U.S.-Iran talks open in Switzerland with an urgent focus on Lebanon

Negotiations between the United States and Iran are set to begin today, Sunday, in Switzerland, within a 60-day window for reaching a comprehensive final agreement. The talks had been delayed several times amid the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah. According to CNN and CBS, the American delegation is led by U.S. Vice President JD Vance, while the Iranian side is headed by parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, and the first session will be an “emergency meeting” on Lebanon.

Vance arrived in Switzerland this morning and is expected to stay for one or two days. Before departing, he said his goal was to make progress on both the nuclear issue and the ceasefire in Lebanon. He also said the situation in Lebanon was improving and that the United States was working to stop the shooting in order to preserve the ceasefire with Iran.

Hezbollah is trying to link the Lebanon fighting to the Swiss talks. Mahmoud Qamati, deputy head of Hezbollah’s political council, said Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Ghalibaf promised Hezbollah that an Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon would be part of the negotiations. In an interview with Hezbollah’s Al-Manar channel, Qamati added, “No government in Lebanon, or any other party in the world, should expect Hezbollah to agree that Israel’s withdrawal from southern Lebanon be tied to the issue of disarming Hezbollah.”

The talks are also taking place against renewed Iranian threats to close the Strait of Hormuz, despite an agreement in a memorandum of understanding, which Tehran says is a response to alleged U.S. broken promises and Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon. Iran announced yesterday afternoon that the strait had been closed, but the United States denied it; Vance said 16 million barrels had passed through the strait in the previous day, which he said showed it was open. A Pakistani mediation delegation is also participating, led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and army chief Asim Munir. The meeting is being held at the Bürgenstock resort near Lake Lucerne in central Switzerland, overlooking the Alps, and the Swiss foreign ministry confirmed the location on X yesterday after earlier reports.