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

Israel will not withdraw its forces from Lebanon, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said, as Tel Aviv and Beirut continued talks mediated by Washington.

“We have made it clear that under no circumstances will we withdraw,” Katz said at the MUNI EXPO conference in Tel Aviv on June 24, adding that he had outlined this stance to his US counterpart.

“As of this moment -- and this is a diplomatic achievement -- there is no American demand for Israel to withdraw from Lebanon,” he added.

Katz’s statement came as Israel and Lebanon discussed a US-backed proposal during negotiations in Washington that would see Israeli forces leave parts of the territory they have invaded and transfer control to Lebanese forces.

Speaking to reporters after the second day of talks had begun, a US State Department official said Israel and Lebanon were "negotiating as two sovereign states with the goal of finding long lasting peace and security."

"Our shared goal is to end the cycle of violence for good. The talks continue to advance a comprehensive peace and security between the two countries," the official added.

Israel began launching strikes targeting Hezbollah militants in Lebanon since the start of the US-Israeli war with Iran, when Hezbollah forces opened fire in support of Tehran. The MOU declares "the immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon."

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

With reporting by Reuters.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said there is currently "no plan" for the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to inspect Iran's nuclear sites, and Tehran would only negotiate issues related to the country's nuclear sites and enriched nuclear material within the framework of a final agreement with the United States.

"These discussions will be reviewed and determined solely within the framework of the final agreement," Gharibabadi wrote in a post on X on June 24, adding it will also depend on Washington showing "practical steps" to lift its sanctions on Tehran.

Gharibabadi's comment came after IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi announced on June 25 that the UN agency's inspectors will visit Iran's nuclear enrichment sites damaged during the Israeli-Iranian war last year and after US President Donald Trump said the agency would go to Iran "at the appropriate time."

"There is no plan to access the attacked facilities or nuclear materials," Gharibabadi said. He also claimed Grossi had requested a meeting with Iranian officials in Switzerland but that the request was denied.

Pakistan, which has been mediating peace talks between the United States and Iran, announced on June 24 that a new round of technical talks between the two countries was set to take place next week.

"Talks will resume next week," Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman Tahir Andrabi told journalists in Islamabad, providing no details about the potential venue.

Andrabi's announcement came amid intensified regional diplomacy as US Secretary of State Marco Rubio began a Gulf tour aimed at reassuring Washington's closest Arab allies, while Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf traveled to Oman and Azerbaijan.

At the same time, tensions between Washington and Tehran over a final peace deal remained elevated.

While oil exports and shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz have begun to recover after months of its effective closure, more than 1,000 ships were reportedly stuck in the Persian Gulf as of June 24.

The issue of safe passage through the waterway remains key to the final resolution of the conflict. As Iran has been seeking to impose a tolling system on transit through the strait, Rubio insisted the Strait of Hormuz is an international waterway, rejecting the possibility.

"No country is allowed to charge tolls or fees on an international waterway. That's existing international law," he said as he arrived in the United Arab Emirates on June 23.

Meanwhile, speaking at a news conference in Azerbaijan, Qalibaf described the temporary deal between the United States and Iran as a "declaration of America's defeat," adding that security in the Middle East should be managed by regional countries.

With reporting by AFP

International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General Rafael Grossi announced on June 24 that the IAEA's inspectors will visit Iran's nuclear enrichment sites.

“I can understand political statements, they are part of the reality, but the fundamental thing I would like to remind you and draw your attention to is that there has been a Memorandum of Understanding, signed by both presidents [of Iran and the United States],” Grossi said at a press conference at the Daiichi nuclear power plant in Fukushima, Japan.

He added that the memorandum "says explicitly that the nuclear activities that are going to be carried out with regards to the nuclear material facilities will be supervised by the IAEA."

“Obviously, to do that, we will have to inspect. Whether this happens the day after tomorrow or in one week or in 10 days, it’s important, but not essential. This is going to happen,” Grossi said.

A day earlier, US President Donald Trump said that IAEA inspectors would go to Iran "at the appropriate time" to inspect damaged nuclear facilities.

In response to claims that there were no plans for nuclear inspectors to return to Iran, he said Iranian officials were "wrong" and that Washington had agreed with Tehran to conduct "100 percent inspections."

Asked when the inspections would begin, he said: "There is no rush, but they will be on site at the appropriate time."

Grossi's comments are among the most explicit statements by the IAEA regarding Iran's nuclear activities. The agency has played a key role in determining the status of Tehran's nuclear stockpiles.

Since the start of the 12-day war between Israel and Iran last year, Tehran has blocked the UN agency's access to its nuclear enrichment facilities.

IAEA inspections are essential to implementing the agreement signed by Washington and Tehran last week, which requires Iran to reduce the enrichment level of its uranium stockpile.

Oman announced the introduction of a temporary sea route to pass through the Strait of Hormuz in coordination with the International Maritime Organization (IMO).

