On the evening of Sunday, June 14, in the South Garden of the White House, the spotlights were pointed at a UFC match. Under the metal construction that the organizers called "The Claw", Justin Gaji was celebrating his victory with a spectacular hive outside the octagon. In the first series of officials, Donald Trump watched the spectacle having just announced that the war with Iran had ended and that the Straits of Ormuz were reopening.
A few hours earlier, as he was preparing to celebrate his 80th birthday in the White House with his family, the American president had caused international feeling with a post on Truth Social. "The agreement with the Islamic Republic of Iran is complete. Congratulations, everyone. I fully approve the opening of the Straits of Hormuz without transit fees and the immediate lifting of the United States naval blockade. Ships of the world, start your engines. Let oil flow," he wrote.
However, as happened many times during this war, the president's rhetoric preceded the events. The full text of the agreement had not yet been made public, the official signature was days away and the most difficult issues—the nuclear programme, the sanctions and the Lebanon front—were still open.
The result of weeks of intense diplomacy, the interim agreement between the US and Iran puts off lot of the horniest issues. https://t.co/aOIJL5JKHk— Bloomberg (@business) June 17, 2026
The attack that barely blew everything up.
The deal was literally found on the brink of collapse that same morning. At about 6:45 in the morning Washington, Israel bombed targets in southern Beirut. Iranian negotiators had repeatedly warned that such an action could lead to a final collapse of talks.
The Israeli government argued that it was a response to missiles launched by Hezbollah. In the West and in the Arab capitals, however, many saw something different: a last attempt by Benjamin Netanyahu to derail an agreement from which he was virtually excluded.
Tehran temporarily froze contacts. Four hours later, Trump himself went out publicly and criticized the Israeli attack, stating that "it should not have happened.".
His annoyance toward his former close ally was no longer a secret. He reportedly contacted Netanyahu by telephone and expressed his anger at him with particularly harsh designation, considering that bombings threatened to destroy months of diplomatic efforts.
Qatar comes forward
Behind the deal was a long-term mediation background. Although Qatar had played a supporting role along with Pakistan, Egypt and Turkey as early as March, by mid-May it avoided taking the lead in the process.
The situation changed when both Washington and Tehran asked Doha to engage more actively.
Qatar secretly sent a high-ranking delegation to Tehran via Turkey in order to avoid publicity. The aim was to record the actual intentions of the Iranian leadership and identify possible compromises. The Qatari mediators were found in the Iranian capital just at the time Trump publicly brought back the threat of military action, stating that "time runs out for Iran".
One day later, the American president announced that he had postponed a planned attack at the request of Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, because serious negotiations were under way.
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