TOP STORIES
US and Iran Dispute Whether Tehran Has Agreed to Nuclear Inspections | Associated Press
“The U.S. and Iran were in dispute Tuesday over whether Tehran had agreed to allow U.N. inspections of its nuclear sites. . . . a spokesperson for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, Esmail Baghaei, told reporters in Tehran that U.N. inspectors were not scheduled to examine nuclear sites bombed by the U.S. last year, rejecting comments made a day before by U.S. Vice President JD Vance. President Donald Trump told reporters Tuesday that if Iran had not agreed to inspections, he would cut off talks with Tehran immediately. But he added there was no rush for those inspections to begin.”
Trump Agrees to Allow Iran to Access $6bn of Frozen Funds to Buy US Goods | Financial Times
“The Trump administration has agreed to allow Iran to begin accessing $6bn of its oil money held in Qatar to buy American products, following the first round of high-level talks between the adversaries since they agreed to extend their ceasefire. In post on Truth Social on Tuesday, Donald Trump said that funds released by Washington would be ‘used for the purchase of food and medical supplies, exclusively from the United States.’ . . . A person briefed on the talks between the US and Iran said the $6bn would be released in phases, depending on the progress of future talks.”
“A former Australian resident living in Iraq directed the attack on Melbourne Adass Israel Synagogue in December 2024, the head of ASIO Mike Burgess reveals. Burgess says Iran, which was behind the attack, recruited the man through a ‘complex web of Iraqi-based militia groups.’ ‘Valuing his high wealth and criminal connections, the IRGC [The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] protected him and supported his illegal enterprises.’ Burgess gives the details while delivering his Annual Threat Assessment speech. He also says an Iran-based Australian citizen orchestrated the firebombing of the Lewis Continental Kitchen in Bondi in October 2024, which was the ‘the first major attack in the summer of antisemitism.’ ‘This person is a senior agent of the IRGC Quds Force, running its networks around the world.”
UANI IN THE NEWS
Dozens of Ships Head Through Strait of Hormuz After US-Iran Deal | BBC News
“At least 30 tankers have departed from the Gulf laden with Iranian oil and petrochemicals since the deal was agreed, according to Jemima Shelley, a senior research analyst at the United Against Nuclear Iran campaign and monitoring group. . . . ‘We saw tankers passing along the southern corridor at the end of last week and then when Iran declared the strait closed again on Saturday 20 June the transits stalled,’ said Shelley. ‘There has been some resumption of tankers passing today but still only a trickle,’ she added.”
Trump Insists Iran Agreed to Nuclear Inspections into Infinity | The Nation (Pakistan)
“US President Donald Trump insisted Tuesday that Iran had agreed to the ‘highest level nuclear inspections’ in perpetuity, even after Tehran said nothing had changed in its cooperation with the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog. . . . At least 30 tankers have departed from the Gulf laden with Iranian oil and petrochemicals since the deal was agreed, according to Jemima Shelley, a senior research analyst at the United Against Nuclear Iran campaign and monitoring group.”
China Is Luring the World to the Yuan—and Hobbling Western Sanctions | Wall Street Journal
Photo caption: “Two tankers made a transfer of Iranian oil off the Malaysian coast last year. UNITED AGAINST NUCLEAR IRAN/AP”
DIPLOMACY
Trump Keeps Claiming Iran Made Concessions. Iran Keeps Denying Them | CNN
“Ever since releasing a memorandum of understanding last week that appeared heavily slanted toward Iran, the Trump administration has kept claiming Tehran agreed to other major concessions in ongoing negotiations. The problem is that none of them appeared in the MOU—and Iran keeps denying them. And given the Trump administration’s own demonstrated credibility problems, it’s not at all clear whom to trust.”
