Trump: Terms of deal leaked by Iran are false; ‘they better get their act together’
Iranian reports claim deal with US won't touch on missile program, proxy groups but will lift sanctions, release frozen funds, keep Tehran in control of Hormuz * Crowds celebrate at Tel Aviv Pride after two-year hiatus
The Times of Israel is liveblogging Friday’s events as they unfold.
Troops dodge injury after pair of Hezbollah drones detonate near them in south Lebanon
Two suspected Hezbollah drones struck near Israeli forces operating in southern Lebanon a short while ago, the IDF says.
The military says no injuries or damage were caused in the attack.
The “suspicious aerial targets” had triggered drone sirens in several communities in the Western Galilee.
Elon Musk world’s first trillionaire after SpaceX debut
Elon Musk became the world’s first trillionaire on Friday following a surge in SpaceX shares in its Wall Street trading debut, according to US media.
Shares of the tech and artificial intelligence enterprise vaulted more than 21 percent in early trading, lifting Musk’s estimated wealth to above $1 trillion, according to Bloomberg and CNBC.
Musk’s fortune is heavily composed of equity or “paper” holdings, rather than cash.
US Vice President Vance says Iran will only get funds if it complies with the deal
Vice President JD Vance says on Friday that funds wiill not be released to Iran for signing a deal with the US or attending a meeting, adding that the potential deal is structured to ensure that economic benefits would flow to Tehran if it meets its obligations.
“First, the Iranians are not receiving any cash, and no funds are being released for simply signing a deal or attending a meeting,” the vice president wrote on X.
Iran is slated to receive up to $24 billion in sanctions relief if it complies with the deal.
“The deal is structured to ensure that the US and its allies’ concerns are prioritized, and that if the Islamic Republic of Iran meets its obligations, then economic benefits will flow to them and to the entire region,” Vance adds.
I'm seeing a lot of fake information about a potential deal to reopen the Strait and end Iran's nuclear weapons program. First, the Iranians are not receiving any cash, and no funds are being released for simply signing a deal or attending a meeting. The deal is structured to…
— JD Vance (@JDVance) June 12, 2026
Trump reposts Iran foreign minister’s post declaring that MOU ‘never been closer’
US President Donald Trump has reposted a social media post by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, in which the latter said a memorandum of understanding to end the Iran war had never been closer.
IDF says it killed 10 Hezbollah field commanders who managed fighting against army in south Lebanon
The military says it recently killed more than 10 Hezbollah field commanders who were managing the fighting against IDF troops in southern Lebanon.
In March, the IDF killed Hassan Salameh, the commander of Hezbollah’s Nasr Unit, one of three regional divisions in southern Lebanon. Since then, the military says it killed two of his successors, Mahdi Bazi and Ashraf Salloum, one after the other.
Separately, within a 12-hour period recently, the IDF says it killed the commander of Hezbollah’s forces in the Beaufort Castle area, Nasser Shakir, and his replacement, Ahmad Sablini, who previously served as deputy.
In addition, the IDF says it has killed Ali Abbas, the commander of Hezbollah’s forces in Bint Jbeil; Kamil Younes, commander of the Tyre sector; Fouad Moussa, commander of the Hajir sector; Hussein Salami, commander of the Jibshit sector; Ali Haik, commander of the Khiam sector; and Muslim Harb, commander of the Qana sector.
Qatar flatly denies report claiming it cut deal with Iran to avoid coming under attack during war
Qatar forcefully denies a Washington Post report claiming that it had cut a “secret deal” with Iran under which the latter would refrain from targeting the Ras Laffan gas in exchange for Doha halting gas production in a move that raised global energy prices and urgency to end the Iran war.
“Any suggestion that operational decisions relating to energy production were – or have ever been – made in coordination with Iran, for Iran’s benefit, or to influence the course of the conflict is entirely unfounded,” Qatar’s International Media Office says in a statement.
“These allegations are particularly implausible given that Qatar was actively defending its territory against Iranian missile attacks at the time,” it adds.
“The allegations rely on false and unreliable material originating from actors whose objective is to sabotage ongoing efforts to mediate an end to the conflict, damage Qatar’s reputation, and undermine the strategic partnership between Qatar and the United States.”
“The basis of the allegations advanced by The Washington Post shifted over time, yet the underlying narrative in its reporting remained unchanged despite the facts and information presented to it,” the statement continues.
Statement by the International Media Office of the State of Qatar regarding allegations published by The Washington Posthttps://t.co/xjFnfLnEbp pic.twitter.com/mzMp0QyP8l
— Qatar's International Media Office (@IMO_Qatar) June 12, 2026
Iran FM: MOU with US ‘has never been closer,’ media should refrain from speculating on its content
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi tweets that an MOU between the US and Iran to extend the fragile ceasefire by 60 days in order to launch additional nuclear talks is on the verge of being signed.
“The Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding has never been closer. Pending its finalization, the media should refrain from entering speculation about its content,” Araghchi tweets.
