US-Iran talks postponed as Vance pulls out of Switzerland trip

BBC:

A new round of direct talks between the US and Iran have been postponed after Vice-President JD Vance delayed a planned trip to Switzerland.

The White House announced late on Thursday that Vance would not be travelling to the talks and said the logistics had not been “simple or predictable”.

It comes a day after the US dropped its naval blockade of Iran after the two countries signed a deal aimed at ending the conflict.

While the deal also said fighting should end in Lebanon, the country’s health ministry said Israeli strikes had killed at least 18 people in the south overnight.

Israel’s military said it had targeted the Iran-backed group Hezbollah, and that four of its own soldiers had been killed.

Hours before the White House issued its statement, Hezbollah-linked Lebanese media reported that the talks had been suspended due to ongoing Israeli air strikes.

Negotiators had been due to meet for what US officials described as “technical discussions” on the next steps of the agreement signed earlier this week.

But Washington said plans for the talks had “not been finalised”. It added that the US looked forward to “beginning technical talks as soon as possible”.

Switzerland’s foreign ministry later confirmed the talks at the Burgenstock mountaintop resort had been “postponed”, although it said preparations for talks were continuing.

Swiss military and police officials had been patrolling the luxury hotel set high on a mountain overlooking Lake Lucerne, and a media centre had been set up for journalists.

The negotiations had been expected to focus on implementing the agreement, which is known as a Memorandum of Understanding, and begin discussions on longer-term issues, including Iran’s nuclear programme.

Centred around 14 points, the deal includes reopening the Strait of Hormuz, a requirement that Iran will never have a nuclear weapon, a $300bn (£224bn) plan for Iran’s “reconstruction”, and the US terminating “all types of sanctions” on Iran.

It also binds both sides to achieving a final deal in a “maximum” of 60 days, which could be extended with mutual consent.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei said he had approved the deal with the US despite having a “different view”, claiming Trump had “out of desperation, used all kinds of leverage” to bring it about.

He said that while there would be “in-person negotiations in the future” between Tehran and Washington, this would “not mean acceptance of the enemy’s position”.