“The head of the U.N.'s nuclear agency signaled Wednesday that Iranian nuclear enrichment sites would be visited by his inspectors, a key component in the interim U.S.-Iran to reach an end to the war. But an Iranian diplomat promptly rejected this, saying such a visit can only come after a final deal—a denial that highlighted the precariousness of the ongoing negotiations.
‘Lipstick on a Very Ugly Pig’: Inside Vance’s Hard Sell on Iran | MS NOW
“One White House official, who was granted anonymity to speak openly about internal dynamics, said Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the nation’s top diplomat, avoided becoming the face of the deal because he understood how unlikely it was to succeed. [Vice President JD] Vance, by contrast, believes a triumphant deal with Iran is not out of reach, the official told MS NOW. . . . [A] former senior [Trump administration] official called the interim MOU that Trump and Vance are defending a ‘complete capitulation’ to Iran and dismissed Trump’s praise of it. ‘That’s just salesmanship,’ the official said. ‘That’s putting lipstick on a very ugly pig.’”
Lebanon Demands Israeli Withdrawal as Fifth Round of US-Mediated Talks Begins | The National
“Lebanon and Israel launched their latest round of US-mediated talks on Tuesday, amid deep divisions over the neighbouring countries' expectations for the next steps. . . . Lebanese President Joseph Aoun spoke out against Israel's continuing occupation of the south and foreign influence in his country. . . . But Israel’s ambassador to the US, Michael Leiter, warned that the talks were at risk of disaster. Israel has repeatedly said that its troops would remain in Lebanon until Hezbollah is defeated. ‘This is the fifth round of talks, and I must say—we are heading toward a train wreck,” he said in his opening remarks. ‘Four rounds ago, we all boarded the same train. We sat in the same carriage and set out towards the same destination, with the United States serving as the locomotive pulling us forward . . . Today, that train is in danger of derailing. I hope we can get it back on track.’ He said Israel had been negotiating under the basic assumption that Iran was out of the picture, ‘and that the central issue was Lebanon and Hezbollah—not the extent to which Iran could restrain Hezbollah.’”
Rubio Starts Middle East Trip as Gulf Allies Sceptical About Iran Deal Seek Answers | Reuters
“U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio held talks with top United Arab Emirates officials on Wednesday on a Middle East tour, seeking to reassure Gulf allies who view a proposed Iran peace deal as too soft on a state that attacked them in the war. . . . U.S. regional allies are especially concerned that Iran could use the proposed $300 billion reconstruction fund to rebuild its military. The accord also does not address Tehran's ballistic missile capacity, a concern for Gulf states, all of which were struck by Iranian missiles and drones in the war.”
“Qatar’s prime minister said establishing a hotline between the US and Iran is essential to prevent rogue actors impeding the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, as he predicted that the Gulf state would resume normal liquefied natural gas production ‘within a few weeks.’ Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani told the FT that the hotline agreed by the warring parties at their talks in Switzerland was needed to counter ‘disinformation’ and ensure co-ordination while mines were cleared from the crucial waterway. A challenge, he said, was that “anyone who just wants to mess around” could use shipping communications to warn vessels: ‘‘Go back, we are going to fire, we are the IRGC [Iran’s Revolutionary Guards].’”
MILITARY MATTERS & STRAIT OF HORMUZ SITUATION
Iranian Oil Is Moving Again, but Getting Through the Strait Is Complicated | New York Times
“Since the United States lifted its naval blockade on Iran last week, the Strait of Hormuz, a critical shipping route for crude oil, has seen a notable increase in the movement of ships, many of them carrying Iranian oil. . . . The strait’s central route, long used by commercial ships, is laden with mines, forcing companies to take one of two alternative paths: the southern route close to the Omani coast or the northern route close to the Iranian shoreline. From Saturday through Monday, 109 vessels passed through the strait, the largest three-day number since the war started in late February, according to Kpler, a global maritime data firm. Traffic is a fraction of the more than 130 vessels that transited the strait every day before the start of the war. A backlog of 500 to 600 ships remained, according to the International Maritime Organization. The overall picture of shipping conditions in the region’s waters is incomplete. Ships have transited the strait with their transponders off, making them difficult to track.”
