Vance Iran Switzerland talks Strait of Hormuz closed

Before takeoff, Vance told reporters that Washington had "a couple days of talks" ahead to try to launch the next phase of President Donald Trump's ceasefire agreement. The negotiations between the United States and Iran over a final peace agreement began almost four months after the start of the war, and both sides have set 60 days to reach a binding peace agreement that would definitively end the conflict.

On the Iranian side, the delegation includes chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Sunday: "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." Pezeshkian also signaled that Iran could provide a written guarantee of its renunciation of nuclear weapons if necessary, noting that former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei had rejected the development of weapons of mass destruction for religious reasons.

Iran's nuclear position and mediators at the table

The talks are being mediated by Pakistan and Qatar. Vance met with Pakistani representatives brokering the negotiations, including Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir. Qatar expressed hope that the meetings would lead to a comprehensive and lasting agreement on all points of the framework agreement reached by Washington and Tehran. Rafael Grossi, chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency, is also attending the meetings in Switzerland.

Vance opened the session by speaking of a "historic meeting" and called for "turning a new page" in the Middle East. "We've already made great progress over just the last few hours, and I expect that we'll make additional progress in the hours to come," Vance told reporters on Sunday. He also said there has been "great progress" in the last couple of days.

Vance on progress and on Israel

Asked for his message to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Vance replied, "these things are always a little bit messy." He added that there are "sometimes disagreements about precisely how to get there, but I actually feel great about where we are in Lebanon. There's still some additional wood to chop, but we're going to keep on working." The vice president also stated that the U.S. has "done more to stop the conflict in Lebanon than any government anywhere in the world."

The diplomatic push comes against a backdrop of renewed fighting. Israeli forces and Hezbollah exchanged heavy fire throughout Saturday, following a ceasefire that had been announced on Friday. At least 16 people, including civilians, were killed by Israeli strikes on Saturday, according to the Lebanese National News Agency. Israel said the Saturday strikes were a response to Hezbollah firing projectiles at Israeli forces overnight on Saturday, and Hezbollah said it fired in response to Israel moving toward Lebanese territory.

Renewed Israel-Hezbollah clashes test the ceasefire

Neither Israel nor Lebanon have signed the Memorandum of Understanding at the center of the talks, and the Memorandum calls for respect of Lebanese sovereignty, a provision Iran says the U.S. must enforce. The Memorandum of Understanding also calls for a halt to military operations in Lebanon, and Iran said the U.S. failure to rein in Israel violated the terms of last week's tentative agreement, which specifies that all fighting in Lebanon must end.

Follow-up talks had been planned in Switzerland on Friday but were postponed at the last minute after Israel launched strikes in Lebanon. The Israeli strikes that prompted the postponement followed the deaths of four Israeli soldiers in combat. The interim head of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon told NPR on Sunday that, for the first time since the war between Israel and Hezbollah began, the peacekeeping force had recorded no attacks from either side.

Strait of Hormuz closed again

Iran's military announced on Saturday that it had closed the Strait of Hormuz because of continued Israeli strikes in Lebanon against Hezbollah. Iran announced the closure of the strait to vessel traffic, citing a U.S. "breach of contract" and "the Zionist regime's continuous and relentless violation of the ceasefire in southern Lebanon." According to an Iranian insider, the Strait of Hormuz will only be reopened once the ceasefire in Lebanon is actually upheld, and the Fars news agency, citing an insider, said the Revolutionary Guards Navy had not yet issued any transit permits for the strait as of Sunday.

Tasnim quoted an insider close to the Iranian negotiating delegation saying that another condition for reopening the strait was that exception permits be issued for the sale of Iranian oil. U.S. Central Command stated that shipping through the Strait of Hormuz was proceeding normally despite Iran's announcement of closure. The Strait of Hormuz is a key conduit for oil and gas shipments, and the strait had been blockaded by Iran for much of the war, sending shock waves through global energy markets.

Trump's threat and Iran's response

The atmosphere at the talks was complicated by a social media post from President Trump on Sunday. Trump wrote: "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!!!" According to IRNA, Trump's threat was perceived as "insulting" by Iran. According to the Iranian news agency Tasnim, threats are considered a violation of the agreement between the U.S. and Iran, entitling Tehran to respond, even though both parties committed in the agreement to refrain from attacks and threats.

Iran reported that the talks, mediated by Pakistan and Qatar, entered a difficult phase after 80 minutes due to the publication of Trump's message. Iranian chief negotiator Ghalibaf stated on platform X that Iran disregards American threats and that Iran's armed forces are ready to respond differently: "Wir schenken amerikanischen Drohungen keine Beachtung. Sie täten gut daran, mit ihren Äußerungen vorsichtig zu sein." Ghalibaf, who is also parliament speaker, warned: "Ganz gleich, was sie sagen – wir sind diejenigen, die handeln."

What the two sides are trying to achieve

Iran has insisted its nuclear program is peaceful. The talks are focused on a Memorandum of Understanding signed by both the U.S. and Iran the previous week, with the stated aim of a final agreement on the Iranian nuclear program, the lifting of sanctions, and the release of Iranian assets by the U.S. NPR's Jane Arraf contributed to this report.

The talks mark the latest attempt to put the Middle East peace process back on track. The peace talks follow a fragile ceasefire agreement previously reached under President Donald Trump. The Israel-Hezbollah war started on March 2 and has lasted nearly four months at the time of reporting. The negotiations began four days after Presidents Trump and Pezeshkian signed a framework agreement to end the war in the Middle East in Versailles on Wednesday.