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Vance Leaves for Iran Talks; Trump Threatens Strait Tolls 33%
By KAREEM CHEHAYEB0% BASSEM MROUE0% MUNIR AHMED0%
6/20/2026, 2:10:55 PM
BS Summary: This article contains 17 faulty reasoning types, including Availability Heuristic, Unattributed Quote, and Negativity Bias, with Appeal to Authority as the most egregious example at 20.1% saturation with 134 hits. Analysis detected 977 faulty-reasoning hits from 666 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 41.4% and a BS Rank of 33% (14,766 of 21,887 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 67.50% of the article peer group.
Iran on Saturday said it closed the Strait of Hormuz because of Israel’s attacks in Lebanon and warned that while negotiators were going to Switzerland for talks with the United States on their interim agreement, not much likely will happen if the fighting doesn’t stop.
President Donald Trump, in response, threatened to impose American tolls in the crucial waterway if a final deal with Iran isn’t reached in 60 days, saying the money would be for "services rendered as the Guardian Angel to the countries of the Middle East."
His social media post underscored that the agreement calls for toll-free travel for 60 days.
The announcements indicated a rough start to technical-level U.S.-Iran talks that key mediator Pakistan said will begin Sunday, with Qatari mediators also participating.
Vice President JD Vance left for Switzerland on Saturday evening, just as Iranian state TV posted video showing Iran's negotiators arriving there.
They include parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and central bank and oil officials, among others.
The deal calls for billions of dollars of Iran’s assets to be unfrozen.
Talks were meant to start Friday, but the Iranians initially canceled their plans to attend because of escalating fighting in Lebanon.
Negotiators for the U.S. and Qatar, with help from Iran, worked out an agreement between Israel and Hezbollah to tamp down hostilities, according to U.S. and regional officials who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Vance told reporters he would be in Switzerland "for a day or two" but was optimistic on making progress in the nuclear talks and on a ceasefire in southern Lebanon.
Negotiations toward a final agreement will begin once key commitments are upheld, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said.
If they are not, "the memorandum of understanding as a whole will be jeopardized."
But the strait has emerged again as a focus.
Iran’s joint military command said it was closed because of the U.S. "clear breach of its commitments" by failing to end the war.
The interim deal is meant to stop fighting on all fronts.
The U.S. disputed Iran's announcement.
"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," said Capt.
Tim Hawkins, a spokesperson for U.S.
Central Command.
The military said that 55 merchant ships transited Saturday with more than 17 million barrels of oil.
The global economy braced for more uncertainty.
Ships began transiting after the interim U.S.-Iran agreement was signed earlier in the week, a milestone that left plenty of questions unanswered.
The U.S. lifted its blockade of Iran’s ports and now allows Tehran to sell its oil freely — terms that have left some in U.S.
Congress asking whether the war was worth it.
Vance earlier confirmed that top negotiators Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff were already in Switzerland and working through technical details of anticipated negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program.
The interim deal gives negotiators 60 days to reach a nuclear agreement, but the issue is intricate and the time can be extended.
A Hezbollah official told The Associated Press that Iran informed the terrorist group that Tehran won't reopen the strait until Israel announces publicly that it will comply with a "comprehensive ceasefire" in Lebanon and an end to military operations there.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak publicly.
The official said that Hezbollah would commit to a ceasefire if Israel does.
An Israeli military official, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with regulations, later said that the military had received "updated directives from the political echelon to cease fire."
The official said that the military is operating in a defensive manner in Lebanon, which includes the right to respond to Hezbollah attacks.
The official also said that five Israeli soldiers had been killed in the past 48 hours in southern Lebanon.
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