Democracy Dies with Dictatorship
NY Times
Jun 16, 2026
Iran War Live Updates: Shipping Companies Remain Cautious Over Strait
Ship traffic through the crucial Strait of Hormuz was extremely limited two days after the United States and Iran signed a preliminary deal aimed at ending their war.
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Francesca RegaladoJohn YoonRichard Pérez-Peña and John Ismay
Here’s the latest
Significant ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz had not appeared to resume as of Tuesday morning, two days after the United States and Iran signed a framework agreement that could pave the way toward ending the monthslong war that has stymied the flow of oil and gas through the critical waterway.
The agreement called for an immediate 60-day cease-fire and for negotiations on a long-term peace deal. President Trump said it would also reopen the strait, whose effective closure has left hundreds of ships stranded in the Persian Gulf.
But the agreement’s text has not been released, leaving unresolved the key questions of what will happen to Iran’s nuclear program and whether the country will receive relief from Western sanctions. And even though both Iran and the United States have said that they would lift their naval blockades, the status of the strait is not clear. Iran indicated on Monday that it intended to charge fees for unspecified services there.
Mr. Trump, who is attending a Group of 7 summit in France this week, said on Monday that the text of the agreement would be released sometime after an official signing ceremony on Friday in Geneva. He also said that ships were starting to transit the strait and that it would be “completely opened” by Friday.
But the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations organization, a British naval agency, warned ships on Monday that a U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports remained in effect. Four international shipping companies told The New York Times on Tuesday that their vessels had not resumed crossing the strait.
Iran has threatened to attack ships in the strait as leverage since the war started, triggering a drop in the global supply of oil and a spike in fuel prices. In April, the United States enforced its own blockade on the waterway, preventing Iranian tankers and cargo ships from transiting it.
The price of Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, fell 4.8 percent to around $83.17 a barrel on Monday after the deal was announced.
But returning energy markets to their prewar state will be difficult, in part because it will take time to restore production and repair damaged infrastructure. Restarting ship traffic in the strait will also depend on how quickly mines can be found and neutralized.
Another key question is whether Israel will stop its operations against the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon, which Iran had demanded during negotiations with the United States.
In a defiant address on Monday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel said he had no intention of doing so and suggested that his country was not bound by the U.S.-Iran framework for peace.
Here’s what else we’re covering:
U.S. senators react cautiously: Some lawmakers on Capitol Hill were reluctant to praise the Iran without seeing its terms, including Republicans like Senator John Thune of South Dakota, the majority leader, and Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a close ally of the president. Read more ›
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June 16, 2026, 6:43 a.m. ET34 minutes ago
Reporting from Evian-les-Bains, France
President Trump said that if Iran continued to develop a nuclear weapon then “all hell will rain down on them,” the latest in a number of grandiose statements since his administration reached a framework agreement with Iran to pause the war. The memorandum of understanding, which has not yet been released, leaves the issue of Iran’s nuclear capability unresolved for at least another 60 days, when both sides are expected to negotiate on the issue.
June 16, 2026, 6:41 a.m. ET36 minutes ago
Reporting from Paris
President Trump called the preliminary agreement with Iran a “fair” and “good” deal at the G7 Summits in Evian-les-Bains, France, during a meeting with the emir of Qatar. “The biggest thing is they will not have a nuclear weapon,” he said. “That’s the reason I got in, and that’s the reason I agreed to sign.”
Both the United States and Iran have indicated that the nuclear program is not addressed in the preliminary framework, and will be negotiated as part of a longer-term deal.
June 16, 2026, 5:37 a.m. ET2 hours ago
Reporting from Beirut, Lebanon
Israel carried out new strikes in southern Lebanon on Tuesday, according to Lebanon’s state-run news agency, though the pace and intensity of attacks have dropped since the United States and Iran said they had signed a preliminary deal that could ultimately end the war on Sunday. The text of the agreement has not been publicly released, but Iranian officials have consistently insisted that it includes an end to the war between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
But Israel, which is not a party to the agreement, has said it would continue to target Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militia, and occupy a swath of territory it has seized in southern Lebanon. Hezbollah said overnight that it had attacked Israeli troops southeast of Nabatieh, a major southern city that Israeli ground forces have advanced toward in recent days.
June 16, 2026, 5:23 a.m. ET2 hours ago
Oil prices fall as traders assess the U.S.-Iran deal.
Oil prices fell further on Tuesday, extending declines spurred by the United States and Iran announcement on Sunday that they had reached a preliminary agreement to end their war. Stocks were mixed after strong rallies the day before.
Oil prices have jumped about 14 percent since Iran effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation for U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran in late February. Hundreds of ships remain stranded in the Persian Gulf unable to transport oil and gas to global markets.
