A new round of negotiations over the Middle East war was set to kick off on Sunday as Iranian negotiators and US Vice President JD Vance arrived in the Swiss host city, even as Tehran said that it was closing the Strait of Hormuz again over Israeli attacks in Lebanon.
Before boarding his flight to Europe, Vance told reporters that he hoped to make progress on the nuclear issue and make progress on the Lebanon ceasefire issue. Those are the two big things that I think we will focus on.
Follow-up talks had been planned in Switzerland on Friday but were postponed at the last minute after Israel launched deadly strikes in Lebanon following the deaths of four of its soldiers in combat.
Washington announced a renewed ceasefire there late on Friday, a condition of its preliminary agreement with Iran, but Israeli troops clashed again with Hezbollah fighters on Saturday, with each side accusing the other of breaking the truce.
Citing a ‘US breach of contract’ and the Zionist regime’s continuous and relentless violation of the ceasefire in southern Lebanon, Iran’s central military command said, “the Strait of Hormuz will be closed to vessel traffic.'
Hormuz, a key conduit for oil and gas shipments, was blockaded by Iran for much of the war, causing major disruptions in global energy markets.
Tehran had agreed to reopen it under the preliminary accord signed by US President Donald Trump and his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian, and shipping traffic had begun to recover.
US Central Command said after Iran’s announcement that safe passage through the international waterway had remained intact and that US forces were present and vigilant.
Trump later warned that Washington could impose its tolls on Hormuz if negotiators failed to complete the deal.
“There would be no tolls unless they were imposed by and for the United States of America,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“An Iranian delegation arrived in Switzerland late on Saturday,” state media and the Swiss foreign ministry said.
Iran’s official broadcaster said, “it included parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.”
Foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei stated that the delegation would demand implementation of the other party’s commitments under the deal.
“Otherwise, the entire understanding will be in trouble,” he said, according to official news agency IRNA.
Vance arrived at the Emmen Air Base in Switzerland on Sunday morning, having earlier said he could stay there for only “a day or two.”
US negotiators Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff were already there handling some of the technical elements” and had reported that things are going well, Vance said in an interview with Fox News earlier on Saturday.
Pakistan, which has been helping to mediate, said Sunday that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and army chief Asim Munir had left for Switzerland to take part in high-level talks involving US and Iranian representatives and other mediators from Qatar.
The talks aim to open a two-month negotiation period on issues that the initial accord left unresolved, notably Iran’s nuclear programme.
On Saturday, Israel and Hezbollah continued to trade accusations as fighting persisted in southern Lebanon.
The Israeli military said that one soldier died in combat, marking the fifth such fatality since the US-Iran deal was reached.
An Israeli army official later said the military had received orders from the country’s political leadership to cease fire, adding that troops were “not conducting proactive strikes” but operating defensively inside a security zone.
Earlier, an Israeli military official said fresh attacks were under way after Hezbollah launched more than 50 projectiles at Israeli forces in southern Lebanon overnight.
Hezbollah accused Israel of carrying out under the cover of the ceasefire an infiltration attempt towards the Ali Taher hills, a strategic feature overlooking Nabatieh, and said its fighters had responded with appropriate weapons.
“Lebanese state media reported Israeli air raids on around 20 locations, with authorities counting more than 30 dead. The overall death toll from the fighting in Lebanon had surpassed 4,000,” the health ministry said.
Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah said his group retained the full right to confront this enemy when it attacks us.
Israel’s US ambassador Yechiel Leiter maintained it was Hezbollah that broke the truce, saying, “Israel was defending itself against terrorist attacks."
But Hezbollah said Israel bore full responsibility.
Fadi Zayat, who fled the southern Lebanon town of Tayr Debba, said that fear dominates the south.
“We returned to the village a few days ago, but our bags are ready to flee again,” the 53-year-old said.
Hezbollah pulled Lebanon into the wider Middle East conflict in early March when it fired rockets at Israel in retaliation for the killing of Iran’s supreme leader in US-Israeli strikes.
A previous ceasefire, meant to take effect in Lebanon in April, was never honoured, with each side justifying its attacks by citing alleged violations by the other.
