The first round of negotiations between the United States and Iran aimed at reaching a final agreement concluded on a “positive note”, with mediators Qatar and Pakistan saying that “encouraging progress” had been made during the talks.
The discussions began on Sunday in Switzerland following last week’s initial agreement between Washington and Tehran. Technical-level talks are scheduled to continue throughout the week.
In a joint statement issued early Monday, Qatar and Pakistan announced there is a consensus on making a “High Level Committee” that will pave a roadmap for reaching a final deal within 60 days. The mediators also said a “line of communication” for the Strait of Hormuz and a high-level committee to oversee mediation efforts were being established.
Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi described the talks as having delivered “major progress” toward ending the conflict in Lebanon.
According to the memorandum, Iran will use its “best efforts” to ensure “safe passage of commercial vessels with no charge” from the Persian Gulf to the Sea of Oman and vice versa.
The Strait of Hormuz has remained a major point of leverage for Iran throughout the negotiations. On Saturday, Iran’s military command announced it would close the strategic waterway in response to Israel’s continued attacks in Lebanon and what it described as the United States “failing to implement” the agreement aimed at ending the war.
When the talks were underway, US President Donald Trump nearly derailed the negotiations when he threatened to “take over the Strait” during remarks to Fox News on Sunday.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), signed on June 18, commits both sides to reaching a final agreement within 60 days. It also calls for an end to fighting on “all fronts”, including in Lebanon, and for the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
The mediators’ joint statement said that a “communication line” had been established “to avoid incidents and miscommunication with the aim of safe passage for commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz”.
Both sides also agreed to establish a “de-confliction cell” involving the United States, Iran, and Lebanon, facilitated by Qatar and Pakistan, to help end military operations in Lebanon.
Following the conclusion of the talks in Switzerland, Araghchi said sanctions on Iran’s oil exports had been waived and that some Iranian assets frozen abroad had been released.
In a post on X, he also stated that “a major reconstruction and development plan for Iran has been launched”.
However, the post did not provide details regarding the frozen assets or the reconstruction programme.
In a separate statement, the media committee representing the Iranian delegation said Iran and Qatar had signed a new memorandum of understanding governing the release of Tehran’s frozen assets, according to Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency.
Since the MoU was signed, fighting between Hezbollah and Israeli forces in southern Lebanon has intensified, while Israeli airstrikes have reportedly killed dozens of Lebanese civilians, including women and children.
The escalation prompted the United States to broker a new ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah on Friday.
Continued clashes and airstrikes led Iran on Saturday to announce the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, although vessel-tracking data indicated that commercial shipping continued to pass through the waterway.
Earlier, as the talks began in the Swiss city of Lucerne, Trump posted that Iran “must immediately stop their highly paid PROXIES in Lebanon from causing trouble” and warned that the United States would “hit Iran very hard again” if Tehran failed to comply.
Araghchi reiterated that sanctions on Iran’s oil sector had been lifted and that some of the country’s frozen overseas assets had been released. He again stated that “a major reconstruction and development plan for Iran has been launched”.
Trump’s earlier comments angered Iran’s negotiating team and briefly stalled the talks. The US president told Fox News that Washington could resume bombing Iran and “take over” the Strait of Hormuz if an agreement was not reached.
The United States and Iran agreed to establish a “de-confliction cell”, facilitated by Qatar and Pakistan, to ensure an end to military operations in Lebanon, according to the mediators.
The conflict between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement has remained a major obstacle to a broader agreement, with Tehran insisting that deadly Israeli strikes must cease.
Iran’s lead negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, responded sharply to Trump’s threats, saying: “Don’t they think that if their threats had any effect, they wouldn’t be in this desperate situation today?… No matter how much they talk, it is we who take action.”
On Sunday, reports indicated that fighting had diminished. However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted that Israeli forces would remain in southern Lebanon for as long as necessary to protect northern Israel.
Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem rejected any Israeli military presence in southern Lebanon and said the group would defend itself.
Speaking before the talks at the Swiss resort of Bürgenstock, US lead negotiator and Vice President JD Vance said Trump had instructed negotiators to “turn over a new leaf”.
Vance added that if Iran’s leadership were willing to abandon its role as a “driver of regional instability” and give up its “nuclear weapons ambitions for the longer term”, then the United States “is willing to fundamentally transform our relationship with that country.”
Iran, however, has consistently maintained that its nuclear programme is entirely peaceful. US Vice President JD Vance said that the US was ready to “turn over a new leaf” with Iran if Tehran’s leadership gives up its nuclear ambitions and stops “being a driver of regional instability”.
Speaking ahead of peace talks with Iran, Pakistan and Qatar at the Bürgenstock Swiss resort, Vance also added that progress has been made in ending hostilities in Lebanon.
“Can we turn over a new leaf? Can we change relations in the Middle East permanently?” Vance asked. “What we’re trying to accomplish here is something very simple: through diplomacy and through working together, to transform the Middle East.”
