Iran hails ‘progress’ as first day of talks with US conclude after shaky start | US-Israel war on Iran
Iran’s foreign minister declared “progress” after the first day of talks between senior officials from Washington and Tehran ended in Switzerland, despite a tense opening marked by Donald Trump’s threats to resume attacks.
In a joint statement by mediators Qatar and Pakistan, it was stated that the USA and Iran agreed on a road map to reach a final agreement within 60 days. According to the statement, technical talks between low-level officials will continue for the rest of the week, and the fight between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon will be high on the agenda.
“Pakistan and Qatar’s mediation has made great progress in ending the Lebanon war,” Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said after talks broke down just after 3 a.m. local time (GMT).
The joint statement stated that the United States and Iran agreed to establish a “line of communication” to prevent incidents in the Strait of Hormuz and to establish a “de-escalation cell” with the Lebanese government to ensure “compliance with the termination of military operations in Lebanon.”
In his message, Araghchi said that the first real test of the agreement will be this “de-conflict” method for Lebanon, which has emerged as the biggest threat to the agreement signed by the USA and Iran last week.
Over the weekend, Iran said it had resumed its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz in protest of Israel’s ongoing attacks on Lebanon and that Trump had allowed Israel to violate the memorandum of understanding (MOU). The agreement calls for a ceasefire on all fronts, but Israel killed more than 30 people in attacks in central and southern Lebanon on Saturday.
Despite the US military denying that the strait had been closed, Trump responded harshly to the threat on Sunday, saying: “If you close it, you don’t have a country. You won’t even be able to go back to your damn country.”
The US president also touched on the situation in Lebanon, writing on social media: “Iran must immediately stop its highly paid proxies from causing trouble in Lebanon… If they don’t, we will hit Iran very hard again.”
Iranian state media said the talks were paused after “a derogatory message from the US President was broadcast.” State media said the Iranian delegation then met with Qatari mediators and left the negotiation area. Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency said the Iranian delegation refused to return to the room where the talks were held, but messages were exchanged through Pakistani and Qatari mediators.
The Iranians remain in the region and negotiations are continuing, a senior U.S. diplomat told reporters late Sunday, according to the Associated Press.
Vice President J.D. Vance led the U.S. negotiating team in talks with Iranian officials under the terms of the Memorandum of Understanding, which allowed for 60 days of negotiations and extended a ceasefire reached between both sides in April.
He was joined by US special envoy Steve Witkoff and the president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. Iran was represented by Galibaf and Araghchi, speakers of the Iranian parliament.
It was unclear whether Vance would continue the talks Monday. The vice president told US media he planned to stay only for “a day or two”.
“The question before us now is, how much more can we achieve together? Can we turn a new page?” Vance said talks have begun.
Vance and the US negotiating team will use 60 days of negotiations to reach an agreement on Iran’s nuclear program. The Memorandum of Understanding demands that Iran at least dilute its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, but many issues remain unresolved, including Tehran’s right to enrich uranium in the future.
Vance also downplayed the impact of the violence in Lebanon and said progress was being made toward ending hostilities there. Neither Israel nor Hezbollah is a signatory to the US-Iran agreement, and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to keep his forces in southern Lebanon until any threat to Israel is eliminated. Hezbollah has refused to stop the attacks unless Israel commits to withdraw.
Despite this, a renewed ceasefire brokered in Lebanon on Saturday appeared to hold.
According to Iranian state media, Tehran’s negotiating team said the start of talks on nuclear issues would require the delivery of other parts of the MoU, including waivers on allowing the US to export Iranian oil and the release of frozen assets.
Under the terms of the MoU, Iran is allowed to immediately sell its oil freely, while the deal paves the way for Iran to benefit from billions of dollars of assets currently frozen.
In a post on social media, Araghchi said that his country received exemptions for oil and petrochemical exports, some frozen assets were released and a reconstruction and development plan for Iran was launched. There was no statement from the USA regarding these allegations.
via Associated Press
