Iran…Trump…Conflict…Evening… June 20, 2026…Lots of Issues

President Trump’s envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, are already in Switzerland, and an Iranian delegation has also arrived, according to Mr. Vance. Pakistan, which has served as an intermediary in talks, said on Saturday that “technical talks” would begin Sunday in Switzerland.

Over the last 48 hours, the fragile cease-fire had seemed at risk: Iran first postponed the next round of talks, initially scheduled for Friday, then claimed it was closing the Strait of Hormuz, over the continued fighting in Lebanon between Israel, a U.S. ally, and Hezbollah, an Iranian one.

The Iranian military, justifying the announced closure of the strategic waterway, said the United States had committed a “clear breach” of its commitments in the initial agreement by failing to rein in hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, an Iran-backed militant group, which exchanged fire again on Saturday. The naval arm of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps warned that ships that approached the strait would put their own security at risk.

But Capt. Tim Hawkins, a spokesman for the U.S. Central Command, later said: “Iran does not control the Strait of Hormuz. Traffic continues to flow, and U.S. forces are monitoring the situation to ensure this remains the case.”

Fifty-five commercial ships traveled through the strait on Saturday, according to the U.S. Central Command, the largest number of ships in a single day since early in the war, though still far below the 130 daily prewar average. It was not clear whether traffic had changed after Iran’s warnings.

The war in Lebanon has threatened to upend the fragile agreement between Washington and Tehran. The first paragraph of the initial agreement calls for a cease-fire on all fronts, including Lebanon, but neither Israel nor Hezbollah have signed on to the pact. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel has indicated that he is not bound by the agreement, drawing rebukes from the White House.

On Friday, Israel and Hezbollah had reached a new cease-fire, diplomats and officials said, but that seemed to evaporate on Saturday. Lebanese state media reported Israeli airstrikes on towns and cities in southern Lebanon, and the country’s civil defense agency reported at least 16 people were killed.

The Israeli military said that Hezbollah had fired more than 50 projectiles at Israeli forces in southern Lebanon overnight, prompting Israeli strikes on what the military described as Hezbollah targets in the region.

In a statement on Saturday, Hezbollah maintained it was adhering to the cease-fire, but acknowledged its fighters had ambushed Israeli infantry attempting to advance overnight on a strategic ridge overlooking the city of Nabatieh, about 45 miles south of Beirut.

Here’s what else we’re covering.

• Lebanon strikes: The diplomatic breakdown on Friday was the second time in recent weeks that the conflict in Lebanon has upended talks between the United States and Iran.

• Supreme leader: Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, distanced himself from the agreement with the United States.

• Economic repercussions: If the deal holds, billions of dollars in frozen Iranian assets could be released…..

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ISW...Iran Update Special Report, June 20, 2026

• An Iranian negotiating delegation arrived in Switzerland on June 20 to discuss the implementation of the US-Iran memorandum of understanding (MoU) with US negotiators. Iran will likely use these talks to try to pressure the United States to compel Israel to cease military operations against Hezbollah in Lebanon. It is unclear if Iran’s negotiating delegation will discuss the Iranian nuclear program in Switzerland.
• The Iranian delegation will likely use Iran’s renewed closure of the Strait of Hormuz as leverage in the talks to try to pressure the United States to compel Israel to halt operations against Hezbollah in Lebanon. Iran likely calculates that it can use the strait as a tool to put greater economic pressure on the United States to meet Iranian demands.
• Israel and Hezbollah continued to launch attacks targeting each other despite agreeing to a ceasefire on June 19. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) warned that it is committed to the ceasefire but will continue to “forcefully” strike Hezbollah if the group launches further attacks against Israeli forces.
• There are some indications of disagreements within the Iranian regime regarding Iran’s participation in talks. The Iranian regime has a vested interest in maintaining the negotiating process under the MoU because Iran is receiving economic relief, such as sanctions waivers, as part of the agreement.
• The composition of the Iranian negotiating delegation indicates that Iran intends to discuss economic relief components of the MoU at the talks. Iran would almost certainly use any economic relief to try to reconstitute its defense and military capabilities and the Axis of Resistance. Iran may also calculate that the United States would have less leverage to extract concessions from Iran on its nuclear program during the 60-day negotiations period if Iran can frontload economic relief.