Vice President JD Vance arrived in Switzerland on Sunday morning for the first direct U.S.-Iran talks since the signing of the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding.
The negotiations will play out against a backdrop of rising tensions over the Strait of Hormuz and renewed fighting between the Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorist group and Israel threatened to upend the fragile diplomatic process.
Speaking before departing, Vance said the talks would focus on advancing negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program and shoring up the fragile ceasefire in Lebanon, where escalating violence forced the postponement of the discussions from Friday.
“I think we’re going to hopefully make progress on the nuclear issue, make progress on the Lebanon ceasefire issue,” Vance told reporters. “Those are the two big things that I think we’re going to be focused on.”
Vance said the initial meetings were aimed at establishing the structure of negotiations, while technical-level discussions could continue in Switzerland after the high-level talks conclude.
Vance said he expected to remain in Switzerland “for a day or two” and indicated that the initial round of meetings would be focused on laying the groundwork for broader negotiations that could extend beyond the high-level discussions.
President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff had already arrived in Switzerland ahead of the talks. Vance said he had spoken with both men and that, “My understanding is that things are going well.”
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A high-level Iranian delegation also traveled to Switzerland on Saturday. Iranian media reported that the delegation is being led by parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and includes Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, senior security officials, and central bank and oil officials.
Pakistan and Qatar, which helped mediate the interim agreement between Washington and Tehran, are also participating in the discussions. Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir departed Islamabad for Switzerland on Saturday accompanied by a high-level delegation.
The talks were originally scheduled to begin Friday but were delayed after a new escalation in Lebanon threatened to derail the diplomatic process.
Iran said Saturday that it had closed the Strait of Hormuz because of Israeli military operations in Lebanon, accusing the United States of failing to uphold commitments contained in the memorandum of understanding, which calls for the immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon.
Iran’s top military command described the closure as the “first step” in response to what it characterized as breaches of commitments by Washington and Israel. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy also warned ships not to approach the strategic waterway.
The United States quickly disputed Iran’s claim that it had effectively shut the strategic waterway.
“Iran does not control the Strait of Hormuz. Traffic continues to flow, and U.S. forces are monitoring the situation to ensure this remains the case,” U.S. Central Command spokesman Capt. Tim Hawkins said.
CENTCOM said 55 merchant ships carrying more than 17 million barrels of oil transited the strait on Saturday.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei warned that “the memorandum of understanding as a whole will be jeopardized” if key commitments are not fulfilled.
An official from the Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorist organization told The Associated Press that Tehran would not reopen the strait unless Israel publicly commits to a comprehensive ceasefire in Lebanon and ends military operations there.
Israeli Ambassador to the United States Yechiel Leiter said Friday that Israel “remains firmly committed to an immediate ceasefire” and that “if Hezbollah honors the agreement and ceases its hostilities, they will be met with quiet.”
Israeli officials said Hezbollah launched more than 50 projectiles at Israeli forces overnight and that five Israeli soldiers had been killed in southern Lebanon over the previous 48 hours.
Trump also weighed in on the growing dispute over the strategic waterway, writing Saturday on Truth Social that there would be “NO TOLLS in the Hormuz Strait for 60 days during the Cease Fire Period.”
The president added that no tolls would be imposed afterward either, “unless they are imposed by and for the United States of America, should the deal not be completed, for services rendered as the Guardian Angel to the countries of the Middle East.”
The interim memorandum signed last week established a 60-day negotiating window aimed at reaching a broader agreement on Iran’s nuclear program and other unresolved issues.
Vance also argued that Washington enters the talks from a position of strength, saying on Fox & Friends that “the United States wins either way” and that the outcome of negotiations is “very much up to the Iranians.”
“Do they want to behave better? If so, great. If they don’t want to behave better, the President of the United States still has a whole lot of options from here,” he said.
Joshua Klein is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jklein@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter @JoshuaKlein.