Here's the latest
• Diplomatic push: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is in the Persian Gulf region, looking to sell the US-Iran agreement to the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Bahrain — countries likely to be among its biggest skeptics.
• Iran’s missile win: President Masoud Pezeshkian said Iran’s missiles are not part of its agreement with the US and never will be. Trump previously made limiting Iran’s missile program a rationale for US military operations, but his stance shifted during negotiations. Rubio said concerns about Iran’s missile program and proxy support will “most certainly come up” in his meetings.
• Nuclear monitoring: Inspectors from the UN’s nuclear watchdog will visit Iranian sites, its chief has said, after contradictory remarks from the US and Iran on the level of supervision agreed upon.
• Oil prices fall: The global benchmark price has fallen below $76 a barrel – the price it was trading at before the war in Iran began.
US diesel prices fall below $5 for the first time since March
Diesel prices fell below $5 a gallon in the United States for the first time in more than three months.
The average price of diesel fell two cents to $4.98 according to AAA, the first time it has been below the $5 benchmark since March 16. The price of diesel has been falling steadily since reaching its own four-year high of $5.67 on May 6.
Although relatively few Americans use diesel in their cars, the higher price of diesel can put upward pressure on the price of nearly all US goods as truckers impose fuel surcharges on their deliveries.
For regular gas, the average price being charged by American gas stations rose two-tenths of a cent to $3.93, which is the same price as Tuesday’s average when rounded to the nearest cent. But it ended a streak of 34 straight days of decreases from the when prices hit a four-year high of $4.56 a gallon.
Hopes for peace talks between the United States and Iran that led to the recent reopening of the Strait of Hormuz has led to the slow but steady decline of gas prices over the last month. But there are still concerns about how soon oil will start to flow through the strait in sufficient quantities to meet global demand this summer.
Hezbollah has launched over 7,000 rockets and drones at Israel since March, minister says
Hezbollah has fired more than 7,000 rockets, missiles and drones at Israel since March, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said Wednesday, as the second day of US-mediated diplomatic talks was set to take place between Israel and Lebanon.
“We do not really have a dispute with the Lebanese government beyond a few border issues that can be resolved through short negotiations,” Saar said at the MUNI EXPO conference in Tel Aviv. He said that Iran-backed Hezbollah is a “common enemy” to Israel and Lebanon.
Saar noted that Hezbollah initiated the latest escalation in early March, responding with rocket fire to the US-Israeli strikes that began the war with Iran.
“Imagine if your cities were attacked like that. What country could accept that and not act to restore security to its citizens?” Saar asked.
Israel responded with massive aerial strikes and a ground incursion into what it calls a security buffer zone, pushing forces roughly 6 miles (10 kilometers) into southern Lebanon.
Israeli and Lebanese representatives willWednesday for a second day of negotiations. CNN previously reported that Israel is considering “symbolic” withdrawals from occupied territory in southern Lebanon as part of the talks as a “gesture” to the Lebanese government.
On the first day, Israel’s ambassador to the US warned that the talks are “heading toward a train wreck” because of Iranian influence in Lebanon.
Rubio meets with UAE president as US looks to sell Iran agreement to Gulf allies
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met today with United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan as the US looks to reassure Gulf allies about the agreement with Iran.
In addition to the memorandum of understanding between the US and Iran, the two leaders discussed “efforts to secure full and safe transit through the Strait of Hormuz, and the importance of peace and stability in the region,” State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said in a statement.
“The Secretary thanked the UAE for their leadership and unparallelled support, praised their courage and resilience in the face of Iran’s attacks, and reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to the security of the Emirates,” Pigott added.
Rubio has left the UAE and will visit Kuwait and Bahrain before returning to the US.
Benchmark oil price falls below level seen before the war
The global benchmark oil price has fallen below $76 a barrel – the price it was trading at before the war in Iran began.
Brent crude fell below the psychologically important $76 figure on Monday morning as investors becoming increasingly encouraged that oil tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz could soon return to normal.
The Brent price fell 2% to $75.50 shortly after 5 a.m. EDT, taking it to the lowest level since February 27 – the day before the US and Israel began strikes on Iran.
