NEW YORK (AP) — The Washington Mystics have really grown on their recent road trip after suffering some tough lessons early in the season.
Washington has won three straight games on the road, including closing out victories late over New York and Minnesota.
“I think it takes time to get to where you want to go,” said Washington forward Kiki Iriafen, who scored the go-ahead basket in the wins over both the Liberty and Lynx. “And that’s something that our coaches have stressed to us. Like the first month of May was kind of hard having back to back losses and even this month, as well. But our coaches told us, like, playoff contending teams don’t happen in May.”
The three consecutive road wins — Washington also won at Connecticut last week — were the first time the team has done that since 2024. The victory at New York on Friday night snapped a 10-game regular season losing streak to the Liberty.
“You just want to get better each and every month. So kind of looking at the season as month to month to month rather than we lost X amount of games or we have this many more games to go," Iriafen said. "I think it’s just a comfortability. We’re all getting more comfortable with each other.”
Coach Sydney Johnson feels that his young team bought in during training camp by putting in the work to get better. The Mystics have the youngest roster in league history.
“I think it’s a combination that we understood we were fielding one of the youngest teams in the history of the league. At the same time, having really competitive players from winning programs,” Johnson said. “We also know that it’s really, really hard to win in this league. Really, really hard. And so we’ve learned some tough lessons, and we’re taking some of that learning and transferring it to future performances.”
Washington returns home to face Minnesota on Wednesday.
Las Vegas and Minnesota sit tied atop the power poll this week. The two teams were followed by Atlanta and New York. Dallas was fifth and Golden State sixth. Washington moved up four spots to seventh. Indiana, Los Angeles and Portland were next. Toronto, Phoenix and Chicago came after the Fire. Seattle and Connecticut rounded out the poll.
Sonia Citron of Washington was the AP player of the week. She averaged 21 points, 6.7 rebounds, 4.7 assists to help the Mystics win their three games last week. Olivia Miles of Minnesota, Jordin Canada of Atlanta, Jessica Shepard of Dallas and Marina Mabrey of Toronto also received votes.
New York at Las Vegas, Tuesday. The Liberty and Aces will meet for the first time this season with the next matchup taking place in New York on June 30 with the Commissioner's Cup championship at stake. The Liberty have dropped their last two games, blowing fourth quarter leads in both contests. Las Vegas is coming in off a dominating win over Golden State.
AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball
FILE - Washington Mystics guard Sonia Citron (22) takes a shot during the second half of a WNBA basketball game against the New York Liberty, May 10, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Daniel Kucin Jr., File)
FILE - Washington Mystics forward Kiki Iriafen dribbles during the first half of a WNBA basketball game against the Dallas Wings in Arlington, Texas, May 18, 2026. (AP Photo/LM Otero, File)
OBBUERGEN, Switzerland (AP) — Vice President JD Vance on Monday said his lengthy talks with senior Iranian officials in Switzerland created a “good foundation for a successful final deal” as they seek a permanent end to the war that the U.S. and Israel began in late February.
Vance and U.S. officials claimed progress on multiple fronts, including the establishment of “mechanisms” to ensure the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway for global energy shipments, stays open and to address fighting between Israel and Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants in southern Lebanon, where a ceasefire appeared to be holding.
The vice president departed Switzerland as technical teams were still in place negotiating. He stressed that the key for President Donald Trump would be Iran's actions rather than its words.
“My point is that I trust actions, and what the president has asked us to do is verify what they’re doing, focus less on what they’re saying,” Vance said.
Iran effectively closed the strait after the U.S. and Israel attacked on Feb. 28, causing fuel prices to skyrocket far beyond the region. The interim agreement to end the war was supposed to reopen the channel. Dozens of ships passed through it over the weekend, even though the main route is still mined and closed.
Shortly after those attacks, Hezbollah and Israel also went to war, with Hezbollah firing rockets and drones at civilian communities in northern Israel and Israel seizing large swaths of southern Lebanon. Iran has insisted that addressing the fighting in Lebanon is a critical component of any deal to end the wider conflict.
Iran noted “major progress” to end the fighting in Lebanon and called that the first real test of the negotiations.
In other developments, the U.S. Treasury issued a 60-day license waiving sanctions on Iranian oil as part of the interim agreement. Notably, the license allows Iranian oil to be imported into the U.S., which has not imported significant amounts of Iranian oil since the 1990s.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent cited the “ongoing productive talks in Switzerland” in a post on X announcing the license, which will last through Aug. 21.
Also on Monday, the State Department announced that Secretary of State Marco Rubio would travel this week to the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Bahrain to discuss the latest developments in Iran.
The mediation effort in Switzerland started Sunday and stretched into early Monday.
“We haven’t built the house, but we’ve laid a successful foundation to get to a good place for the American people,” Vance told reporters after initial talks with Iran’s parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf.
President Donald Trump did not attend what was dubbed the “Lake Lucerne Summit,” but his presence certainly loomed large. The talks were jolted by statements from Trump, who, from thousands of miles away, fired off comments that offended the Iranians.
Iranian state media said talks had paused after the “publication of an insulting message by the U.S. President.” The negotiations later continued.
Vance pushed back against the notion that Trump's threats complicated the talks.
“No, they didn’t throw a wrench in the system," Vance said. He added, "Yes, they did threaten to walk out, or at least there were social media threats that they would walk out. But we were negotiating well past one in the morning yesterday, so they didn’t walk out.”
The vice president suggested that the U.S. could agree to unfreeze Iranian assets for purchases of U.S. soy, corn and wheat. He said Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law and one of the lead U.S. negotiators, came up with the idea with officials from Qatar.
