Washington, Tehran Confirm Plans To Open Peace Talks in Switzerland on Sunday

Delayed peace talks between America and Iran are expected to open Sunday in Switzerland amid low expectations following a resumption of fighting in Lebanon and conflicting statements about the status of shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.Vice President Vance said Saturday on Fox News that President Trump’s envoys, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, are on the ground in Switzerland dealing with technical issues and prepared to meet their Iranian counterparts if they turn up. He said he would be traveling personally to the country “soon.”Iran’s state broadcaster, meanwhile, announced that the Islamic State’s negotiating team, which includes the parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, planned to be in Switzerland for the talks originally scheduled for Friday, the Associated Press reported.Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif of Pakistan, which has served as a mediator, is also expected to attend. But the AP quoted an Iranian foreign ministry spokesman cautioning that the Iranian side would not discuss substantive issues as long as fighting between Israel and Hezbollah continues in Lebanon, in what Tehran sees as a violation of the 60-day ceasefire agreement signed this week.“This trip is therefore about demanding that the other side fulfill its obligations,” the spokesman, Esmail Bagahei, was quoted as saying. If key commitments in the agreement are not upheld, “then the memorandum of understanding as a whole will be jeopardized.”The talks on Iran’s nuclear program and other issues were to have begun at the Bürgenstock resort in central Switzerland on Friday but were postponed following renewed fighting between Hezbollah and Israel, which was not a party to the ceasefire negotiations with Iran. The United States-Iran ceasefire agreement calls for the “immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon.”In the latest fighting Saturday, Lebanese authorities reported that 16 people had been killed by Israeli strikes centered near the southern Lebanese city of Nabatieh. Israel, which had agreed to a new ceasefire with Hezbollah on Friday, said it was striking Hezbollah targets in response to more than 50 projectiles fired at its forces in Lebanon overnight, Reuters reported.The exchange of fire prompted new confusion over the state of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, with Iran’s military announcing for the second time in as many days that it was shutting down the strait in response to the conflict.The AP quoted Tehran’s joint military command saying it was acting because of the Israeli attacks and Washington’s “bad faith,” claiming a “clear breach” of the American side’s commitments. “If the aggression continues, subsequent steps have been planned,” the statement said.The BBC, citing tracking data, said five ships bound for the strait appear to have made U-turns following the Iranian announcement.On Fox News, however, Mr. Vance said the Trump administration is “not seeing any evidence” that the strait has been closed.“We got 16 million barrels out of the Strait of Hormuz in just the last 24 hours. That is basically to where it was before the war even started. And so that suggests that the straits really are open,” Mr. Vance said while acknowledging it will “take some time” to clear mines placed in the waterway by Iran.In subsequent post on its X account, the United States Central Command said, “Safe passage through the international waterway remained intact today as 55 merchant ships transited, moving large amounts of cargo and more than 17 million barrels of oil to global markets.”Iran’s hardline Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps had broadcast a message over maritime channels on Friday saying it would keep the strait closed until Israel fully withdraws from Lebanon. However, the Persian Gulf Strait Authority, set up by Iran to control passage through the waterway, separately announced that ships could transit the strait 48 hours after submitting “compliant transit requests.”The conflicting statements disrupted traffic through the strait on Friday after more than a dozen ships were reported to have made it through on Thursday. An exact count was not available because some ships have turned off the transponders that allow them to be tracked electronically.The memorandum of understanding that Mr. Trump signed on Thursday called for traffic in the strait to resume within 48 hours. Almost all ship traffic had been halted for months and has led to rising crude prices.An earlier version of this article misstated the venue for Sunday’s talks. They are scheduled to be held at the Bürgenstock resort in central Switzerland.

Washington, Tehran Confirm Plans To Open Peace Talks in Switzerland on Sunday

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