Iran-US war latest: Trump and Iranian leader sign peace deal as Tehran vows to charge Strait of Hormuz fees

Donald Trump and his Iranian counterpart signed the interim deal to end the war on Wednesday amid growing scrutiny from his base over the terms of the controversial 14-point agreement.

The president inked the early-stage deal during his tour of the Versailles palace in France on Wednesday evening, after threatening to resume attacks and kill Iranian officials if they failed to honour their commitments.

Trump confirmed the historic moment as he left a subsequent dinner with French president Emmanuel Macron. “It’s signed, yeah,” Trump told reporters casually. “I signed it in Versailles.”

The details of the US memorandum of understanding with Iran, which included ending the war and reopening the Strait of Hormuz, were earlier released by US officials, as Trump claimed to have saved the world from a major economic downturn.

Louisiana senator Bill Cassidy was among Republicans critical of the deal, saying on Wednesday that “Reagan is rolling over in his grave” and describing the MoU as “the worst foreign policy blunder in decades”.Analysis: Why Trump’s Iran deal is little more than a shopping list of capitulations

There are gaping holes in the 14-point US deal with Iran in which some of the trickiest sticking points have not been addressed, writes chief international correspondent Bel Trew:

James Reynolds18 June 2026 08:23Trump's former VP says Iran deal 'smacks of appeasement'

Mike Pence, who was Trump’s vice president during his first term, acknowledged the Memorandum of Understanding “does smack of the kind of appeasement that our administration rejected in the Obama-Iran nuclear deal”.

“I would urge the President to take a step back, continue the blockade and pursue a negotiated settlement that commits Iran to dismantling their nuclear program, dismantling this missile program, ends support for terrorist proxies and opens the strait.

“Failing that, we should let our Armed Forces finish the job on our terms,” he wrote on social media.

Mike Pence, pictured in Washington on Wednesday, said the deal "smacks of" appeasement (Getty)

James Reynolds18 June 2026 08:22German growth hit by Iran war energy shock, IMK says

Germany's economy will grow less than previously expected this year and next as the Iran war and a resulting energy price shock weigh on consumption and investment, the IMK economic institute said on Thursday.

The Macroeconomic Policy Institute (IMK) forecast gross domestic product would expand by 0.6% in 2026 and 0.9% in 2027, cutting its March projections by 0.3 and 0.7 percentage points respectively.

IMK said the outlook assumed the conflict would not escalate further, energy shipments through the Strait of Hormuz would normalise later this year and oil and gas infrastructure in Gulf states would not suffer substantial additional damage.

Inflation is expected to average 2.8% in 2026, higher than previously assumed, before easing to 2.3% in 2027.

The Swiss government says the plan at present is still for the US and Iran, along with Pakistan, Qatar and other involved countries, to meet at Burgenstock on Friday for initial talks on implementing the peace agreement.

James Reynolds18 June 2026 07:45Germany deploys ship to Red Sea for possible Hormuz mission

Germany is deploying two ships to the Red Sea in preparation for a possible military mission in the Strait of Hormuz, Germany's Defence minister Boris Pistorius said on Thursday.

"As we speak, our minesweeper Fulda and the supply ship Mosel are sailing through the Suez Canal towards the Red Sea," he told reporters as he arrived for a meeting with his NATO counterparts in Brussels.

Pistorius said approval would be needed from Iran and Oman before any participation in a minesweeping operation, and added any mission would also depend on the developments in further talks between Iran and the United States.

James Reynolds18 June 2026 07:15Catch up: Read Trump’s 14 point Iran peace deal in full after US announces signing of agreement

Nearly four months after the U.S. started its war with Iran, Donald Trump has signed a long-awaited deal to end the war, restore global shipping and resolve an abiding dispute over Tehran’s nuclear programme.

Details of a 14 point plan were previously released by US officials, with an official signing ceremony expected to take place in Switzerland on Friday. However, it emerged on Wednesday evening that it had already been signed by the US president and his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian.

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson said any further Israeli attacks on Lebanon would be considered a breach of the terms of the deal. With Israel having continued its strikes on the country’s south, there remain concerns the deal could still fall apart.

James Reynolds18 June 2026 07:12Vance argues Iran is not a quagmire like the Iraq war

In interviews this week, JD Vance has sought to speak directly to the skeptics in his party, a preview of the difficult explanations he may be pressed to make as a candidate on the war.

