US-Iran peace talks set to start in Switzerland with Hormuz, Lebanon in spotlight

BUERGENSTOCK, Switzerland – The first round of negotiations between the United States and Iran since the two sides signed a preliminary deal to halt their war was due to begin in Switzerland on June 21, with disagreements over the Strait of Hormuz and the conflict in Lebanon threatening the deal.

The US and Iran agreed to a 60-day ceasefire for the negotiations, but Tehran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps declared on June 20 that the Strait of Hormuz was shut in response to Israeli strikes in Lebanon.

The US military said, however, commercial vessels had continued sailing through the waterway.

Those developments are seen complicating the talks in which both sides want to advance an interim deal brokered by Pakistan and signed on June 17 to end an almost four-month-long war.

US Vice-President J.D. Vance arrived in Switzerland early on June 21 to lead an American negotiating team that includes US President Donald Trump’s special envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.

An Iranian team that included General Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, its lead negotiator in earlier talks and the speaker of its Parliament, arrived earlier.

The talks, including mediators, were to start “during the course of the morning”, Switzerland’s Federal Department of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

“I think we’re going to hopefully make progress on the nuclear issue, make progress on the Lebanon ceasefire issue”, with a “couple days of talks” likely, Vance told reporters at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland before departing.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, accusing Israel of “crimes” in Lebanon that violated US commitments to the ceasefire, warned ships would be at risk if they approached the Strait of Hormuz, which carried a fifth of global oil supplies before the US and Israel attacked Iran on Feb 28.

Despite the Lebanon truce, Israeli forces and the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah attacked each other on June 20.

US Central Command said 55 merchant ships transited the strait on June 20, carrying more than 17 million barrels of oil bound for global markets, and vowed that American forces would ensure commercial traffic continues.

Trump said there would be no toll for passage through the strait during the 60-day ceasefire or after, unless the US imposed one should peace talks fail.

In a social media post, he cited the possibility of a toll levied by the US “for services rendered as the Guardian Angel to the countries of the Middle East” if a peace deal is not completed.

Mohammad Mokhber, an adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, accused the US of failing to implement the first of the Iran deal’s 14 points, which include a ceasefire “on all fronts”, including Lebanon.

As long as the agreement is only on paper, he added, the flow of Middle East energy would stay halted.

On the other hand, Iranian Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad said that if Western stakeholders adhere to the spirit of the pact, hundreds of investment opportunities and contract formats stand ready, according to the ministry’s news outlet, Shana.

The Iranian delegation at the resort – owned by Qatar, which has mediated in the peace efforts – includes Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, as well as senior security, central bank and oil officials, Iranian media said.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said Iran would press for fulfilment of commitments, citing past failures by the other side to honour agreements.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif gestures upon arriving at the Buergenstock luxury hotel complex overlooking Lake Lucerne, Switzerland. PHOTO: REUTERS

Pakistan said its Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the army chief, Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, arrived to join the talks at the resort, where helicopters hovered overhead.

In an interview with Fox News before leaving the US, Vance said he was confident the ceasefire would hold, and he had seen no evidence of a closed Strait of Hormuz.

A halt to fighting in Lebanon was one of the conditions for starting US-Iranian talks on Tehran’s nuclear programme and other issues. But Lebanese civil defence officials said Israeli strikes killed 20 people on June 20, hours after a truce took effect.

Israel said it was responding to attacks from Hezbollah, while the group said it would not allow Israel “freedom of movement” in Lebanon.

Israel says it is not party to the Iran-US deal and will keep its forces in the Lebanese territory it occupies. In a statement, its military said Israel was committed to the ceasefire but would act against any threats.

Israeli broadcaster Channel 12 said the prime minister and defence minister have told the military to hold fire in Lebanon, but it would not withdraw from captured areas.

A poll by Israel’s Hebrew University, provided to Reuters, showed about 92 per cent of Israelis believe Iran benefited more than Israel from the joint Israeli-US military campaign, while just 8 per cent see Israel as having emerged victorious.

Almost 90 per cent of Israelis said war goals have not been met, and fewer than 30 per cent believe Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s claims of major achievements.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry says Israeli attacks have killed 4,057 since March 2, including medics, women and children, but not how many combatants are included.

The Israeli authorities say at least 32 soldiers and four civilians have been killed in fighting with Hezbollah. REUTERS