TEHRAN
\nThe first tankers carrying Iranian oil exited a US blockade in the Strait of Hormuz, a tracking website said on Wednesday, two days before Washington and Tehran launch talks on an agreed peace deal still scant on details \u2014 including Iran\u2019s nuclear programme and the lifting of sanctions.
\nThe talks on a final settlement are set to begin Friday at Switzerland\u2019s Burgenstock mountain resort, as news that the Hormuz Strait will reopen sent world oil prices tumbling. Optimism that the war triggered by the February 28 US-Israeli strikes on Tehran might be coming to an end was dented, however, by fresh Israeli strikes on south Lebanon.
\nThe TankerTrackers website, which monitors oil shipments and storage, marked Iran\u2019s \u201cfirst crude oil exports in two months\u201d, citing digital tracking data corroborated by satellite imagery.
\n\u201cAt least two National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC) VLCC supertankers named Diona and Hero2 have exited the US Navy blockade perimeter carrying a combined total of 3.8 million barrels of Iranian crude oil between them,\u201d TankerTrackers said on X, later adding that a third tanker had exited.
\nLater, a third Iranian crude oil tanker, Suezmax, also exited the blockade line with one million barrels of oil. Negotiations over a final deal are to start immediately after the Swiss signing ceremony and continue during a 60-day window, leading to decisions on the fate of Iran\u2019s nuclear programme and a plan for the lifting of international economic sanctions, officials said.
\nThe United States will allow Iran to immediately begin selling oil and fuel under the deal to end the war, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, citing unnamed people familiar with the agreement.
\nA waiver of sanctions on oil sales will take effect immediately after the signing, the Journal added, also covering services such as banking, transportation and insurance. Vessels at the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, June 15, 2026.\u2014 Reuters
\nSome conservatives have expressed concern over the peace deal, with Senate Republicans reportedly requesting the text of the agreement and briefings from the Trump administration.
\n\u201cLet\u2019s look at it and see what it actually is,\u201d Senate Majority Leader John Thune was quoted as saying in the Journal.
\nDespite the deal announcement, the Israeli military said it conducted a strike in south Lebanon after it \u201cidentified a suspicious vehicle\u201d near where its soldiers were operating, and its forces intercepted rockets and carried out an air strike against a launcher.
\nIran\u2019s central military command warned Israel should \u201cawait a harsh response\u201d to the strikes, which Lebanon\u2019s state news agency said targeted two vehicles in the town of Mayfadoun and another in nearby Shukeen, killing four.
\nAccording to a senior US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, the framework agreement has already been signed electronically by President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, Iran\u2019s deputy foreign minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi and top negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
TEHRAN The first tankers carrying Iranian oil exited a US blockade in the Strait of Hormuz, a tracking website said on Wednesday, two days before Washington and Tehran launch talks on an agreed peace deal still scant on details \u2014 including Iran\u2019s nuclear programme and the lifting of sanctions. The talks on a final settlement […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":551649,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-551638","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n