US and Iran Agree on Lebanon Deconfliction Channel After High-Level Talks in Switzerland

Qatar and Pakistan, which are mediating between the United States and Iran, said early Monday that the two sides agreed to create a "de-confliction cell" involving Lebanon, with the mediators present, to help ensure the end of military operations there. The talks, held at the Bürgenstock resort in Switzerland, lasted 18 hours on the first day and were set to continue through the rest of the week on technical issues. Israel was not a party to the talks and was not mentioned in the statement, nor was Hezbollah, despite the fighting in Lebanon involving the IDF and the terror group.

The mediators said the discussions were positive and constructive, with encouraging progress and a roadmap toward a final agreement within 60 days. They also said a high-level committee would oversee the mediation politically, while negotiating teams would report to it regularly. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the first real test would be the Lebanon deconfliction mechanism, and called the Pakistani and Qatari mediation "tireless," saying it had produced significant progress toward ending the war in Lebanon.

Araghchi also claimed the understandings reached would exempt Iranian oil and petrochemical exports, lift the blockade, free part of frozen assets, and launch a major reconstruction and development program for Iran. Earlier reports in Iran said the talks had briefly stalled after President Donald Trump issued threats. The Fars and Tasnim news agencies reported that the Iranian delegation considered its response, while PressTV said Tehran lodged an official protest and that the delegation had left, something the Americans denied. The US side said the talks continued despite the pause, and later it emerged they did end only early Monday with the joint statement.

Trump escalated the rhetoric after the talks began, telling Fox News the US might take control of the Strait of Hormuz and charge for passage if no deal was reached, and later writing on Truth Social that Iran must stop its "well-funded proxies" in Lebanon, meaning Hezbollah, or face another heavy American strike. Iranian officials rejected the threats. Ibrahim Rezaei said the "empty threats" had expired, and Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said Iran did not fear them, warning that its armed forces were ready to respond. The US delegation was led by Vice President JD Vance, while the Iranian delegation was led by Qalibaf, and the mediators were Qatar's Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. Vance said Trump had authorized a diplomatic solution and that the sides had made major progress, including on Lebanon and preserving calm in the Strait of Hormuz.