West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the US oil benchmark, fell as low as $72.03, the lowest since March 3.
“While there are early encouraging signs of increased tanker activity, the market is pricing in the broader scenario of Iranian oil re-entering the global market and the Strait of Hormuz normalizing,” said Tim Waterer, chief market analyst at KCM Trade. “If sanctions are eased, Iranian production and exports could ramp up relatively quickly given the substantial amount stored on tankers — we are likely talking weeks rather than months.”
Hundreds of oil tankers – and more than 11,000 seafarers – have been trapped in the Persian Gulf since Iran effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz. Before the war, about 20% of the world’s oil – or 20 million barrels-a-day – passed through the strait.
Maritime traffic has markedly increased this week following the agreement signed between the US and Iran, which includes allowing commercial traffic through the vital waterway “with no charge for 60 days.”
Iran ready for "security agreements" with Islamic neighbors, says chief negotiator
Chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said on Wednesday that Iran is ready for “security agreements” with Islamic countries, alongside “economic cooperation.”
“Iran is ready for security agreements with Islamic countries, especially the countries of the Persian Gulf, to be established with sustainable economic cooperation,” Ghalibaf said during the Conference of the Parliamentary Union of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Member States in Baku, Azerbaijan.
He said the recent war with the United States and Israel “was not merely a military confrontation,” but rather “an organized effort to change the regional strategic balances.”
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is visiting the Gulf region to sell the Iran deal to three countries that are likely to be among its biggest skeptics. The United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Kuwait were among the Gulf states most heavily targeted by Iran during the war.
Pakistan’s foreign ministry said on Wednesday that technical level talks between the US and Iran are set to resume next week, adding that there is currently “only a temporary break and not a suspension of the process.”
The memorandum of understanding signed last week between the US and Iran is meant to halt fighting, open the Strait of Hormuz and offer economic relief to Iran in exchange for a pledge never to develop nuclear weapons. But it leaves vital details like the future of Tehran’s nuclear program and its stocks of enriched uranium to be hashed out over 60 days of high-stakes negotiations.
Technical level talks between US and Iran to resume next week, Pakistan’s foreign ministry says
Technical level talks between the US and Iran are set to resume next week, says Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry.
“The talks are continuing. This is only a temporary break and not a suspension of the process,” Pakistani Foreign Office Spokesperson Tahir Hussain Andrabi said in a media briefing on Wednesday.
The memorandum of understanding signed last week between the US and Iran is meant to halt fighting, open the Strait of Hormuz and offer economic relief to Iran in exchange for a pledge never to develop nuclear weapons. But it leaves vital details like the future of Tehran’s nuclear program and its stocks of enriched uranium to be hashed out over 60 days of high-stakes negotiations.
“This is the beginning of a process. Positive results and outcomes will become clearer as progress is made,” Andrabi said.
Head of UN nuclear watchdog says it will inspect Iran nuclear sites as part of US-Iran agreement
Inspectors from the United Nation’s nuclear watchdog will visit nuclear sites in Iran, its chief has said, after contradictory remarks from the US and Iran on whether those sites would be inspected as part of their agreement to end the war.
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) head Rafael Mariano Grossi said the memorandum of understanding signed by the US and Iran “says explicitly that the nuclear activities that are going to be carried out with the regards to the nuclear material facilities will be supervised by the IAEA — in all letters.”
“Obviously, to do that, we will have to inspect,” the Associated Press quoted him as telling journalists in Japan on Wednesday.
Trump on Tuesday insisted Iran had agreed to more UN nuclear inspections, rebuffing Iran’s claim that no visit has been scheduled for IAEA inspectors.
The IAEA inspected an active Iranian nuclear facility in early June but it’s been roughly a year since the agency has had access to any of the nuclear facilities damaged in the 2025 US-Israeli bombing of Iran.
Qatar to resume normal LNG production "within a few weeks," PM tells FT
Qatar will resume normal production of liquefied natural gas (LNG) within a “few weeks,” its prime minister told the Financial Times.
