U.S. President Donald Trump said a preliminary agreement to end the war in the Gulf has been signed by the U.S. and Iran, though details have yet to be made public and both countries said a permanent truce is yet to be negotiated.
Australia has relaxed its travel advisory for Bahrain, Israel, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates following an interim U.S.-Iran agreement aimed at ending the conflict in the Middle East.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the travel advice for the five countries has been lowered from “do not travel” to “reconsider your need to travel,” while still urging Australians to avoid non-essential trips to the region.
Wong cautioned that the security situation across the Middle East could deteriorate rapidly with little warning, but said current conditions were assessed as allowing the adjustment in advice.
The U.S. Senate on Tuesday narrowly blocked a Democratic-led attempt to end the Iran war until it is explicitly authorised by Congress. This marks the ninth such effort since the conflict escalated following Israeli and U.S. airstrikes on Iran earlier this year.
The vote failed by 48-47 under the War Powers Resolution framework and came as lawmakers considered recent White House-backed understandings with Tehran aimed at extending a ceasefire and opening further negotiations to end the conflict.
The U.S. will allow Iran to immediately begin selling oil and fuel under the memorandum of understanding (MOU) the two sides reached to end the war, a senior U.S. official has said.
The provision for waiving sanctions on Iranian oil sales takes effect once the agreement is signed this week and also covers services including banking, transportation and insurance to facilitate the sales, the source said.
Despite this, the U.S. official, speaking anonymously, said the agreement had conditions.
“This is a performance-based agreement. Iran can only access any benefits of the MOU if they abide by all of the points they agreed to, including no nuclear weapon, neutralising its enriched material, and not interfering with the free flow of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.”
Iran's top joint military command has warned Israel against continuing its attacks on southern Lebanon. In a statement, the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters said Israel should expect a hard response from the Iranian armed forces if it resumed military action in the area.
Pope Leo XIV has welcomed the deal to end conflict between the U.S. and Iran.
"Thanks be to God," the pontiff told journalists outsdie his residence in Castel Gandolo in Italy.
"There will still be several points to settle, but it is always better to do so through dialogue, through negotiations, and not by returning to war," the first American pope told journalists outside his residence in Castel Gandolfo, Italy.
Leo, who drew the ire of U.S. President Donald Trump after criticising the Iran war, said he hoped the deal will end the conflict for good.
A $300 billion private fund designed to trigger investment into Iran is outlined in the U.S.-Iran framework agreement and more than half that sum has already been committed, a source with direct knowledge of the deal told Reuters.
The money pot is supposed to give both sides an economic incentive to conclude a final deal, said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the plan has not yet been announced as Washington and Tehran prepare to sign on Friday.
The new fund is a private investment vehicle, not a reconstruction or reparations programme and will not include any government money or grants, the source said, adding that companies based in the U.S., the Gulf Arab states, Asia, South America and Africa have agreed to commit financing.
Three Iranian tankers and two vessels carrying essential goods are currently sailing toward Iranian southern ports from the Indian Ocean, Iranian state TV said on Tuesday, despite a U.S. military advisory note saying on Monday that a blockade of Iranian ports remains in effect until Friday.
President Donald Trump said that he “never cared about regime change” in Iran, adding that the U.S. is dealing with “very rational people.”
Speaking to reporters in France, Trump said: “I never cared about regime change. It's never a part, but I guess you have regime change because you know better than anybody.”
“I don't believe the regime change, you know, I've watched regime changes for years, they never work,” he said.
U.S. President Donald Trump said that he has a great relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but that he must be more responsible with respect to Lebanon.
Trump, speaking at the G7 summit, said he told Israel that he did not like its attack on Beirut and suggested that Syria should take care of Hezbollah instead of Israel.
Iran and the U.S. will start a new round of negotiations on Friday in Switzerland to reach a final agreement after the official start of an interim agreement, Iran's foreign minister said on Tuesday.
Araghchi also warned that any Israeli attack on Lebanon or continued presence on Lebanese territory from now on constituted a violation of the interim agreement with the United States.
"In our view, the two parties to this memorandum are the U.S. and Israel on one side, and Iran and Hezbollah on the other," he said.
Iran will soon begin connecting its electricity grid to Qatar's, with studies in the final stages and the project entering the early phase of execution, Iran's Energy Minister said on Tuesday according to Tasnim news agency.
Abbas Aliabadi added that studies were also underway to link Iran's power grid with those of other Gulf countries.
Oil prices extended losses on Tuesday, as markets weighed prospects for a resumption of supply through the key Strait of Hormuz against shaky physical market drivers and a lack of details from a preliminary deal to end the Iran war.
By 0631 GMT, Brent crude futures were down 45 cents, or 0.5%, at $82.72 a barrel, and U.S. West Texas Intermediate was down 24 cents, or 0.3%, at $80.51 a barrel.
On Monday, oil prices fell nearly 5% to their lowest close since 4 March, after U.S. President Donald Trump said a memorandum of understanding was signed to end the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran, though full details have not been made public.