The shipping industry has reacted warily to news of the deal, which the United States and Iran were expected to sign officially on Friday. The text of the agreement has not been released.
Oil drops
The price of Brent crude, the global benchmark for oil, fell 2.5 percent to about $81 a barrel, the lowest level since mid-March.
West Texas Intermediate crude, the U.S. benchmark, fell nearly 3 percent, below $79 a barrel.
Stocks are mixed
Futures on the S&P 500 pointed to little change when stocks resume trading in the United States on Tuesday. But SpaceX, which began trading on Friday after its blockbuster public offering, continued to soar, rising 10 percent in premarket trading. That puts Elon Musk’s rocket-and-satellite company on track for a third day of double-digit percentage gains.
Stocks in Asia were mixed. The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong was the worst performer, falling 1.4 percent. The Kospi index in South Korea rose 2.1 percent.
In Europe, stocks rose. The Stoxx 600, a broad-index that tracks the region’s largest companies, was up slightly.
Gasoline prices fall
U.S. gas prices fell three cents on Tuesday to a national average of $4.04 a gallon, according to the AAA motor club. The cost for drivers has still jumped 36 percent since the war began.
Gas prices don’t move in lock step with crude, usually trailing increases or drops by a few days.
The average price of diesel dipped a penny to $5.19 on Tuesday but is up 38 percent since the start of the war.
What they are saying: Shipowners await signs that the U.S.-Iran deal is ‘durable.’
Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz will likely take time to ramp up, despite the preliminary deal to end the fighting in Iran, analysts at HSBC wrote in a report on Tuesday. “We expect shipowners to stay cautious until a deal proves durable, mine clearance is completed, and insurance costs fall,” they stated.
“Clearing trapped vessels and resuming transits to prewar levels could likely take months due to congestions, sequencing delays, crew rotation and repositioning,” the analysts said.
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June 16, 2026, 5:17 a.m. ET2 hours ago
Leo Sands and Leily Nikounazar
Iran said negotiations on a comprehensive peace deal with the United States would begin immediately after the countries sign a preliminary agreement to pause hostilities on Friday.
“The signing will likely take place on Friday at a venue that will be announced later. On the same day, a new round of Iran–U.S. negotiations aimed at reaching a final agreement will begin,” Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s foreign minister, said, according to state media. The countries are expected to sign a memorandum of understanding in Geneva, Switzerland.
June 16, 2026, 5:05 a.m. ET2 hours ago
Reporting from London
Europe says it’s ready to send ships to the Strait of Hormuz if peace takes hold.
European nations are poised to send ships into the Strait of Hormuz to protect shipping — but not until they are convinced that the new cease-fire between the United States and Iran is working.
Italian minesweepers are stationed off the coast of Djibouti in East Africa. A German minesweeper and a logistical support ship are in the eastern Mediterranean. France’s nuclear-powered aircraft carrier is a two- or three-day sail from the strait. Britain has sent a destroyer, the Dragon, to the region, to be ready to help secure the strait once shipping resumes.
France and Britain are “ready to act very quickly,” President Emmanuel Macron of France told a radio station Monday morning. He said the two countries and their allies would “do everything” necessary to ensure a resumption of normal shipping of oil and other goods around the world, without fear of attacks or any requirement to pay tolls.
“There are many other straits in the world,” Mr. Macron said. “If we charge a toll every time, what will the consequence be? You’ll drive up prices for the entire world.”
At the start of a Group of 7 meeting Monday in France, Europeans said their assets would be sent into the strait only once it was clear that the cease-fire agreement would hold, unlike the series of false starts that led to a resumption of threats and military strikes in recent months. Officials said the memorandum of understanding between the two countries had not been made public for governments to examine.
And already, early signs of disagreement between the United States and Iran were emerging on Monday when a spokesman for the Iranian foreign minister challenged President Trump’s claim that the strait would be “permanently” toll-free.
“We are not seeking to levy transit tolls; however, fees will be charged in exchange for the services that are provided,” Esmaeil Baghaei, the spokesman, said in a statement issued by Iran’s state media.
As the G7 leaders assembled on Monday in Évian-les-Bains, France, the issue of toll-free passage through the strait underscored the anxiety among Europeans about the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran, which most of them opposed. Most of their nations stayed on the sidelines of the three-and-a-half month conflict, enraging Mr. Trump, who accused them of cowardice.
Britain and France instead assembled a coalition of nations that pledged to help ensure a long-lasting peace once the fighting stopped. But the details of what the coalition would do, how much risk it would take, and how long the militaries would stay in the strait have not been publicly stated.
Now, those questions are becoming more urgent as it appears that the time may have arrived for the Europeans to begin making good on their promises.