“In line with our responsible and transparent approach, all details will be shared with the public in due course,” he adds.
Trump has fumed at what he has claimed were false details of the MOU that were leaked by the Iranians to media sites tied to the regime.
Israel must retain freedom to strike Iran to stop nuclear program, says Katz amid talk of imminent US-Iran deal
As US President Donald Trump predicts that a Memorandum of Understanding will be signed with Iran in the coming days, Defense Minister Israel Katz hints that Jerusalem will have to use military force in the future to stop Iran from attaining nuclear weapons.
“Israel must ensure that, in the future as well, we retain the ability to act independently to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons,” he says in a statement. “Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and I have instructed the IDF to prepare accordingly.”
He says that Trump is “leading efforts toward an agreement with Iran based on American interests, including the shared interest with Israel of preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.”
“We expect him to uphold this principle, as well as additional principles concerning missiles and terrorist proxies,” he continues. Trump has stopped talking about confronting Iran’s ballistic missile program and proxy network as goals of a deal with Iran.
Katz stresses that Israel will remain in Lebanon, Syria and Gaza, and in the northern West Bank.
“Our security doctrine is sharp and clear. We act against both nearby and distant threats, and we strive for decisive outcomes rather than compromises and concessions,” says Katz in what could be interpreted as a criticism of Trump’s policy of pursuing negotiated ceasefires with Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran while pushing Israel to dial back military action.
“A great deal is at stake during this period, and we are determined to continue leading a firm security policy that will prevent harm to our security achievements and will not endanger our ability to fight against the Shiite axis of evil led by Iran and the Sunni axis of evil led by the Muslim Brotherhood,” Katz pledges.
US-Iran MOU to include Lebanon in 60-day ceasefire, Netanyahu kept in dark during talks — report
The US-Iran Memorandum of Understanding that is to be signed in the coming days — at least according to US President Donald Trump — will extend the ceasefire for 60 days, and will include Lebanon, according to Axios.
The Strait of Hormuz would be fully reopened immediately, reports the US outlet, and sanctions on Iran will begin to be lifted if it complies with the terms of the MOU.
Pre-war shipping volumes would be reached within 30 days, under the deal.
Nuclear talks will be held during the two-month ceasefire, including on Iran’s 440 kilograms of highly enriched uranium. Iran will make a commitment never to acquire a nuclear weapon and to come to an agreement on its enriched uranium stores.
According to a senior US official, Trump accepted an Iranian demand that the uranium would not leave the country, but would instead be blended down inside Iran under UN supervision. But that would only happen in practice if a more comprehensive deal is reached.
The MOU “goes into details on all the nuclear issues,” says the US official, and “satisfies all US requirements.”
Diplomats from mediating countries and from the US say that the agreement — to be called the Islamabad Agreement — was reached on Wednesday night in talks between Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Qatar’s Ali Al-Thawawdi, who spoke by phone several times with Trump’s top envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.
A source with direct knowledge tells Axios that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was not updated, and had to call contacts in the Trump administration to learn details of the emerging deal.
A diplomat from one of the mediating countries tells Axios that both the US and Iran have agreed on the text of the MOU, but two sources caution that Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has likely not approved it yet.
The MOU does not deal with the fate of Iran’s billions of dollars of frozen assets around the world, according to the report.
Indians grieve and call for action after US strike kills sailors
Sushila Devi sat sobbing on the floor of her house in Deoria, northern India after authorities told her that her husband was one of three sailors killed in a US attack on a ship off Oman.
“If he had told us about the dangers, I would have called him back,” she cries out as women from the family gathered round to console her. “The government should not allow people to go there.”
India on Friday took the rare step of lodging a second protest with the US over the strike that took place more than three months into the Iran war. Sushila Devi’s words echoed calls also building up among Indians for their own government to do more to protect its sailors stuck in the Gulf.
Her husband Shivanand Chaurasia, the sole earner in the family with two young children, was among 24 Indian mariners aboard the Palau-flagged tanker Settebello when it was hit on Wednesday.
The US military’s Central Command said an aircraft fired precision munitions into the vessel’s engine room after the crew “repeatedly failed to comply with directions from American forces.”
It said the strike was part of an ongoing blockade targeting oil shipments from Iran launched after Tehran sharply curtailed shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, which carried a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas before the conflict.
India’s foreign ministry said it had summoned the US chargé d’affaires to convey “its deep concern over the use of lethal and deadly force against civilian shipping.”
“Such actions are unacceptable and undermine the safety, security and stability of international maritime commerce in a sensitive region at a difficult time.”
The deaths have prompted calls on India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi to go beyond registering protests.
India – the world’s second-largest supplier of seafarers behind the Philippines according to government figures – has had to pay a huge cost for the conflict it played no part in starting, say opposition and other critics.
On Thursday, another ship with 20 Indian crew was attacked, with no deaths or injuries reported.
“India has responded … with a routine diplomatic protest and apparent efforts to downplay the significance of the attacks,” said Brahma Chellaney, a strategic affairs analyst in New Delhi.