Live: US attacks Iran, IRGC retaliates as Lebanon deal advances
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Israeli shelling was reported across southern Lebanon early on Friday, including in Tyre and Nabatieh, state-media reported.
In one strike, an Israeli drone targeted a motorcycle on the Abbasiyyeh road in Tyre. It is unclear if there are any reported casualties.
The National News Agency also indicated that Israel launched air strikes and artillery shelling targeting several populated towns in Nabatieh overnight, resulting in a number of people wounded, killed and missing.
"Nabatieh and its surrounding area experienced one of the most difficult nights of the recent aggression, as the enemy escalated its attacks significantly," the agency reported.
US President Donald Trump jumbled his justification to launch the war on Iran, whose nuclear programme he claimed was already obliterated in a June 2025 attack.
At first he toyed with the idea of overthrowing the Islamic Republic by backing Kurdish fighters and Iranian protesters. He also said the US would destroy Iran’s military and end its ballistic missile programme, which he framed as a threat to the US. He insisted on Iran’s “unconditional surrender”.
Former US officials say Trump’s Memorandum of Understanding achieves none of those stated war aims and leaves the US in a weaker position to advance its stated goals at the negotiating table.
“The US deployed its power foolishly and recklessly,” Aaron David Miller, a former Middle East negotiator for Republican and Democratic Presidents, told Middle East Eye.
“We have lost, vis-a-vis Iran, a lot of power and influence. Deterrence is gone. Iran has survived the largest deployment of American air, naval and missile assets since the Second Iraq War,” he added.
Read more: Trump's Iran pact seen as a strategic defeat in Washington
Expected US-Iran talks on Friday at the Burgenstock mountaintop resort in Switzerland will not take place, the Swiss foreign ministry said in a statement.
French President Emmanuel Macron called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to "show a sense of responsibility" amid increased military action in the region.
The French president told broadcaster France 2 that Tel Aviv's military strategy in Lebanon, Gaza and the West Bank "runs contrary to Israel's own interests" in the long-run.
❝I think that today Prime Minister Netanyahu does not have a policy❞
— Anadolu English (@anadoluagency) June 19, 2026
French President Macron voices support for Israel's security while criticizing Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, saying 'security cannot be ensured through the conquest of a neighboring territory' pic.twitter.com/Gz6lgxWSnI
Israeli Ambassador to the US, Yechiel Leiter, reaffirmed on Thursday that Tel Aviv remains committed to a truce deal reached with Lebanon under the condition that Hezbollah does not breach it.
"If Hezbollah does not violate the agreement, it will be kept," Leiter said in a post 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."
Israel has killed nearly 4,000 people and wounded over 11,800 others since it began its attacks on Lebanon in early March. Over 1.2 million have been displaced during this time period.
Israel remains committed to the ceasefire agreement reached between Israel, Lebanon and the US.
— Ambassador Yechiel (Michael) Leiter (@yechielleiter) June 18, 2026
If Hezbollah does not violate the agreement, it will be kept.
Under all circumstances, Israel retains its right to respond to attacks against it and to thwart threats to its…
US Vice President JD Vance criticised Israeli cabinet members in a press briefing on Thursday, in a departure from his usual stance on Israel.
"The Israelis, like everybody else, have to respect this peace process," Vance said. "That is fundamentally good for them and good for the entire region."
“If I was in the cabinet of the Israeli government, I might not be attacking the only powerful ally that I have anywhere left in the entire world.”
— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) June 19, 2026
US Vice President JD Vance rebuked Israeli cabinet members in a departure from his usual pro-Israel rhetoric pic.twitter.com/MTvbj4HId5
The US defence ministry needs $80bn to cover costs from the war on Iran alongside non-war-related bills, the Wall Street Journal reported citing sources familiar with the matter.
According to the paper, lawmakers have been urging the Trump administration to provide a comprehensive cost to the war, with one of the concerns being that the army depleted valuable arms that could be used elsewhere.
Hezbollah said its fighters launched attacks on Israeli forces attempting to advance into Lebanese territory.
The group said an Israeli military unit was lured into a "kill zone", where three Merkava tanks were destroyed nearby the Ali al-Tahir area south of the country.
A second Israeli unit attempting to retrieve the first group were then targeted with a rocket barrage and mortar shells.
The White House indicated that US Vice President JD Vance has postponed a trip scheduled on Friday to Switzerland, where US and Iran were set to discuss the next steps for ending the war.
"The logistics of these negotiations have never been simple or predictable. As of now the Vice President is not departing tonight," a White House spokesperson said. "We look forward to beginning technical talks as soon as possible."
The US and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding this week, agreeing to a ceasefire after two months of negotiations and over three months of conflict - but no binding treaty exists yet, and the critical details around nuclear dismantlement timelines and sanctions relief still need to be worked out.
What did they actually agree on?
The US and Iran signed a deal this week, agreeing to a ceasefire after two months of negotiations and over three months of conflict — but no binding treaty exists yet, and the critical details around nuclear dismantlement timelines and sanctions relief still need to be worked out pic.twitter.com/d60rAUcLid
— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) June 18, 2026
US President Donald Trump in an interview with Axios said that the war on Iran showed "there are no limits" to his ability to exert power.
"We have the most powerful military in the world, by far. Who else could have done a blockade like that? I did a naval blockade where not one ship was able to get through. Some tried. They didn't, you know. It didn't last very long," he said.
When questioned on whether the Memorandum of Understanding amounted to the "unconditional surrender" he had initially wanted from Tehran, Trump doubled down saying that it "really probably is unconditional surrender".
Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf warned that if there are breaches of the peace deal with the US, Iran will not hesitate to respond.
"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 said 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 Vice President JD Vance has announced that Washington has lifted its blockade on Iranian ports as the Strait of Hormuz reopens to commercial shipping.
"Centcom has allowed north of a dozen ships to go through our naval blockade. And so we're also honouring our end of the early part of the agreement," he said.
“CENTCOM has allowed north of a dozen ships to go through our naval blockade. And so we're also honouring our end of the early part of the agreement.”
— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) June 18, 2026
US Vice President JD Vance has announced that the United States has lifted its blockade of Iranian ports as the Strait of Hormuz… pic.twitter.com/MJNkxIvLIN
The Iranian negotiation delegation has delayed its departure for talks in Switzerland due to Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon, according to a report by Al Mayadeen network.
The team was scheduled to hold initial talks with US officials on Friday to discuss implementing a newly signed ceasefire agreement between Washington and Tehran. Mediators from Pakistan and Qatar are also slated to take part in the meeting.
Iran's top negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, meanwhile, said any breach of the agreement or excessive demands will be met with a strong response.
"We have no doubt about delivering a forceful response if the other side breaks its commitments," he said.
"The task assigned to us by the Supreme Leader is to pursue the fulfilment of the terms and clauses of the agreement."
Israeli forces have shot and killed a Palestinian near the Wadi Gaza bridge in central Gaza, Wafa news agency reported.
The agency said that two Palestinians were wounded after Israeli artillery shelling struck al-Bi’a Street north of Khan Younis.
