JUNE 21, 2026
U.S. and Iranian negotiators meet in Switzerland for talks on nuclear program and Lebanon ceasefire
Vice President JD Vance led the U.S. delegation — which also includes Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner — in talks with Iranian negotiators at the Bürgenstock Resort near Lucerne, Switzerland on Sunday. The Iranian team was led by Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, with Pakistani and Qatari officials serving as mediators. The talks follow a memorandum of understanding signed by President Donald Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian that gives negotiators 60 days to reach a nuclear agreement.
The one-day session in Switzerland is intended to move a loosely defined interim agreement toward a formal peace deal, with the U.S. side focused on establishing a negotiating structure, advancing nuclear issues, and securing a stable ceasefire in Lebanon. Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said Tehran's primary focus would be the ongoing fighting in Lebanon, where Israeli forces and the militant group Hezbollah have continued exchanging fire. Baghaei said the U.S. "has been unable or unwilling" to hold Israel to the ceasefire terms.
On the eve of the talks, Iran's joint military command announced it was again closing the Strait of Hormuz, citing what it described as a U.S. breach of commitments by failing to end the war. The U.S. Central Command disputed that characterization, stating that 55 merchant ships transited the waterway Saturday carrying more than 17 million barrels of oil. Ship-tracking data, cited by the Washington Post, showed tankers continuing to pass through the strait, staying close to the Omani coast. The interim agreement calls for toll-free transit through the Strait of Hormuz for 60 days; Trump has separately threatened to impose American tolls if a final deal is not reached within that window.
The MOU commits the U.S. to early deliverables — including lifting sanctions, freeing billions in frozen Iranian assets, and dismantling a naval blockade of Iran's ports. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian stated Sunday that Iran "will never back down from the right to enrich uranium," according to state media. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, credited by Sharif with helping broker the MOU, also attended and held separate meetings with both the U.S. and Iranian delegations. Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, met with Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis on the sidelines of the gathering.