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Threats as talks start
U.S. President Donald Trump continued to threaten Iran on Sunday as talks began in Switzerland between his vice president and Iranian officials on next steps in the interim agreement signed last week to end the war.
The U.S. team is led by Vice President JD Vance and includes Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, while the Iranian negotiators are led by Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
Pakistan and Qatar served as mediators, and Tehran said it closed the Strait of Hormuz again over Israel’s ongoing military campaign in Lebanon against the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group.
The interim deal is meant to stop fighting on all fronts, including Lebanon, and the U.S. said shipping traffic on the crucial waterway continues while Trump threatened to impose American tolls in the strait if a final deal with Iran isn’t reached in 60 days.
In parallel, Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency suggested that talks have “entered a difficult phase” after what it described as an “insulting” statement by Trump.
Walkout, messages, and replies
Iran’s delegation on Sunday walked out of the Swiss venue where it held talks with the United States after Trump threatened to strike the Islamic republic over its support for Hezbollah.
Le Monde reported that “The delegation of the Islamic Republic of Iran, after meeting with the Qatari delegation as one of the mediating parties, left the building where the negotiations were being held,” citing IRNA.
A diplomat with knowledge of the talks told Agence France-Presse that the Iranians had not quit the negotiations, saying “The Iranian delegation remains engaged in the talks and has not indicated to the mediators any intention to leave,” on condition of anonymity.
Trump had earlier threatened to strike Iran if it did not “immediately stop their highly paid PROXIES in Lebanon from causing trouble,” and he added, “If they don't, we'll hit Iran very hard again, just like we did last week, only harder!!!”
Iran’s chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf responded that “We do not take American threats into account,” and said “our armed forces are ready to respond to them in a different manner.”
What’s at stake next
The talks were framed around a 60-day window to settle broader issues, with the interim deal meant to stop fighting on all fronts, including Lebanon, and to address the heart of tensions: Iran's nuclear program.
The Associated Press said the agreement calls for toll-free travel for 60 days and that the deal calls for billions of dollars of Iran’s assets to be unfrozen, while Iran warned that little might be achieved if fighting doesn’t stop.
AP also reported that the U.S. disputed Iran’s announcement that it closed the Strait of Hormuz, quoting Capt. Tim Hawkins saying “Iran does not control the Strait of Hormuz. Traffic continues to flow,” and that “U.S. forces are monitoring the situation to ensure this remains the case.”
In Lebanon, AP said Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon on Saturday killed at least 16 people, including two children, and that seven people were trapped under rubble after strikes hit the southern city of Nabatiyeh and nearby.
As negotiations continued, the stakes were tied to whether the memorandum’s commitments held, with AP noting that Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei told state TV that negotiations toward a final agreement will begin once key commitments are upheld and that “the memorandum of understanding as a whole will be jeopardized.”
