ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - US Vice President JD Vance highlighted several key points ahead of an anticipated meeting with the Iranians in Switzerland on Sunday, marking the second in-person round of negotiations since the start of the war in late February.
Vance told reporters late Saturday that he's “looking forward to starting to take a couple of talks with the Iranians, the Pakistanis, and the Qataris,” adding that the two sides will hold talks for a couple of days, hoping that the two countries will “make progress on the nuclear issue,” and “on the Lebanon ceasefire issue.”
The negotiations come against the background of a Pakistan-brokered ceasefire in early April that halted a six-week war between the US, Israel and Iran that started in late February, while the first round of talks took place in Islamabad on April 11; no tangible progress was made, which led to heightened escalations between the two sides, specifically in the Strait of Hormuz.
On Thursday, a 14-point framework memorandum of understanding was signed between the US and Iran.
Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi with several high level Iranian officials arrived in Switzerland on Saturday, Iranian state media reported.
Former Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander Mohsen Rezaei posted on X early Sunday that Washington's "peace through strength" strategy has failed, leaving the US insisting on negotiations "out of desperation." Warning that the US has proven to be a "promise-breaker," stating that "any optimism will be exploited by the enemy."
“The purpose of this visit is to follow up on the implementation of the other party's commitments,” Iran Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei told the IRGC affiliated Tasnim News on Saturday. He emphasised that “Given our past experience with the other party's broken promises, we must seriously demand the fulfillment of their obligations.'"
In its statement on Saturday, the IRGC Navy reiterated that "the Strait of Hormuz is closed to all vessels" and "vessels must not approach the Strait of Hormuz; otherwise, their security will be endangered." The claim was rejected by the US Central Command hours later stating that the vessels continued to pass through the strategic waterway.
Iran’s top military command, Khatam al-Anbiya, which oversees the country’s military response during crises, stated on Saturday that in response to the “continuous and ongoing violations of the ceasefire by the Zionist regime” in southern Lebanon, “it is hereby announced that the Strait of Hormuz will be closed to vessel traffic."