State-owned QatarEnergy declared force majeure as it could not fulfill contracts after several Iranian strikes damaged its Ras Laffan facility early in the war.
Qatar is one of the world’s largest LNG exporters, accounting for roughly 20% of global exports, according to the US Energy Information Administration.
“Within a few weeks, production will come back to normal, except the damaged facility,” Qatar Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani told the FT.
Qatar – which alongside Pakistan mediated talks between the US and Iran – anticipates shipping in the strait to return to normal levels in the weeks following their memorandum of understanding.
He said QatarEnergy would lift force majeure only “once the company sees they have addressed all the issues, and it’s safe to operate”.
CNN has reached out to QatarEnergy for comment.
On Sunday, at least 13 people, including a dozen Indian nationals, were killed in an explosion at Ras Laffan, authorities said, adding it was the result of an industrial accident and not conflict-related. Sixty-six people were injured in the incident.
Trump once denounced an Iran agreement like the one he just made
For years, President Donald Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President JD Vance argued against deals that provided financial concessions to Iran, saying that giving the regime money fuels terror. But now the agreement they’ve reached is poised to hand the regime billions. CNN’s Andrew Kaczynski reports.
For years, President Donald Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President JD Vance argued against deals that provided financial concessions to Iran, saying that giving the regime money fuels terror. But now the agreement they’ve reached to end the war with Tehran is poised to hand the regime billions. CNN’s Andrew Kaczynski reports.
Rubio visits Gulf as Senate votes to limit Trump's war powers. Catch up here
The US Senate approved a resolution on Tuesday directing the president to remove military forces from the conflict with Iran, a significant rebuke to Donald Trump and a strong message that the war lacks support in Congress.
The measure passed the House earlier this month. But because it is what’s known as a concurrent resolution, it does not require the president’s signature and, by definition, does not carry the force of law.
Trump called the Senate’s vote to limit his Iran war powers “poorly timed and meaningless” and blasted the members of his party who voted in favor of the resolution.
Here’s what to know:
- Diplomatic moves: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is visiting the Gulf region to “make sure that their views are taken into account” as the US moves forward on negotiations with Iran, he said upon arriving in the United Arab Emirates yesterday. He continues to try to delink Israel-Lebanon talks from the US-Iran negotiations, even as Tehran has repeatedly insist the issues are entwined.
- Israel-Lebanon talks: Israel and Lebanon are holding a fifth round of talks in Washington, DC to try and end the end the deadly fighting between Israeli and Iran-backed Hezbollah forces. Israeli Ambassador to the US said Israel and Lebanon are “heading toward a train wreck,” at the start of the talks yesterday, saying “Iran’s role is to leave Lebanon.” Lebanon President Joseph Aoun, said that Beirut will “accept nothing less than the end of the Israeli occupation” in the country’s south.
- Iran’s missile win: President Masoud Pezeshkian said Iran’s missiles are not part of its agreement with the US and never will be. Trump previously made limiting Iran’s missile program a central rationale for US military operations, but his stance shifted during diplomatic negotiations.
- Evacuating the Gulf: The UN’s maritime agency is launching an evacuation plan for over 11,000 seafarers stranded in the region. Clearing the backlog of vessels and stranded personnel will be carried out in coordination with Iran, Oman, other coastal states, the United States and the maritime industry.
- Nuclear inspections: Trump again insisted Iran agreed to more UN nuclear inspections, rebuffing Iran’s claim that no visit has been scheduled for International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors. The IAEA inspected an active Iranian nuclear facility in early June but it’s been roughly a year since the agency has had access to any of the nuclear facilities damaged in the last US-Israeli war with Iran.
- Ceasefire violations: Hezbollah has accused Israel of a “blatant violation” of the US-Iran 14-point ceasefire plan after Lebanon’s Health Ministry said Israeli attacks killed two people on Tuesday.
CNN’s Morgan Rimmer, Mary Kay Mallonee, Dana Karni, Oren Liebermann, Mohammed Tawfeeq, Eyad Kourdi, Charbel Mallo, Catherine Nicholls, Sarah Tamimi, Tal Shalev and Charlotte Reck contributed reporting.
