US-Iran peace deal LIVE: No US-Iran peace talks in Geneva today; Pentagon seeks $80 billion for war bills

US-Iran peace deal LIVE: US President Donald Trump on Thursday said the deal with Iran to end the war was a “victory” for the United States, rejecting mounting criticism including from some in his own Republican party.

“There is no 300 Billion Dollar payment to Iran by the U.S. That’s Fake News! All there is for the U.S. is Success, Lower Oil Prices, and Victory. Check out the Stock Market. Dumocrat propaganda at play!!!” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social network.

US-Iran peace deal LIVE: Iran is expected to gain access to $6 billion in oil income held in Qatar under the interim agreement with the United States, the Financial Times reported.

The newspaper said the money would be made available in stages over the 60-day negotiating period and could only be used to buy humanitarian supplies and other goods from the US that are not covered by sanctions.

According to the report, the arrangement is designed to offer Tehran limited economic relief while maintaining tight controls on how the funds are used.

US-Iran peace deal LIVE: The United States department of defense requires $80 billion to cover expenses linked to the Iran war as well as other costs unrelated to the conflict, deputy defense secretary Stephen Feinberg told lawmakers during phone calls this week, the Wall Street Journal said on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter.

US-Iran peace deal LIVE: Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Yechiel Leiter, said Israel remains committed to its ceasefire arrangement with Lebanon after US President Donald Trump urged both sides to honour the truce laid out in the memorandum of understanding signed by Washington and Tehran earlier this week.

“Israel remains committed to the ceasefire agreement reached between Israel, Lebanon and the US. If Hezbollah does not violate the agreement, it will be kept,” Leiter wrote on X.

“Under all circumstances, Israel retains its right to respond to attacks against it and to thwart threats to its territory, citizens and soldiers,” he added.

US-Iran peace deal LIVE: Oil prices were set for a sharp weekly decline as the interim peace agreement between the United States and Iran allowed shipping through the Strait of Hormuz to gradually return to normal, easing what had become the biggest supply disruption in the history of the global crude market.

Global benchmark Brent crude slipped towards $79 a barrel and was down about 9% for the week, while August delivery West Texas Intermediate traded near $75.

Tankers carrying oil that had been stranded have started moving out of the waterway, while Kuwait said it would begin increasing production again.

(Inputs from Bloomberg)

US-Iran deal LIVE: Dollowing the signing of a 14-point Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the United States and Iran, US President Donald Trump said that Washington expects “complete ceasefire” between Hezbollah and Israel.

“The United States is committed to PEACE, and we encourage everyone in the Middle East Region to maintain their commitment to allowing our negotiations to beautifully unfold. The Markets are loving what is happening with Oil Prices way down, and Stocks way up. We expect a complete Ceasefire on all fronts, including Lebanon, Hezbollah, and Israel. Thank you for your attention to this matter!” Trump wrote.

US-Iran deal LIVE: US vice president JD Vance defended the existence of a “gentlemen’s agreements” with Iran about how it handles it uranium stockpiles and nuclear ambitions.

“So some of them are written down, but fundamentally, whether they’re written down or spoken, this is why we structured the deal that we did, because we don’t trust words,” Vance said at the White House briefing. “We trust action and we trust conduct.”

US-Iran deal LIVE: Oil prices fell on Friday on the prospect of more supply returning to the market after oil tankers began to move through the Strait of Hormuz following the signing of the U.S.-Iran interim peace deal.

Brent crude futures fell 54 cents, or 0.68%, to $78.31 a barrel as of 0146 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude slipped 46 cents, or 0.60%, to $76.14 a barrel. The front-month July contract expires on Monday. The more actively traded August contract was at $75.06 a barrel, down 79 cents.

(Inputs from Reuters)

US-Iran deal LIVE: Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran’s lead negotiator and parliament speaker, has said Tehran will not accept any violation of the memorandum of understanding by the United States.

“In the event of bad faith, breach of contract, and excessive demands by the opposing side, we have no hesitation in delivering a crushing response to the enemy,” he wrote in a post on X.

“They were once slapped during the war; if they wish to tread that path again, they will receive an even harder slap.”

US-Iran deal LIVE: Iran will invite the UN’s nuclear watchdog agency to inspect its nuclear sites and begin work on identifying and uncovering the locations of Tehran’s enriched material, Trump envoy Steve Witkoff told US lawmakers in a private briefing.

The private briefing on Thursday was described by two people familiar with the conversation who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to share the closed-door details.

US-Iran deal LIVE: The White House said on Thursday night that US vice president JD Vance was delaying a visit to Switzerland, where he was due to head a fresh round of talks with Iran over its nuclear programme, raising fresh questions about the future of the tentative agreement aimed at ending the war.

It said the team led by Vance had been prepared to depart but had decided to delay the trip because of logistical challenges linked to the negotiations.

The announcement came after Al-Mayadeen, a pan-Arab satellite television channel that is politically aligned with the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, reported that Iran was postponing the dispatch of its delegation to Switzerland because of Israel’s continuing military campaign in Lebanon.

US-Iran deal LIVE: Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei said Thursday that he had approved despite reservations a deal signed by US President Donald Trump to end the war in West Asia, as the US lifted a blockade of Iranian ports.

“In principle, I had a different view (about the memorandum of understanding), but I issued my permission due to the commitment that the honourable (Iranian) president, as the chairman of the Supreme National Security Council, gave me on behalf of himself and other members to protect the rights of the Iranian nation and the Resistance Front,” Khamenei said in message read on state television

Khamenei said Trump had “used all kinds of levers” to secure the deal “out of desperation”.

US-Iran deal LIVE: US Vice President JD Vance lashed out at members of Israel’s government, saying that the country is deeply isolated and its leaders have failed to appreciate American diplomatic and military support.

“Donald J Trump is the only head of state in the entire world who is sympathetic to the nation of Israel at this moment in time,” Vance said during a news briefing at the White House on Thursday.

“The problem for Israel is not Donald J Trump, and anybody in Israel who thinks their biggest problem is the president of the United States needs to wake up and smell the reality of the situation that country is in.”

In an interview with The New York Times published earlier on Thursday, Vance said: “I find this whole freakout in Israel a little bit odd because ‌I think that it comes from a place of mistrust, and I think that America has earned the trust of that region, of the world.”