Middle East

The announcement of a deal to end hostilities between the US and Iran has provided Donald Trump with a very welcome birthday present – although it’s wrapped in a fair measure of uncertainty. The US president said in his social media post heralding the agreement that the Strait of Hormuz …

Jacob Olidort, chief research officer at the America First Policy Institute, says Trump was right. “All of these issues were completely pushed to the sidelines, completely deprioritised and not included in the arrangement,” he told BBC Verify. Baroness Ashton, who negotiated the deal on behalf of the UN Security Council, …

The war has been President Donald Trump’s worst foreign policy blunder – so far. It makes it harder for the United States to deter its enemies. It has damaged its alliances with the oil-producing Arab monarchies of the Gulf, whose business model as islands of stability in the turbulence of …

“Israel will continue to protect itself,” Likud lawmaker Ariel Kallner told me, though he would not clarify whether that meant Israel would continue its attacks. “We will do what we need to do. And we expect our friends to understand us,” he said. “Sometimes there are disagreements between allies, and …

It comes as Trump attends the G7 summit in France, which will host a special session about Iran attended by the leaders of Egypt, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, on Tuesday. Trump said during talks with French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday: “I am very happy to say it’s …

When President Donald Trump announced the US deal with Iran on Sunday and declared the “opening” of the Strait of Hormuz, his Truth Social post ended with the words “Ships of the World, start your engines. Let the oil flow!” BBC Verify analysis of MarineTraffic ship-tracking data, however, shows that …

Israel occupied East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war. It annexed the sector in 1980, in a move not recognised by the vast majority of the international community, and regards the whole of Jerusalem as its “eternal and undivided” capital. The Palestinians seek East Jerusalem as the capital of …

Economic pressure is central to that calculation. Iran’s leadership may present the agreement as the result of military leverage, including pressure around the Strait of Hormuz and attacks on US and regional energy interests. But the economy has also forced Tehran’s hand. The war, sanctions, restrictions on shipping, reduced access …

The US-Iran agreement has not yet been made public, and it is unclear how it will apply to Lebanon. Both Iran and Pakistan, which acted as a mediator, said it included a ceasefire in the country – an Iranian demand that had become a key obstacle in the negotiations. This …

“The whole land of Israel was promised to the children of God… and this is where we are going to build a new Temple for the entire humanity to come and pray together.” Those were the potentially incendiary words of Moshe Feiglin, a right-wing nationalist Israeli politician, who spoke to …

Lebanon was drawn into the war between Israel, the US and Iran on 2 March, when Hezbollah launched rockets into Israel in retaliation for a strike that killed Iran’s supreme leader. Israel responded by launching a bombing campaign across Lebanon and invading a significant part of the country’s south. More …

The three Iran-flagged tankers, Diona, Hero II and Sonia I, are all owned by the National Iranian Tanker Company which has been sanctioned by the US Treasury, as have the ships themselves. Iran has been subject to long-term US sanctions in response to fears the country is developing nuclear weapons, …

Edwards and Sato were worried the Foremans were being held for political leverage, and have appealed to the Iranian authorities to quash their convictions. They urged the UK government to try all diplomatic means to get them freed. The couple’s last consular visit was back in December. The Foreign Office …

The sixth point of the MoU says the US and regional partners will develop a “definitive, mutually agreed plan” worth at least $300bn (£224bn) for reconstruction and economic development in Iran. The final mechanism will be agreed within 60 days of the final deal, and all licences, waivers and permissions …

Criticism has been swift, including within Trump’s own political party. Lawmakers in Congress are demanding briefings and information from the Trump administration about the deal and the uncertainties it carries. Some Republicans said they were skeptical of the agreement, with one prominent Republican senator denouncing it and arguing Trump gave …

US President Donald Trump has signed an agreement to extend the ceasefire with Iran in France’s Palace of Versailles, just outside Paris. The 14-point agreement, called a Memorandum of Understanding, was signed at a post-G7 dinner in Versailles, where Trump was joined by French President Emmanuel Macron and First Lady …

Republican Texas Senator Ted Cruz, an Iran hawk in Congress, questioned the $300bn fund for Iran. “Giving billions of dollars to theocratic lunatics who want to murder us is not a good idea,” Cruz told reporters. “I think the president, unfortunately, is receiving bad advice.” Earlier on Wednesday, US officials …

The memorandum of understanding signed by President Donald Trump and President Masoud Pezeshkian of Iran lays out the political, military and economic consequences of the ill-judged decision to attack Iran on 28 February. The human cost is already clear. Thousands have been killed, many of them civilians, in Iran and …

The BBC’s Arabic Correspondent Carine Torbey explains how the deal is being viewed in one of the most hit areas of Lebanon. BBC News

The most difficult issues have been deferred, not resolved. The future of Iran’s highly enriched uranium, the scale of its enrichment industry and the rebuilding of damaged nuclear facilities will now be negotiated under intense pressure. That creates a problem for Tehran’s leadership. State media, the Revolutionary Guards, parliament and …