Smoke rises from an Israeli strike on Marjayoun near Nabatieh in southern Lebanon, June 19, 2026 (AFP)
EA on DW News: Trump Fails in His War on Iran
UPDATES: US-Israel Wars, Day 113 — Trump Concedes Failure By Signing Iran Memo
UPDATE 1915 GMT:
The US-Iran talks in Switzerland are reportedly running into trouble.
Iranian officials have told State media that their delegation left the negotiation venue in protest over Donald Trump’s threats on social media (see 1402 GMT).
A diplomat denied the claim, “The Iranians haven’t left and the talks between them and the US are continuing.”
Another Iranian official said talks have been paused but not ended.
Earlier, a “senior US official” accused the Iranians of backing out of a press conference at the beginning of the meeting.
They even brought state media with them to cover it, who were pre-staged at the event. Despite this, they left the meeting upon seeing the volume of press in attendance and then distributed an inaccurate account of the situation through state media.
The Iranians said they rejected a US request for a joint photo opportunity and a public handshake.
UPDATE 1700 GMT:
A former member of Iran’s negotiating team claimed on State TV that he saw secret correspondence from Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei declaring that current negotiators have overstepped their mandate.
Mahmoud Nabavian, the deputy chair of Iran’s national security council, was a member of the Iranian team in talks with the US in Islamabad in mid-April.
He claimed Khamenei wrote, “What was agreed upon in the Pakistan talks is completely different from what was supposed to happen and was a condition for the legitimacy of the talks, and the talks must be stopped.”
His interview was ended abruptly. An hour later, the archive of the interview was removed and a senior official at the broadcaster resigned.
A spokesperson for the negotiating team said Nabavian’s claim was old and distorted.
In a letter to President Masoud Pezeshkian, published on Thursday, Khamenei said he took a different view on the outcome of the talks to the president but had deferred to his judgment on certain conditions.
UPDATE 1650 GMT:
Iran State TV reports a pause in discussions in Switzerland.
“No negotiations regarding Iran’s nuclear program took place during the 80-minute first round of talks,” the broadcaster said. It said the focus was on implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding and the situation in Lebanon.
UPDATE 1402 GMT:
Donald Trump has struck a very different tone than J.D. Vance, bellowing on social media, “Iran must immediately stop their highly paid PROXIES in Lebanon from causing trouble. If they don’t, we’ll hit Iran very hard again, just like we did last week, only harder!”
"We'll take over the rest of your country … I'll blow the shit out of them" — here is Trey Yingst's entire segment about the bonkers phone call he says he had with Trump this morning that apparently included threats to assassinate Iran's leadership, impose draconian US tolls… pic.twitter.com/RLi9bos14Q
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) June 21, 2026
Iran Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, leading Tehran’s negotiators in Switzerland, responded:
Don’t they think that if their threats had any effect, they would not have reached today’s state of desperation? We do not take American threats into account.
They would do better to be careful with their statements; our armed forces are ready to respond to them in a different manner. No matter what they say, we are the ones who act.
UPDATE 1329 GMT:
US Vice President J.D. Vance has declared that “great progress” has been made in talks with Iran in Switzerland.
Vance told reporters that he could see a future where everyone “can work together to promote peace and prosperity”. He said the Trump Administration is committed to a complete ceasefire across the region, but admitted that pauses in the wars are “a little bit messy”.
He said technical negotiations may not solve every disagreement but “allow us to sit together as teams for the first time in history”.
Vance effused, “Outside the last few months, never before have the Iranian and American leadership met at such a high level.”
The Iranian delegation is led by Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. Central Bank Governor Abdolnasser Hemmati, Deputy Oil Minister Hamid Boord, and former chief nuclear negotiator Ali Bakri are also attending.
UPDATE 0608 GMT:
Five Lebanese have been killed by an Israeli raid on the village of Sohmor in the western Bekaa Valley. Among them are a child, a woman, and two elderly people.
Two people of Palestinian nationality were killed in the Tyre district in southern Lebanon.
UPDATE 0602 GMT:
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich says Israel will occupy part of southern Lebanon for years to come, and will not withdraw even in the face of a US demand.
Smotrich assesses that no American demand will be made, because “they understand our red lines”.
Asked if Israel should be establishing army posts and bases in southern Lebanon, the Minister replied: “Everything, definitely. We are there until Hezbollah disarms, and I think also beyond that, because we need defendable borders.”