U.S. Senate leaders from both parties called on the Trump administration to provide comprehensive details and a formal briefing regarding the newly announced peace agreement with Iran.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune said he does not yet possess enough information to make a judgment about the deal.
“I don’t know enough about it to say” whether it is a good agreement or not, the South Dakota Republican told reporters. He urged the administration to send officials to Capitol Hill to inform lawmakers of the specifics before the scheduled signing on Friday.
The United Nations' human rights chief on Monday welcomed the peace deal between the United States and Iran, urging maximum restraint on all sides so a lasting agreement could be reached.
U.S. and Iranian officials said they had reached an agreement to end their war, a preliminary pact that sent oil prices falling but leaves the fate of Tehran's nuclear program to further negotiations.
"I welcome the announcement that the United States and Iran have agreed on a peace deal that provides for an immediate and permanent ceasefire, the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, and a framework for further negotiations," UN rights chief Volker Türk said
President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social that Iran has agreed 'to never have a Nuclear Weapon!' He dismissed claims that the U.S. is paying $300 million as fake news, clarifying that the agreement involves a $300 billion reconstruction fund funded by Gulf states.
The preliminary deal, signed ahead of the G7 summit, would extend the ceasefire by 60 days and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, with a formal signing planned in Geneva.
Shipowners will not resume transit through the Strait of Hormuz for weeks until they are confident that the U.S.-Iran deal is "material", the chief executive of Japan's Mitsui told the Financial Times.
"What will have to come in place is not just a simple agreement between the relevant countries, but it has to be material and translated into the real situations in the Strait of Hormuz, so that shipping lines can make themselves comfortable to go through," Mitsui OSK's Jotaro Tamura said.
A group of 17 countries on Monday welcomed the memorandum of understanding announced between the U.S. and Iran, describing it as an opportunity to restore regional stability and support the global economy.
“This is a moment of opportunity to restore regional stability and stabilise the global economy,” a joint statement by the UK, France, Germany and Italy read. The statement was later signed by 13 other countries.
U.S. Vice President Vance told NBC News in an interview that nuclear inspectors will "absolutely" be allowed to return to Iran as part of a deal with the U.S. to end the war between the two countries.
“In fact, one of the core parts of the agreement is that the (International Atomic Energy Agency) and the United States are going to help Iran destroy the highly enriched stockpile, and that’s something that’s spelled out very clearly” in the memorandum of understanding the U.S. and Iran have already agreed to, NBC quoted Vance saying.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance told Fox News on Monday that U.S. President Donald Trump may decide to release Washington's agreement with Tehran before Friday.
The agreement, which was electronically signed by leaders in the U.S. and Iran, is expected to be signed in person on Friday.
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Slovak President Peter Pellegrini says cooperation with Azerbaijan is moving beyond formal diplomacy, with new opportunities emerging in energy, defence, cybersecurity, trade and education.
Uzbekistan will establish an intermodal logistics centre in Belarus before the end of 2026 and launch more than $100 million worth of new regional investment projects as the two countries accelerate implementation of their newly established strategic partnership.
The U.S. military announced that it has completed a new wave of strikes against Iranian military targets under U.S. President Donald Trump's orders. The operation targeted command centres, air defence systems, missile and drone facilities, and coastal surveillance sites across multiple locations.
U.S. President Donald Trump announced the reimposition of a U.S. naval blockade on all Iranian ports and warned that power plants and bridges could be targeted next week unless Tehran returns to negotiations.
The United States carried out a third consecutive night of airstrikes against Iran, targeting military capabilities around the Strait of Hormuz as Donald Trump announced the reinstatement of a blockade on Iranian shipping and proposed a 20% fee on cargo passing through the strategic waterway.
The U.S. military announced that it has completed a new wave of strikes against Iranian military targets under U.S. President Donald Trump's orders. The operation targeted command centres, air defence systems, missile and drone facilities, and coastal surveillance sites across multiple locations.
The death toll from the fire at a live music pub in Bangkok has climbed to 32 after two more victims died from their injuries, according to Thailand's Police Hospital.
Ukraine and Russia exchanged fresh attacks on Tuesday, with Kyiv targeting shipping and energy infrastructure inside Russia while Moscow launched another large-scale missile and drone assault on Ukrainian cities.
The U.S. military announced that it has completed a new wave of strikes against Iranian military targets under U.S. President Donald Trump's orders. The operation targeted command centres, air defence systems, missile and drone facilities, and coastal surveillance sites across multiple locations.
The U.S. has launched fresh strikes on Iran after Tehran targeted a container ship and said it had again closed the Strait of Hormuz. Iran also claimed to have expanded attacks on U.S. military facilities across the Gulf.
Iran's Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, has promised to avenge the killing of his father, while U.S. President Donald Trump said Tehran and Washington had agreed to continue talks despite an escalation of hostilities this week.
Iran planned to assassinate U.S. President Donald Trump, according to intelligence shared with Washington by Israel, the Wall Street Journal has reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
The U.S. military said on Wednesday it launched fresh strikes on Iran to keep the Strait of Hormuz open to shipping, triggering Iranian attacks on Kuwait and Bahrain in the latest escalation to derail efforts to end the war.
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