Vance said Qatar would have approval over the process, and Iranian money that would be accessible as sanctions were lifted would buy American products "for the benefit of the Iranian people.”
Iran, which has pressed for the unfreezing of billions of dollars in assets, has not commented on the idea. The assets have been frozen over years of sanctions, banking restrictions and legal disputes imposed by the U.S. and international community on the Islamic Republic.
In a joint statement, mediators Pakistan and Qatar hailed what they called “encouraging progress.”
The interim deal to end the fighting in Iran, signed last week by the leaders of the U.S. and Iran, sets a 60-day period for negotiations on key issues, including the future of Tehran’s nuclear program amid concerns that Iran wants to use it for military purposes, a claim the country denies.
Vance said the technical talks, which were to continue this week, were critical.
“We wanted to set up a structure for that so that you could have proper political oversight, but obviously, as much as this place is very beautiful, I can’t stay here for the next 60 days,” Vance told reporters.
U.S. envoys Kushner and Steve Witkoff are handling many of the technical details.
Meanwhile, more ships went through the Strait of Hormuz. According to data and analytics firm Kpler, there were 71 confirmed transits over the weekend, with a peak of 35 crossings on Saturday. Before the war, 100 to 130 vessels passed through the strait each day.
Ships have been avoiding the central route to steer clear of mines, choosing instead to use the smaller northern route, which goes through Iranian waters, and the southern route, which goes through Omani waters. In the markets, U.S. oil prices dropped more than 2% in Monday afternoon trading to $74.66 a barrel.
Trump, over the weekend, made clear he was annoyed by Iran’s public commentary on the strait, which Iran’s military said it closed Saturday in response to continued fighting in Lebanon. U.S. Central Command disputed that Iran closed the strait again.
Ahead of the talks, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian had vowed to “never back down from the right to enrich uranium,” according to state media.
Trump on Sunday told Fox News in a phone interview that Pezeshkian should watch what he says and threatened to take over Iran, according to one of the news channel's correspondents.
Trump also posted on social media as negotiators worked: “Iran must immediately stop their highly paid PROXIES in Lebanon from causing trouble. If they don’t, we’ll hit Iran very hard again, just like we did last week, only harder!!!”
Vance said the Iranians should have expected such a reaction from Trump.
“What we told the Iranians yesterday is when you guys engage in what us millennials might call trash talk, you can’t expect the president of the United States not to respond and not to correct the record,” Vance said.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote on X that mediators delivered "major progress to end the Lebanon War.” But he said the first “real test” of negotiations would be whether the mechanism succeeds in halting the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.
Neither Israel nor Hezbollah is a signatory to the U.S.-Iran deal.
But as of Monday evening in the Middle East, the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah appeared to be holding.
“We have not detected trajectories from either side since yesterday,” said Tilak Pokharel, a spokesperson for the U.N. peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon known as UNIFIL.
Airspace violations and Israeli military movements continued, Pokharel said.
Hezbollah has not announced any attacks on Israeli forces since Saturday.
The lull in fighting in Lebanon is the longest since the latest Israel-Hezbollah war began on March 2.
Kim and Boak reported from Washington. Associated Press reporters Abby Sewell in Beirut, David Rising in Bangkok, Fatima Hussein in Washington, Mae Anderson in New York, Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel, contributed to this story.
A woman collects her kids toys and belongings from her destroyed house following a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah in the village of Maifadoun, southern Lebanon, Monday, June 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)
A man flashes the victory sign through the shattered window of a damaged apartment following a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah in the town of Nabatiyeh, southern Lebanon, Monday, June 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)
People check destroyed cars following a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah in the village of Maifadoun, southern Lebanon, Monday, June 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)
Vice President JD Vance walks after speaking to members of the media following high-level talks between the U.S. and Iran at the Bürgenstock Resort in Obbuergen, near Lucerne, in Switzerland, Monday, June 22, 2026. (Nathan Howard/Pool Photo via AP)
Vice President JD Vance speaks to members of the media after the U.S. and Iran held high-level talks at the Bürgenstock Resort in Obbuergen, near Lucerne, in Switzerland, Monday, June 22, 2026. (Nathan Howard/Pool Photo via AP)
Vice President JD Vance speaks to members of the media after the U.S. and Iran held high-level talks at the Bürgenstock Resort in Obbuergen, near Lucerne, in Switzerland, Monday, June 22, 2026. (Nathan Howard/Pool Photo via AP)
Vice President JD Vance speaks to members of the media after the U.S. and Iran held high-level talks at the Bürgenstock Resort in Obbuergen, near Lucerne, in Switzerland, Monday, June 22, 2026. (Nathan Howard/Pool Photo via AP)
From left, US Vice-President JD Vance, Prime Minister of Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Shehbaz Sharif and Premier minister of Qatar Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, at the Buergenstock resort resort in Obbuergen, near Lucerne, Switzerland, Sunday, June 21, 2026. (Urs Flueeler, Pool Photo via AP)
US Vice President JD Vance prior to a quadrilateral meeting between the United States, Iran, Pakistan and Qatar at the Burgenstock luxury hotel complex overlooking Lake Lucerne, Switzerland, Sunday June 21, 2026. (Fabrice Coffrini/Keystone via AP)
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iran, Seyyed Abbas Araghchi, 3rd from right, and Speaker of the Islamic Parliament of Iran, Mohammed Bagher Ghalibaf, 2nd from right, with the Delegation of Iran at the Lake Lucerne Summit at the Buergenstock resort in Obbuergen, near Lucerne, Switzerland, Sunday, June 21, 2026. (Urs Flueeler, Pool Photo via AP)
