Middle East: Trump again claims Iran peace deal is imminent

Middle East: Trump again claims Iran peace deal is imminent Published June 9, 2026last updated June 9, 2026What you need to know - Trump said a Middle East peace deal was in the'final throes' - The US president said the Strait of Hormuz would reopen immediately after a deal is sealed - A US Army Apache helicopter has crashed near the Strait of Hormuz Here are the rolling updates on the Iran war and the wider Middle East on Tuesday, June 9. Tired of missing our real-time updates? Click here to add us as a Preferred Source on Google. Then tap the "Star" or "Preferred" to keep DW News at the top of your feed Lebanon: Israeli army issues evacuation warning for Tyre The Israeli military has called on residents of Lebanon's Tyre and the areas surrounding the southern city to evacuate ahead of expected strikes. "Urgent warning to the residents of the city of Tyre, including the Christian quarter, and the camps and surrounding neighborhoods," Avichay Adraee, the Israeli military's Arabic-language spokesperson, wrote in a post on X Tuesday. "For your safety, we ask you to immediately evacuate your homes ... and move north of the Zahrani River," Adraee wrote. An AFP correspondent reported that residents of Tyre were fleeing, including from the Christian quarter, where many displaced people have sought refuge. "As we warned in the past days, following Hezbollah elements' actions inside the Christian Quarter in the city, the Israel Defense Forces will be compelled to act against their terrorist activities in the quarter in the near term," the message from Adraee said. Until Tuesday, the Christian quarter in the Old City had not received evacuation warnings or suffered the Israeli airstrikes that have hit much of the Lebanese city. Middle East third-most-affected region by state-based conflict in 2025, report finds There were more state conflicts in 2025 than there have been in any year since World War II, according to a new study published Tuesday. The annual "Conflict Trends" report from the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) found that 2025 was also the third-deadliest year for conflicts since the Cold War. "We also saw an increase in the number of conflicts in the Middle East from, 10 in 2024 to 13 in 2025. This is the highest recorded number of conflicts in the region since 1946," the report said. The AFP news agency quoted PRIO researcher Siri Aas Rustad as telling reporters that Israel was "clearly one of the most aggressive countries in the world at the moment" because of its involvement in conflicts in Gaza, Syria, Lebanon and Iran, as well as against Houthi rebels in Yemen. Trump says pilots fine after US Army helicopter crash near Hormuz President Donald Trump said the two crew members of a US Army helicopter "were fine" after The New York Times reported that an Apache helicopter gunship had gone down near the Strait of Hormuz. "The pilots are fine. Yeah," Trump told reporters when asked about the incident. The New York Times first reported that the helicopter crashed near the crucial waterway that has been choked by the Iran war. The report added that the crew on board had been rescued. It was not immediately clear what led to the crash. "Nobody injured. We are going to issue a report tomorrow. But the pilots are fine," Trump said. There has been no statement yet from the US military command or the Defense Department. Trump says Middle East peace deal in 'final throes' US President Donald Trump has claimed that negotiators in talks for a peace deal in the Middle East were in the "final throes" as unease looms after Iran and Israel mounted their worst strikes in months — unraveling a ceasefire — and then hit pause on fresh strikes Monday. Iran and Israel "were going back and forth, and now they both agreed through me to stop," Trump told the media, "and we are in the final throes of what will be a very, very good deal." Trump said there was "a good chance" a deal could be reached in "two or three days" as he spoke to reporters after attending the NBA Finals in Madison Square Garden in New York City. He said the Strait of Hormuz would "open up immediately upon signing" of a deal. Trump has repeatedly claimed a peace agreement with Iran is close since a ceasefire was agreed upon in April. Tehran has linked any deal with the US to a ceasefire in Lebanon, where Israel is at war with the Iran-backed Hezbollah. On Monday, Iran said it would attack again if Israel persisted with its strikes in Lebanon. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that should Tehran "make the mistake of resuming attacks against us, we will respond with full force." Welcome to our coverage Thank you for joining us! This is the Tuesday edition of our coverage of the Middle East as Iran and Israel say they intend to enter a pause in attacks that were renewed over the last weekend. But first, here's a wrap of development that unfolded at the start of the week: - Iran and Israel announced a halt in hostilities after the two nations launched a salvo of strikes against each other, threatening to intensify the Middle East war - Tehran's main international airport reopened. Flights carrying Hajj pilgrims from Saudi Arabia began landing - Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen declared a ban on Israeli shipping in the Red Sea - The European Union imposed additional sanctions on Iran over the near-total blockade of the Strait of Hormuz - International Atomic Energy Agency head Rafael Grossi called on Iran to "reengage" on the issue of nuclear inspections. Stay tuned as we bring you the latest.