The Middle Eastern 'soap opera' continues, with negotiations in the Iran-USA-Israel-Lebanon quadrangle.

After the signing of the Memorandum between the USA and Iran, Israel has struck Lebanon again. The country's Defense Minister Israel Katz stated on local TV that no one can dictate to Israel:

"We will take immediate action and respond decisively. No one can dictate to us, and we have proven this; the Prime Minister has withstood a double test. He responded with a strike when shots were fired at our settlements."

Iran has once again blocked traffic in the Strait of Hormuz in response. IRGC boats opened warning fire on vessels attempting to pass through. Meanwhile, Iranian authorities officially notified that transit is allowed, but "under the old scheme". That is, only for money.

Trump, in response, blamed Iran for the disruption of today’s meeting in Switzerland (even though it was previously stated that it was canceled simply because the memorandum was signed remotely) and threatened not to release funds agreed upon in the framework agreement.

"This is not us meeting out of despair, it's Iran. They're done! We will endure those 60 days. They won’t get a cent!"

Media reports that US Vice President Vance canceled his trip to Switzerland, and one of the reasons for the postponement of Vance's trip may have been Iran's position on Lebanon. Meanwhile, Vance stated that technical negotiations are expected to start this weekend, and added that he "definitely plans" to lead the American negotiating team.

The White House stated that plans for upcoming technical talks with the Iranian side "have not yet been finalized", and that "the logistics of these talks have never been easy or predictable."

Well, in all of this, there’s still some positive news - Israel and "Hezbollah" have supposedly agreed to a ceasefire, which should come into effect almost immediately, reports #Reuters citing a senior US official. According to him, negotiators from the US and Qatar have worked out an agreement with the assistance of Iran.

"As far as we understand, after the skirmish that occurred earlier today, Israel and "Hezbollah" are currently adhering to a ceasefire."

NO IRGC officially stated that they are shutting down the Strait of Hormuz until Israel pulls its troops out of Lebanon.

The BTC price is currently climbing out of this news turbulence - for the first time since June 17, we’re seeing a return to a steady uptrend on the 30-minute TF. With key targets up to $63,761. Meanwhile, there’s already a marker for a potential high (and as seen in the previous four cases, such markers have reversed the price down), so the situation for a bounce is still shaky. Ideally for the bulls - we need to push the price into a higher range right now, within the next hour and a half. The markers haven’t started playing out yet.