Newsman: The first round of high-level negotiations between the United States and Iran concluded early Monday in Switzerland with both sides agreeing to “a road map” to reach a final deal within 60 days and establish a communication line “to avoid incidents” in the Strait of Hormuz, according to a statement by mediators from Qatar and Pakistan.
The statement added that “encouraging progress” had been made and announced an “immediate commencement of technical talks.” It was unclear who would lead the technical talks.
Speaking to reporters on Monday, Vice President JD Vance said that negotiators had made “a lot of good progress” on ensuring that the Strait of Hormuz stays open and on setting up a “coordination mechanism” on demining it. He also said that Tehran agreed to invite International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors back into the country, which, he said, is “a major milestone for the American people and the first step in permanently denuclearising or permanently ending a nuclear weapons program in Iran.”
The joint statement by Qatar and Pakistan said the U.S. and Iran agreed to establish a committee that will focus on issues such as nuclear monitoring and sanctions.
Vice President Vance attended a quadrilateral meeting between the United States, Iran, Pakistan and Qatar at the Burgenstock luxury hotel complex overlooking Lake Lucerne, Switzerland, on Sunday, as part of high-level talks aimed at advancing a deal to end the Middle East conflict.
Negotiators also agreed on a framework to end the military operations in Lebanon, according to the statement. Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said “major progress” had been made to end the war in Lebanon. He also added that “oil and petrol exports are waived, blockade lifted, some frozen assets released, and major reconstruction & development plan launched for Iran.”
Araghchi called the creation of “a de-confliction cell,” the framework meant to end the fighting in Lebanon, the “1st real test” of the negotiating process.
Sunday’s discussions were strained as President Trump threatened further attacks on Iran as Vance sat for negotiations with Iranian officials in Switzerland.
“Iran must immediately stop their highly paid PROXIES in Lebanon from causing trouble. If they don’t, we’ll hit Iran very hard again, just like we did last week, only harder!!!” Trump wrote in a social media post on Sunday.
Iran’s lead negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, said on X that Iran’s armed forces are prepared to respond to threats.
A day earlier, Iran’s military announced it had closed the Strait of Hormuz because of continued Israeli strikes in Lebanon against the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah. Iran said the U.S. failure to rein in Israel violated the terms of last week’s tentative agreement, which specifies that all fighting in Lebanon must end.
On Sunday, Vance, arrived in Switzerland in the early morning and met with representatives from Pakistan who have been brokering the talks — including with the country’s prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, and Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir.
An Iranian team, mediators from Qatar, and chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency Rafael Grossi are also attending the meetings.
The first round of talks were focused on a memorandum of understanding that was signed by both the U.S. and Iran last week, which is already coming under intense strain. While Iran on Saturday said it had closed the Strait of Hormuz, U.S. Central Command has said shipping through the strait was proceeding normally.
On Sunday morning, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said: “What is certain is that we will never back down from the right to enrich uranium, and the other side is also forced to accept it.” Iran has insisted its nuclear program is peaceful.
Despite the announcement of the ceasefire on Friday, Israeli forces and Hezbollah exchanged heavy fire throughout Saturday, further pressuring negotiations.
At least 16 people, including civilians, were killed by Israeli strikes on Saturday, according to the Lebanese National News Agency. Israel said the strikes were a response to Hezbollah firing projectiles at its forces overnight on Saturday. Hezbollah said it fired in response to Israel moving toward Lebanese territory.
US issues sanctions waivers on Iranian oil following MOU with Iran
The Trump administration has formally issued a waiver on the sale on Iranian oil, following through on a promise from the Memorandum of Understanding signed by President Donald Trump.
The waiver legalizes the sale of Iranian oil and allows transactions involving vessels that had been previously sanctioned.
The sanctions will be waived for a 60-day period beginning Monday and ending at 12:01 a.m. ET on Aug. 21.
The waiver also allows for “any payment of funds owed to Iran, the Government of Iran, or any blocked person for the purchase of crude oil” to be made in U.S. dollars.
The waiver does not, however, allow the sanctions on Iranian oil to be lifted for people in North Korea, Cuba and parts of Ukraine like Crimea.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei said on Monday that technical talks between experts have begun in Switzerland under the framework of the memorandum of understanding, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported on Monday.
The technical talks follow Sunday’s discussions between high-level U.S. and Iranian delegations. Those talks ended early on Monday, Pakistani Prime Minister Shebhaz Sharif said.
Baqaei told IRNA that Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran’s deputy foreign minister for legal and international affairs, is leading the Iranian delegation in the technical negotiations.
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the speaker of Iran’s parliament, who is leading the Iranian delegation, “left the building where the negotiations were held on Monday, following approximately 18 hours of intensive dialogue and consultations,” Iran’s state broadcaster reported.
