Iran interrupts negotiations with the United States in Switzerland due to Trump's threats
Washington and Tehran had begun to converse indirectly this midday despite the announced closure of Hormuz
BarcelonaThe announcement ofa new closure of the Strait of Hormuz made this Saturday by Tehran has not been an impediment for the United States to present itself in Switzerland to negotiate with Iran. US Vice President J.D. Vance leads Washington's delegation, while on the Iranian side, the negotiating officials are Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. Since midday this Sunday, there have been contacts between the two parties with the mediators, Pakistan and Qatar. The talks, which are being held indirectly, were interrupted in the evening: Iran left the complex where negotiations were taking place in response to Donald Trump's threats. The US President said he would attack Iran "very strongly" again if Tehran does not stop future attacks by Hezbollah against the Israeli army.
The talks aim to address the implementation of the 14-point memorandum signed on Wednesday by Washington and Tehran, which will be signed at the Hotel Palace of the luxury Bürgenstock complex, on a mountain near Lucerne, 50 kilometers from Zurich. In the early hours of dialogue, "great progress" has been made, according to Vance, who has shown optimism in bridging positions. The talks, says the US Vice President, should serve to "turn the page and transform" the relationship of the United States "with the Iranian people".
Before Vance arrived, the two usual negotiators from Washington had already traveled to Switzerland: Steve Witkoff, the special envoy appointed by Trump, and Jared Kushner, the US president's son-in-law, who spent the morning dealing with "technical aspects" of the negotiation, as Vance himself detailed in a brief press conference.
Washington, after accepting an agreement that does not respond to the objectives it had set with the attack on Iran on February 28, is striving to send the message that contacts with Tehran are progressing positively. But Iran shows more caution, emphasizing that today's meeting had as its main objective "to guarantee the fulfillment of the other party's commitments." "At the forefront is the discussion about the cessation of the war on all fronts, including Lebanon," declared the spokesperson for the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Esmaeil Baghaei. Late in the evening, Iran's state television assured that the negotiations had concluded and that the Iranian delegation was leaving Switzerland.
The first night without attacks
Negotiations began this Sunday after Israel's attacks on Lebanon had shaken the agreement throughout the week and delayed the start of dialogue, which was scheduled to begin on Friday, by two days. The agreed text explicitly establishes the cessation of attacks on all fronts in the Middle East, "including Lebanon," the document states, emphasizing that the agreement commits the United States, Iran, and also "their allies in the current war," in a clear reference, in part, to Israel.
However, Tel Aviv has not been part of the negotiation of the pact between Washington and Tehran, and the Israeli army had intensified its offensive on Lebanon this week. Iran, which does not want to let Hezbollah, one of its allies in the region, fall, has insisted on putting in writing in the agreement that the pact also includes Lebanon, and Trump, aware that Tel Aviv's attacks on Lebanese territory could make Tehran walk away from the negotiating table, has censured the way Israel is conducting its offensive on Lebanon. "There is no need to demolish a building every time someone from Hezbollah enters it," Trump reproached on Wednesday from the G-7 summit to the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. In response to the attacks on Lebanon, Iran announced on Saturday the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, but the United States denies that the transit of ships through the maritime passage has stopped, which is occurring sporadically.
The pressure from Washington seems to have had an effect. For the first time in weeks, the Lebanese were able to sleep a little more peacefully tonight. Unlike what had become almost a routine, tonight Israel, after killing more than 100 people between Friday and Saturday, did not bomb Lebanese territory. Netanyahu has warned that the Israeli army will maintain the occupation of southern Lebanon, and Hezbollah assures that it respects the ceasefire but, at the same time, maintains its right to defend Lebanese territory. The situation, however, is hanging by a thread: the head of the Israeli armed forces, Eyal Zamir, has assured that the cessation of hostilities is fragile, and has asked the army to remain prepared for new attacks.