In a statement on Monday, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni of Italy said that her country was “ready, together with our other partners and subject to the necessary parliamentary authorization, to contribute to an international naval presence to support the full reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.”
But in an interview this month, Guido Crosetto, Italy’s defense minister, cautioned that the country would commit troops and equipment only if it was safe.
“No country can enter into the conflict without being sure that their ships — which can’t even defend themselves — won’t be bombed,” Mr. Crosetto said at the time. “Minesweepers aren’t warships. They’re ships which are used for demining. So it must be certain that no one will attack them.”
On Monday, European foreign affairs officials were gathering in Luxembourg, where one topic brought up was Operation Aspides, a European mission started in February 2024 to protect commercial vessels in the Red Sea from attacks by Iranian-backed Houthi militants in Yemen. For months, European Union officials have floated the idea of expanding it to help with the situation in Hormuz once the fighting stopped.
Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s top diplomat, said at a news conference on Monday that the cease-fire announcement by United States and Iran was “a potential breakthrough.” But she said that Operation Aspides would remain focused on the Red Sea and that “the Franco-German coalition then will operate in the Strait of Hormuz.” She said that the two operations “go hand in hand and complement each other.”
Another subject discussed in Brussels — and likely to be on the agenda in France — is the question of the economic sanctions recently reimposed on Iran.
Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Union’s executive arm, said at a news conference at the G7 in France that the E.U.’s sanctions on Iran addressed two main issues: human rights violations and weapons of mass destruction.
“The principle of sanctions is that we need real change on the ground before we can think about lifting them,” she said.
Friedrich Merz, the German chancellor, and his government are open to lifting sanctions on Iran as part of the deal, provided Iran complies with terms. But officials stressed that any such relief must be approved by the full European Union.
Germany will wait for the signing of the agreement on Friday to take concrete steps, German officials said on Monday.
Reporting was contributed by Mark Landler from Evian, France; Jim Tankersley from Berlin; Jeanna Smialek from Brussels and Motoko Rich from Rome.
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June 16, 2026, 4:54 a.m. ET2 hours ago
Reporting from Rome
Italy’s defense minister, Guido Crosetto, has said that the country would only send minesweepers to help clear the Strait of Hormuz once a full U.S.-Iran deal was implemented. Crosetto met with Pete Hegseth, the defense secretary, on Monday in Washington and said Italy was ready to send minesweepers from Djibouti in eastern Africa to help clear the vital shipping route for oil and gas. But he said that some “prerequisites are missing” after the United States and Iran signed a preliminary agreement over the weekend, including “an implemented deal, and a willingness on both sides to accept this mission.”
“We aren’t sending ships to wage war, we’re sending them to do demining,” he added. “So peace must be guaranteed by both sides.”
June 16, 2026, 2:20 a.m. ET5 hours ago
Two international shipping companies told The New York Times on Tuesday that their ships had not resumed crossing the Strait of Hormuz. One of them, the Japan-based Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, said that its operations there would not resume “until safety has been sufficiently confirmed.” On Monday, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, a British naval agency, said that the U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports remained in effect. It warned ships not to attempt to go in or out of those ports “until direction is given.”
June 16, 2026, 12:11 a.m. ET7 hours ago
John Ismay and Nicholas Kulish
John Ismay served as a Navy explosive ordnance disposal officer and deep-sea diver for eight years and trained to locate and neutralize or destroy naval mines. He reported from Washington. Nicholas Kulish writes about war and technology and has covered wars on three continents. He reported from New York.
Naval mines could still stymie shipping in the Gulf after the war.
The deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz has raised hopes that “oil will flow on both ends,” as President Trump said Sunday, quickly easing an impending energy crisis.
But it might not be that simple. To restart ship traffic in the strait, one of the most important questions will be whether the Iranians laid naval mines and, if so, how quickly they can be found and neutralized.
It is not even clear that the Iranians laid any mines at all; scores of ships have passed through the strait during the war without hitting mines. In March, United States Central Command said that it had attacked 16 Iranian mine-laying vessels near the Strait of Hormuz, but the impact of those efforts is uncertain.
On Monday, Mr. Trump said that the strait was “already partially opened” and that “they’re doing a little hunting for a couple of mines.” He is also expected to ask European leaders to provide help clearing mines, saying it would not hurt to have “a ship or two up here from a few countries.”
Britain said last month that it could deploy mine-hunting drones as part of a multinational mission to secure the Strait of Hormuz. On Monday, President Emmanuel Macron of France said that France was prepared to dispatch mine-clearing vessels within a few days of a confirmed peace deal.
Before the war began, United States intelligence agencies estimated that Iran had 5,000 mines of different kinds, from relatively crude varieties that float just beneath the surface to far more advanced weapons that sit on the seafloor and use a combination of sensors to find their targets.