UPDATE 0557 GMT:
US Vice President J.D. Vance has arrived in Switzerland to take part in negotiations with Iran over the Memorandum of Understanding to end the US-Israel Wars.
“I can only be there for a day or two,” Vance said on Saturday evening before departing Joint Base Andrews in Maryland. “I think we’re going to hopefully make progress on the nuclear issue, make progress on the Lebanon ceasefire issue.”
A diplomat says the Israeli attacks in Lebanon will be the first item on the agenda.
UPDATE 0550 GMT:
US Central Command has denied that Iran again closed the Strait of Hormuz.
A spokesperson maintained, “Iran does not control the Strait of Hormuz. Traffic continues to flow, and US forces are monitoring the situation to ensure this remains the case.”
UPDATE 1530 GMT:
The Israeli military has reportedly been ordered by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz to “hold its fire” in southern Lebanon.
The instruction came after “coordination between the political echelon and the United States”.
But a “senior official” said Netanyahu emphasized that Israel will remain in southern Lebanon “for as long as necessary to defend its northern border. He “instructed the IDF to respond forcefully to any Hezbollah attack and to act to remove threats against our forces”.
UPDATE 1448 GMT:
Iran’s Foreign Ministry says Tehran will send a delegation to talks with the US in Switzerland on Sunday.
Pakistani and Qatari mediators will also be involved.
UPDATE 1422 GMT:
Iran’s Central Military Command says it has again closed the ]Strait of Hormuz because of Israel’s attacks in Lebanon.
It is noted that this first step is a response to the enemy’s breach of promise, and if the aggression continues, further steps will be planned and taken to force the enemy to comply with its obligations.
US Vice President J.D. Vance has insisted that there is no evidence that Iran has shut the waterway.
UPDATE 1111 GMT:
At least 23 people have been killed and 25 injured by Israeli strikes on the Nabatieh and Sidon districts in southern Lebanon.
In the latest mass killing, seven people were slain and 13 wounded by an Israeli airstrike on the town of Qennarit, near Sidon.
Lebanese civil defense said personnel have been working “since the early morning hours” in response to “ongoing attacks targeting the area”.
UPDATE 0641 GMT:
The US and Qatar are reportedly developing a plan to release billions of dollars in frozen funds to Iran for humanitarian projects.
Tehran would initially be able to unfreeze $6 billion held in Qatar, transferred under international supervision. Iran’s Central Bank can order food, medicine and other humanitarian goods with the funds.
The plan is in its early stages and has not been accepted by Iran.
UPDATE 0545 GMT:
Defying the supposed ceasefire with Hezbollah, Israel killed at least five people in an airstrike near the town of Arabsalim in southern Lebanon on Saturday morning.
Israeli warplanes and drones carried out strikes across the Nabatieh area overnight and into the morning, destroying residential buildings and houses. Israeli artillery shelled Nabatieh and its outskirts before dawn.
ORIGINAL ENTRY: Israel and Hezbollah agreed a tentative ceasefire after Israeli attacks on southern Lebanon postponed US-Iran talks in Switzerland.
Two Hezbollah officials confirmed the group would halt attacks. The Israeli Ambassador to the US, Yechiel Leiter, posted, “Israel remains firmly committed to an immediate ceasefire. If Hezbollah honours the agreement and ceases its hostilities, they will be met with quiet.”
The ceasefire, at 4 p.m. local time (1300 GMT), came on the second-deadliest day in the Israel War on Lebanon. At least 47 people were killed and 97 injured by Israeli attacks in the south and in the Bekaa Valley in the east. Four Israeli soldiers, including a lieutenant colonel, were killed and five were injured by Hezbollah drone strikes on the frontline of Israel’s advance near Nabatieh.
At least 18 people were slain and 33 wounded in the Nabatieh area.
Iran pulled out of Friday’s talks to negotiate the terms ending the US war because of the attacks. Tehran’s postponement came as staff of Vice President J.D. Vance, who was supposed to lead the American delegation, and journalists were on the runway at Joint Base Andrews outside Washington. Other US officials and journalists were already at the Swiss resort.
Donald Trump’s envoys, real estate developer Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner, will now meet the Iranians. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will reportedly head Tehran’s delegation, but that is subject to change.
