U.S. Secretary of State J.D. Vance arrived at the Bürgenstock resort in Switzerland for talks aimed at advancing an agreement to end the war between Israel and Iran. The talks began against the backdrop of Iran’s announcement that it had effectively reimposed a blockade on the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most important oil shipping routes.
Under a memorandum of understanding reached a week earlier, the strait was supposed to reopen alongside a broader halt to regional fighting, including in Lebanon. Iran said the United States had failed to guarantee the ceasefire in Lebanon, and therefore no new permissions would be issued for ships to pass through the strait until further notice. American officials denied that the strait had been closed and said dozens of cargo ships had continued transiting it in recent days.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said the Bürgenstock discussions, which also include Qatar and Pakistan as mediators, would last only one day and focus on implementing the memorandum of understanding, not on the substantive issues expected in the next stage of negotiations. Before leaving for Switzerland, Vance told reporters, “I think we’ll make progress on the nuclear issue and also make progress on the ceasefire in Lebanon.”
In an interview with Fox News, he added that he was confident the ceasefire would hold and said he had seen no evidence that the Strait of Hormuz had actually been shut.
