat engaged in the negotiations said early on June 22.

"The Iranian delegation is still at the negotiating venue, and the US delegation expects to continue working through the night," according to the US diplomat, who added that "discussions remain ongoing."

The remarks come after some confusion following a walkout of the four-party talks by Tehran's delegation in protest to US President Donald Trump's latest threats of military action. Qatari and Pakistani mediators worked to prevent a breakup of the negotiations, officials said.

Iran's Press TV had said the talks concluded for the night at about 10 p.m. on June 21, although there was no official confirmation from any participating party.

Iran's Tasnim news agency, which is linked to Iran's hard-line Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), said Tehran's delegation walked out of the meeting in protest to Trump's latest threats.

But, citing "informed sources," Tasnim added that messages continued to be exchanged through Qatari and Pakistani mediators.

In the past, direct negotiations have at times broken up but exchanges of messages continued for hours through mediators at the venue.

It was not immediately clear if further sessions would be scheduled at the Swiss resort should the initial session fail to bring about a final agreement

The US diplomat said discussions have included “clarifying some of the confusing messaging from Iran on the Strait [of Hormuz] and building deconfliction mechanisms to ensure the strait will remain fully open.”

“We have also worked through deconfliction mechanisms and enforcing the cease-fire in southern Lebanon,” the diplomat said.

The diplomat said there have been “robust discussions on all elements of the nuclear deal,” and that they plan to use the first session's work as a starting point for ongoing technical talks going forward.”

RFE/RL correspondent Alex Raufoglu contributed to this report.