“Iran is, bit by bit, moving toward eventually charging tolls in the Strait of Hormuz, with a notable step forward this week. In an unusual joint statement from Iran and Oman, the two nations said they met to emphasize ‘their sovereignty and sovereign rights over their territorial waters in the Strait of Hormuz,’ and that the conversation also touched on’"services that will be provided in this regard and the costs associated with them in accordance with international standards.’”
Trump Claims Iran Has Assured U.S. There Won’t Be Tolls on the Strait of Hormuz | CNBC
“President Donald Trump said Wednesday that Iran had informed him there would be no tolls, insurance costs, or charges of any kind for ships looking to pass through the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz.”
Rubio Insists Strait of Hormuz Will Be Toll-Free as He Arrives for Gulf Meeting | Guardian
“The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, has said no country, including Iran, would be allowed to charge tolls for shipping in the strait of Hormuz as he sought to reassure US allies in the Gulf that Washington would take a firm line in peace negotiations with Tehran.”
NATO Chief Reveals Italy Allowed Us Planes to Use Bases in Iran War | Financial Times
“Nato chief Mark Rutte has thrown [Italian Prime Minister] Giorgia Meloni into a fresh political storm by revealing that Rome allowed ‘500 US planes’ to take off from bases in Italy as part of the US-Israeli bombing of Iran. President Donald Trump is furious with several European allies—including the Italian prime minister—over what he claims is their failure to provide sufficient support in the Middle East war. But ahead of a meeting with Trump in Washington on Wednesday, Rutte pushed back against those claims, saying European Nato members such as Italy had quietly allowed the use of their bases, even if they avoided making a public show of it for domestic political reasons. ‘Country after country, ally after ally after ally have made their bases available for Epic Fury,’ Rutte told Fox News, suggesting that 4,000 to 5,000 planes had taken off from European bases as part of what Washington has dubbed Operation Epic Fury.”
SANCTIONS, BUSINESS RISKS & OTHER ECONOMIC NEWS
U.S. Treasury Will Oversee Frozen Iranian Funds When They’re Released, Bessent Says | CNBC
“The Treasury Department will oversee Iranian funds when they are released under President Donald Trump’s interim Iran agreement, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Wednesday . . . ‘A very large percentage of it will go to buy U.S. foodstuffs and medicines,’ Bessent said.”
CONGRESS & IRAN
Senate Joins House in Calling for Stop to US War on Iran | Roll Call
“The Senate voted on Tuesday to adopt a House-approved war powers resolution calling for a halt to any additional military action against Iran that Congress has not authorized. The Senate voted 50-48 to adopt a concurrent resolution by Rep. Gregory W. Meeks, D-N.Y., that the House had adopted by a 215-208 margin earlier this month.”
Trump’s Iran Endgame Grates on Hill Republicans | Politico
“The White House would prefer Congress handle the Iran war’s endgame something like this: Pony up, and don’t ask too many questions. That approach is grating on many congressional Republicans, who are chafing at the idea that President Donald Trump’s administration is asking for hundreds of billions of dollars in fresh military funding without briefing most of Congress on the cease-fire agreement Trump signed last week.”
MISCELLANEOUS
U.S. Loosens Iran’s Travel Restrictions for Next World Cup Match | Axios
“The Iranian soccer team will be allowed to travel to the U.S. two days before its next World Cup match in Seattle. . . . There are strict travel restrictions on the Iranian delegation during the tournament, which is co-hosted by the U.S. For Iran’s first two matches in Los Angeles, Iranian players were allowed to enter the U.S. the day before they played each match, White House FIFA Task Force executive director Andrew Giuliani told AP last week. That represented a softening of the initial policy, which would have required Iran to fly to the U.S. on the same day as they played.”