Germany sends ships toward Red Sea for possible Hormuz mission

Iran’s conservative Khorasan daily, which is close to chief negotiator and parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, warned Iranian officials against taking a joint photo or shaking hands with US officials at the expected signing of a memorandum of understanding in Switzerland.

The newspaper said US Vice President JD Vance, or even President Donald Trump, could travel to Switzerland for the signing ceremony, and warned that Washington was seeking such an image.

“The Iranian delegation’s protocol team must be careful from now,” it said, adding that officials must not agree to a “souvenir photo” with Americans or a handshake with Trump.

Ships have faced long delays and costly diversions to secure fuel as shortages linked to the Middle East crisis disrupt established energy supply routes, the Financial Times reported on Thursday, citing industry executives.

Vessels have been forced to wait up to nearly two weeks at major refueling hubs or sail hundreds of extra miles to find bunker fuel, the report said.

Shipping leaders warned that disruptions could continue even after the US and Iran reached a deal.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Thursday that Australia welcomes a memorandum of understanding between the US and Iran, calling it “a really important breakthrough” that could provide immediate de-escalation and help reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Albanese said at a press conference in Sydney that the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz might take some time, adding that the economic consequences of its closure would continue to be felt for some time.

He also said the agreement includes a nuclear weapons provision, saying Australia has said all along that it does not want Iran to gain access to nuclear weapons.

Republican Senator Eric Schmitt said on Wednesday that President Donald Trump achieved what many believed was impossible by severely degrading Iran’s military and nuclear capabilities while creating an opening for diplomacy, speaking in an interview with Fox News.

Schmitt said Iran is now committing for the first time not to pursue a nuclear weapon and argued that the agreement should be based on verification rather than trust, describing the outcome as a success for the American people.

President Trump later shared the interview on Truth Social and thanked Schmitt.

US Vice President JD Vance said a key strength of the memorandum of understanding with Iran is that it focuses on conduct rather than rhetoric, adding that the new Iranian leadership will be judged by its actions.

“The good thing about this MoU is that it is not about words, it is about their conduct,” Vance said in an interview with CBN News.

"One of the things that the president was very bothered and the whole administration was bothered by was all these innocent protestors being slaughtered by of course those people who were in charge a few months ago," Vance said.

"Those people are now gone. But we are going to see. Do these new leaders treat the people differently? We certainly hope so and if they don’t, we can figure out when we see their actual conduct. Which is why I say, the good thing about this MoU is that it is not about words, it is about their conduct," he added.