Iran-US war latest: Trump envoy heads to Switzerland for talks as deal under threat after Israel airstrikes

Iran's supreme leader says Trump made deal 'out of desperation' as US lifts naval blockadeUS president Donald Trump has sent his envoy Steve Witkoff to join Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araqchi for peace talks in Switzerland today as ceasefire looks threatened once again with five killed in Israeli strikes on Lebanon.The shuttling of Trump’s envoys signals that both sides intend to begin technical negotiations, after being initially cancelled, aimed at securing a permanent truce but the White House did not respond to questions about Witkoff's travel.Donald Trump reportedly told Israel to agree to a ceasefire with Hezbollah in Lebanon, as reports suggest US intelligence is concerned about prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu undermining his deal with Iran.

The US president instructed Israel to accept the ceasefire on Friday, he told NBC News in a call with a reporter, adding: "You just gotta calm down ‌sometimes and ‌use your head”.It comes as Washington Post reports suggest US intelligence officials are concerned Netanyahu will try to undermine the US peace deal with Iran in a bid to continue its own conflict in Lebanon.The officials, who spoke anonymously, said Netanyahu’s political survival is linked to showing his domestic audience that he will not withdraw troops from Lebanon.

RecommendedThe 6 reasons Donald Trump’s terrible Iran deal looks set to fall apart – and the one reason it might surviveWhat next for Iran after Trump signs ‘disastrous’ deal to end war with $300bn boost and scrapped sanctionsDay of chaos in Middle East as Iran peace talks are abandoned and Israel fights Hezbollah‘I’m the president and you’re not’: Trump’s blunt message to those offering advice revealedVance pulls out of peace talks in SwitzerlandVice president JD Vance will not be joining the senior officials from the US and Iran gathering in Switzerland today to hammer out the final points on peace deal.The announcement came after Wednesday's signing ‌of the memorandum of understanding, when preparations for technical talks at the Swiss mountaintop resort of Buergenstock were well advanced.The broad interim deal requires the United States, Iran and their allies to declare an immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon.

Israel, left out of the talks, says it is not party to the deal.Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araqchi in a telephone call with his Pakistani counterpart on Friday, ⁠said the United States would be responsible for any violation of its commitments under the deal, including ending the fighting in Lebanon, his ministry said.Arpan Rai20 June 2026 08:50Trump's envoy Witkoff and Iranian minister head to Switzerland for talksUS envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araqchi were both headed to Switzerland for talks, Axios reported, as a ceasefire in Lebanon appeared to revive efforts to turn an interim Iran war pact into a lasting regional deal.

US vice president JD Vance canceled plans on Thursday to travel to Switzerland for the talks, however, amid rising tension in Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah, a militant group backed by Iran.With the ceasefire in place, Witkoff is heading to Switzerland to join Jared Kushner, president Donald Trump’s son-in-law, who is already there, Axios said. Araqchi plans to travel there on Saturday, it added.

The development may signal that both sides intend to begin technical negotiations aimed at securing a permanent truce. The White House did not respond to questions about Witkoff's travel.Arpan Rai20 June 2026 08:47Israeli envoy and UN official clash at hearing on children in conflictDiplomatic niceties broke down at the United Nations on Friday when Israel's ambassador and the UN secretary-general's special representative for children and armed conflict became embroiled in a furious shouting match at a public hearing.

At a meeting in New York to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict, the Israeli envoy, Danny Danon, demanded the resignation of Pramila Patten, who produced a report that blacklisted Israel for such alleged abuses for the first time, accusing her of bias."You caved to the secretary-general's obsession with targeting Israel," Danon ⁠said, referring to UN chief Antonio Guterres.Another UN official, Vanessa ​Frazier, ⁠Guterres' representative for children and ‌armed conflict and compiler of a separate report that also blacklists Israel, interjected by shouting a point of order.

She ‌demanded that Danon refrain from "personal attacks" and ‌added that she had "verified evidence."Danon said Frazier should be quiet. "We are a member state, and you work for the UN, and you will ⁠be quiet now.

You will be quiet... you and your shameful report," he said.Frazier, Malta's former UN ambassador, issued her report this week on behalf of Guterres warning that Israeli settler groups could be added to a global blacklist for violations against children as the UN chief voiced alarm at ‌what