On Megyn Kelly's show, the vice president said the critics “believe Iranian propaganda” about the deal. But he acknowledged some of the frustrations on the hawkish right while trying to reassure the anti-interventionists that the Iran conflict isn't the war in Iraq, where he served as a Marine.

Residents swim in the waters of the Strait of Hormuz as a small motorboat passes cargo ships and other commercial vessels offshore near Bandar Abbas, Iran, Wednesday, 17 June 2026 (AP)

“We were never going to get the quagmire that a lot of people were worrying about because Donald Trump is just not George W Bush,” he said.

Democrats have stressed that even as Vance becomes the face of the Iran deal, the fate of any administration official who harbors presidential aspirations — particularly hawkish Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has largely been quiet in the agreement's final phases — will be tied to its outcome.

“I think any member of this administration is going to rise or fall on the basis of the Iran war and the handling of the economy, and I don’t think there are exceptions,” said Senator Brian Schatz.

Namita Singh18 June 2026 06:59Criticism of Iran deal continues to build in US after text is released

Backlash against the US-Iran peace deal, including from conservatives, began growing this week after the US digitally signed the memorandum of understanding with Iran on Sunday.

Luke Schroeder, a spokesperson for vice president JD Vance, said in a statement: “It’s unfortunate that some Republicans are attempting to undermine the President’s efforts to achieve peace in the Middle East and ensure Iran never has a nuclear weapon.”

Officials gave shifting answers about when they would release the text, but leaked copies of a draft were quickly met with anger and scepticism from Democratic and Republican lawmakers, as well as Israel and pro-Israel advocates.

Their criticisms included concerns that the deal, meant to open a two-month negotiating period, seemed to offer Iran wins up front while guaranteeing little in return, and that Trump’s stated reason for launching the conflict, to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, remains unresolved.

In response to the backlash and mounting questions, the US on Wednesday provided the text of the agreement to journalists.

The agreement states that Iran's stockpile of highly enriched uranium, which is believed to be buried under rubble, must at minimum be diluted under international supervision. It also states that Iran shall not procure or develop nuclear weapons – a commitment it has made previously.

But beyond stating that the US and Iran will negotiate over Iran's nuclear program, other commitments still need to be worked out.

Criticism on the right persisted after the text was released.

Conservative radio host Erick Erickson, a hawk who has defended the war, said: “This is an American surrender.”

Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz, a potential 2028 presidential candidate, criticised the agreement and said to reporters: “I think the president, unfortunately, is receiving bad advice.”

Namita Singh18 June 2026 06:36Vance becomes the face of Trump's tentative deal to end war with Iran

JD Vance was supposed to be spending the week promoting his new book, the kind of event a potential presidential candidate like the vice president typically uses to speak to a wide audience about his life and values ahead of a campaign.

Instead, the rollout of Vance’s second book, Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith, has been largely crowded out by something else he’s put his name on: the tentative deal to end the Iran war.

The Republican vice president has embraced the role of chief defender of the agreement he and President Donald Trump signed with Tehran, giving a series of interviews touting the memorandum of understanding as a success and releasing a video championing it.

It’s a striking emergence for a politician who was known for his skepticism of foreign military interventions and who seemed reluctant to speak on the conflict when Trump launched it in late February.

The vice president is poised to yoke himself further to the conflict’s outcome on Friday, when he’s expected to travel to Switzerland to kick off a new phase of negotiations with Iran. He was originally expected to attend a formal signing ceremony for the deal, but Trump formally signed it on Wednesday instead.

Vance becoming a hype man for the agreement seems to be an all-in gamble that, should he decide to seek the White House in 2028, voters will reward him for being the face of ending an unpopular conflict.

It’s also setting Vance up as the presumptive fall-guy should the deal with Iran falter.

Trump joked about such a possibility on Wednesday.

“If it works out, I’m going to take the credit. If it doesn’t work out, I’m blaming JD,” Trump said.

Namita Singh18 June 2026 06:14Trump jokes he will blame Vance if Iran deal fails

Donald Trump suggested he would blame vice president JD Vance if the Iran peace deal failed.

Asked about the possibility of blaming Vance if the deal fails, Trump replied: "I like that idea, sure."

"This way, if it works out, I'm going to take the credit. If it doesn't work out, I'm blaming JD," the president continued.

"You better be careful, JD," he said.

Vance has become a leading administration voice promoting the initial agreement to end the war in Iran, even as Trump has occasionally contradicted facets of the agreement that Vance has announced publicly.

Alisha Rahaman Sarkar18 June 2026 04:45