Vice President JD Vance landed in Switzerland on Sunday with his pregnant wife, joining senior Iranian officials for the start of negotiations with Tehran. But a fresh flare-up between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon threatened to complicate the already delicate talks.
The United States and Iran reached a tentative interim agreement on Wednesday aimed at ending the war. Under the terms, both sides have 60 days to negotiate a broader arrangement to keep the Strait of Hormuz open and chart a way forward on Iran’s nuclear program.
The agreement also requires an end to the fighting in Lebanon, a central demand from Iran that was included in the opening section of the deal.
Just days after the accord was signed, however, it came under immediate pressure as clashes intensified in Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed militant group.
Iran’s military responded by announcing that the Strait of Hormuz had been closed again. Tehran said the crisis in Lebanon would now be folded into the negotiations taking place in Switzerland.
A new ceasefire in Lebanon, negotiated on Saturday, appeared to be holding as Vance opened discussions with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir.
Munir, Pakistan’s army chief, has played a significant role as a go-between for Washington and Tehran during the conflict.
“What’s up, man! Good to see you,” Vance said as he greeted Munir warmly.
Vice President JD Vance arrived in Switzerland on Sunday to conduct negotiations to end the war with Iran. He is pictured greeting Pakistani intermediary Asim Munir
Vance was joined by his pregant wife, Usha Vance, for the talks
Sharif met separately with Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, who is leading Tehran’s delegation, and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
Mediators from Qatar were also on hand at the mountainside resort near Lake Lucerne.
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Rafael Grossi, chief of the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, met with Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis on the sidelines of the gathering.
The agency had monitored the 2015 nuclear deal negotiated between the U.S. and Iran under the Democratic Obama administration. Trump, a Republican, withdrew the US from the agreement in 2018.
Iran´s main focus during the negotiations will be the ongoing war between Israel and Lebanon, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei told Iran´s state news agency.
Iran is insisting that the deal´s implementation start with the part of the deal that calls for a cessation of all wars, including between Israel and Hezbollah. Baghaei said the US ‘has been unable or unwilling’ to hold Israel to the ceasefire.
Iran is cautiously approaching the negotiations given its previous experience with the US negotiations on the nuclear issue, which twice in the past year have been interrupted by massive strikes against the country.
‘The implementation of any document is more important than its signing,’ Baghaei said Sunday.
Smoke is pictured billowing from buildings in southern Lebanon following an Israeli airstrike. Iran has said that ending conflict in the country is one of its main priorities for the negotiations
Iran´s president has also emphasized that Iran will maintain its right to a nuclear program.
‘What is certain is that we will never back down from the right to enrich uranium, and the other side is also forced to accept it,’ Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Sunday, according to Iran´s state media.
Vance had originally been slated to be on the ground at the Bürgenstock resort near Lucerne on Friday, but his departure from the United States was delayed after fighting escalated in Lebanon and Iranian officials canceled plans to attend the talks.
US Central Command disputed Iran´s claim that it had once again shuttered the strait and said US forces continued to monitor the situation to ensure traffic continues to flow through the waterway.
Vance has said that millions of barrels of oil have moved through the strait in recent days.
This is a developing news story. More to follow.
