As per reports, the updates on tensions in the Middle East as of Wednesday (24 June) are as follows:
• Strait of Hormuz: On Tuesday (23 June), the International Maritime Organization (IMO) announced the commencement of a large-scale evacuation operation for more than 11,000 seafarers stranded in the Gulf since the outbreak of hostilities. The operation will be conducted in coordination with Iran, Oman, other regional coastal states, the US and maritime industry stakeholders, following the securing of safety assurances and verification of navigational conditions to facilitate the safe movement of vessels and personnel.
• Lebanon: On Tuesday (23 June), a parliamentary commission comprising three Lebanese MPs has announced the establishment of a United Nations (UN) team mandated to document alleged systematic destruction and damage to civilian property in southern Lebanon since 2023. Formed following a request by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the team is expected to conduct meetings and field visits over a four-month period to gather and assess evidence, according to statements made by MP Ashraf Baydoun.
• US: The Republican party of the US Senate voted 50–48 in favor of a concurrent resolution directing US President Donald Trump to withdraw US armed forces from hostilities with or against Iran on Tuesday (23 June).
• US, Iran: On Tuesday (23 June), US President Donald Trump stated there will be no further US naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and further indicated that Iran has agreed to allow nuclear inspections despite statements from Iranian officials that it has not done so.
• Lebanon, Israel: A new round of Israel-Lebanon talks has commenced in Washington, DC, with discussions being conducted concurrently on diplomatic and military tracks on Tuesday (23 June). According to Israeli and US officials, the negotiations will proceed through joint military-political sessions, dedicated military discussions and concluding political meetings, with the talks scheduled to continue through Thursday (25 June).
• Israeli Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter indicated that Israel and Lebanon are ‘heading toward a train wreck,’ at the start of the fifth round of talks between the two countries in Washington, DC. The president of Lebanon, Joseph Aoun, has said that Beirut will ‘accept nothing less than the end of the Israeli occupation’ in the country’s south.
• Iran: On Tuesday (23 June), Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian stated that Iran’s missile programme is not included in the memorandum of understanding with the US and indicated that the issue of missiles was neither part of the agreement nor subject to future negotiations. The remarks were made during a news conference held in Pakistan.
