After a marathon session of eighteen hours, positive messages came from Switzerland on Monday. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif spoke on X of “encouraging progress” in the negotiations between Iran and the United States. At a press conference in Switzerland, US Vice President and chief negotiator JD Vance said that despite “some threatening” and “whining”, there has been “great progress” [is] booked”.
After a chaotic weekend full of mutual threats, the talks kicked off on Sunday in the Bürgenstock resort in Lucerne. Here, the fragile file must be converted into a sustainable agreement over a period of sixty days.
In the fourteen-point American-Iranian Memorandum of Understanding which closed on June 17, fundamental issues remain outstanding, which will be negotiated in the coming months.
On Sunday, there was particular discussion of keeping the Strait of Hormuz open, which was blocked by Iran in response to the US-Israeli war against Iran since February 28, and a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The real challenges, such as technical talks on Iran’s nuclear program, whether the country can continue to enrich uranium, and a timeline for the lifting of sanctions on Iran, will have to wait.
Also read
The final text of the agreement between the US and Iran: this is what it says between the lines
The hearing in Switzerland has not yet produced any concrete results. Above all, a framework has been created within which negotiations can continue. For example, the Qatari and Pakistani mediators announced that a committee has been set up to politically monitor the talks by the chief negotiators.
According to Swiss authorities, the US and Iran have agreed on a “roadmap” to reach a final agreement after 60 days. It is still unclear what exactly this step-by-step plan entails.
According to Vance, the two sides will monitor a ceasefire in Lebanon and the demining of the Strait of Hormuz through “coordination mechanisms.” Vance also announced that Iran has agreed to allow inspectors from the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to enter Iran.
Chaotic week
The optimism in Switzerland about the kick-off of negotiations followed a chaotic week, in which the battle between Israel and Iran’s ally Hezbollah in Lebanon once again proved to be the hot potato of the US-Iranian framework agreement. For Iran, a ceasefire in Lebanon is an important requirement in an agreement with the US. Israel can thus torpedo an American-Iranian deal via the Lebanese theater of war.
The talks in Switzerland were initially supposed to start on Friday. Vance was supposed to travel to Switzerland on Thursday, but postponed it at the last minute for “logistical reasons.” Tehran is said to have waited to send a delegation to Switzerland pending evidence that Israel’s attacks on Lebanon would be halted, according to the Iranian news agency Tasnim.
Also read
Truce in Lebanon is the Achilles heel of the US-Iran peace deal. Israel has very little interest in ending the fighting
Over the weekend, Iran managed to take further control of the situation. After a truce between Israel and Hezbollah was announced on Friday, new hostilities followed in Lebanon on Saturday. On Saturday, Iran announced it had blocked the Strait of Hormuz again after the US failed to stop its ally Israel in Lebanon.
However, the blockade was denied by the Americans. Maritime analysts did signal one on Sunday relapse in the number of ships that have sailed through the strait since the framework agreement.
US President Donald Trump addressed Iran in an interview with Fox News on Sunday with threatening words: “If you [de Straat van Hormuz] closes, you no longer have a country.” He also threatened to impose tolls on ships crossing the strait. Iranian parliament speaker and chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf wrote on social media that Iran’s “armed forces are ready to respond” if the US resumes its attacks on Iran.
A convoy on Monday near the Bürgenstock resort in Lucerne, Switzerland, where the US and Iran are negotiating.
Photo Stefan Wermuth/Reuters
Violence in Lebanon
During the talks in Switzerland, the Iranian delegation reportedly left the negotiating table on Sunday after Trump threatened on social media to attack Iran again if no agreement was reached. However, this was denied by Vance during the press conference on Monday.
On Monday, mediators Pakistan and Qatar announced that a “conflict resolution cell” would be established to enforce a ceasefire in Lebanon, in coordination with the Lebanese government. Israel was not mentioned in the announcement.
The first clause of the fourteen-point clause Memorandum of Understanding between the US and Iran also addresses Lebanon. It states that the US-Iranian ceasefire also covers Lebanon, and that the US and Iran guarantee the territorial integrity of the country. The latter would mean that Israel would have to withdraw from southern Lebanon. But that doesn’t seem to be the case for the time being.
Like in Gaza, Israel has drawn a so-called yellow line around the area it militarily occupies in southern Lebanon. Last weekend, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said that Israel will not withdraw from Lebanon. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also said Israel will maintain its so-called “security zone” in southern Lebanon. In a televised speech, Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem emphasized that Israel must leave Lebanon.
According to UN peacekeeping force UNIFIL, there were no hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah on Sunday. That was the first time since March 2, when Hezbollah again carried out attacks on Israel in retaliation for Israel’s assassination attempt on Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei.
This Tuesday to Thursday, US-mediated negotiations between Israel and Lebanon are in Washington. Hezbollah is not part of that. The talks will focus on Israeli military withdrawal from certain occupied areas in southern Lebanon, which will be handed over to the Lebanese army.