According to the Omani state news agency, this measure is intended to facilitate the passage of vessels intending to pass through this important waterway.

According to this announcement, ships intending to use this temporary route must depart after coordinating with the IMO and based on the coordinates announced by this international body and Omani authorities.

The announcement emphasizes that this decision was taken with the aim of ensuring freedom of navigation in this strategic waterway in line with international and maritime law to ensure freedom of navigation without the need to pay tolls.

Earlier, Iranian officials who had traveled to Oman after Switzerland had announced an agreement to plan and develop a joint mechanism with Oman to collect fees for providing maritime services to ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz.

Iranian officials said this would not mean collecting transit fees and that the fees would be collected solely in exchange for providing services.

US President Donald Trump has also emphasized in recent days that during the 60-day period following the initial agreement between Washington and Tehran, the passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz will be completely free, and after this period, Tehran and Muscat will cooperate to introduce and implement a mechanism to provide services to passing vessels.

Nearly 1,150 ships are still stuck in the Persian Gulf despite the initial agreement between Iran and the United States to end the war, Alliance, Germany's largest insurance company, announced.

The insurance company estimates the total value of these vessels and their cargoes at around $125 billion.

Justus Heinrich, a senior expert in the commercial sector at Alliance Insurance, emphasized that "shipping has been held hostage in this war," saying that even if conditions in the Strait of Hormuz return to normal, it will take weeks for the ships to leave the region and transfer their cargoes to their final destinations.

Despite the initial agreement between Iran and the United States, shipping companies continue to assess the risk level in the Persian Gulf region as high. A few days ago, following the resurgence of fighting in Lebanon, Iran announced once again the temporary closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which fueled concerns among shipping companies.

Heinrich said international shipping organizations and German shipowners are still unable to accurately assess the risks to their vessels and crews, and as a result, "ships will not leave their anchorages as long as the situation remains the same."

Iran has effective leverage, he said, noting that 20 and 25 percent of the world's oil and liquefied gas shipments pass through the Strait of Hormuz.

US President Donald Trump has criticized Congress for passing on June 23 the largely symbolic "War Powers" bill, which was designed to end the Iran war.

In an angry social media post, Trump called it "poorly timed and meaningless."

The bill, which was first passed by the House of Representatives, would require the president to withdraw US forces from a conflict with Iran unless Congress specifically authorizes this action.

Fifty senators, including four Republicans, voted in favor against 48 who opposed.

"These Senators have just made my job more difficult, but I will get it done, one way or the other, because I always get it done!" Trump complained on his social media platform, Truth Social.

Right at a time when Iran is "willing to give us anything" and "respecting the hell out of the United States" and himself, he wrote, "the U.S. Senate decides to have a poorly timed and meaningless War Powers Act Vote, telling the Number One Sponser of Terror in the World that the United States doesn't like what I am doing to them, and I must stop."

The resolution will not be presented to Trump for signature, and therefore, in terms of legal force, it is a matter of debate and is largely symbolic.

Over the past months, Democratic senators have repeatedly put bills to a vote to stop the war, but each time they have failed due to Republican opposition.

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

The US Senate has narrowly voted in favor of a bill demanding the war against Iran be stopped and requiring US President Donald Trump to seek congressional approval if he decides to resume it, the first such war powers resolution to ever pass in both the House of Representatives and the Senate.

The legislation passed in a 50 to 48 Senate vote on June 23 as four Republicans joined in with Democrat members. It requires Trump to withdraw US forces from the conflict with Iran unless Congress specifically authorizes military action in the region.

The resolution will not be presented to Trump to approve with his signature, and it was not immediately clear how it would affect the conflict with Tehran and Washington currently negotiating a peace agreement amid a cease-fire.

“With the Senate passage of my Iran War Powers Resolution, both chambers have now made clear that the president cannot continue this war of choice and must cease all hostilities against Iran," Gregory Meeks, the ranking Democrat on the Foreign Affairs Committee, said after the vote.

"Regardless of what President Trump says, this measure is binding under the War Powers Resolution, and I will explore all legal avenues to ensure the Executive complies with the will of Congress," Meeks added.

Over the past months, Democratic senators have repeatedly put forward bills to stop the war, only to be defeated by the Republican majority. The Republicans also hold a slim majority in the House.

US President Donald Trump said that International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors will go to Iran at the "appropriate time" to inspect nuclear facilities damaged in US air strikes earlier this year.

Reacting to reports that Iran denied inspectors would go to Iran, Trump said that Iranian officials were "wrong" to say so and that Washington had agreed with Tehran to conduct inspections.

Asked when such inspections could start, Trump told journalists on June 23: "There is no rush, but they will be on site at an appropriate time."

Trump added that the goal of the agreement with Iran is to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, and that Islamic Republic officials have agreed to this.