Diplomacy over the Iran conflict shifted course on Thursday after a planned meeting between Iranian and US officials in Switzerland was postponed, even as Tehran said preparations were continuing for talks in the coming days.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry said the session was no longer considered urgent because the two sides had already digitally signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at ending the war.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said progress toward a final agreement would hinge on whether the terms laid out in that memorandum begin to take effect and continue to be implemented.
“Given that the signing of the text of the MoU was done digitally on June 18, there is no urgency to hold the said meeting in Switzerland, but we are planning to hold a meeting in the coming days,” Mr Baghaei said.
Earlier yesterday, a source familiar with Tehran’s thinking said Iran’s lead negotiator Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf was not planning to attend.
JD Vance had been expected in Switzerland before scrapping the trip late last night
Even so, some of the most difficult questions are still unresolved, and efforts to lock in a durable settlement may yet be complicated by Israel’s conflict in Lebanon with Hezbollah.
Under the interim deal, the United States, Iran and their allies are required to declare an immediate and permanent end to military operations on all fronts, including Lebanon.
Israel, which was not included in the talks, says it is not party to the deal. Violence eased in Lebanon earlier this week, but later flared again.
However, this afternoon Israel and Hezbollah agreed to a ceasefire, a senior US official said.
The war, which began on 28 February with US and Israeli air attacks on Iran, has killed at least 7,000 people, mostly in Iran and Lebanon. It also drove up energy prices and rattled global markets, though oil prices have fallen this week.
The outlook for additional oil supplies has improved since tankers resumed moving through the Strait of Hormuz, which carried nearly a fifth of global crude oil and liquefied natural gas supplies before Iran blockaded it during the war.
Iran said it was prepared to begin technical talks after this week’s accord prolonged a fragile ceasefire by at least 60 days.
Iran says it will still maintain control over Hormuz in partnership with neighbouring Oman
A Swiss foreign ministry statement said the talks had been postponed and that Switzerland remained ready to facilitate them, while relevant preparatory work continued.
In Washington, some of US President Donald Trump’s Republican allies in Congress questioned whether he had given away too much to bring the conflict to a close, a war that was unpopular with most Americans ahead of midterm elections in November.
In March, Mr Trump had vowed he would end the war only with Iran’s “unconditional surrender”.
But the memorandum signed with Iran instead offers relief from economic sanctions, unfreezes assets worth tens of billions of dollars and grants immediate US waivers for Iranian oil exports.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei said Mr Trump had signed the deal “out of desperation” and indicated that the next round of talks over Iran’s nuclear programme, one of Mr Trump’s stated justifications for launching the war, would be difficult.
“If the American side wants to be too demanding, we will not accept it,” he said in a message.
Iran’s Supreme National Security Council pledged a reciprocal response to any violation by what it called the “untrustworthy” American side, saying it would show “no leniency” until the nation’s full rights were secured.
Life has largely resumed in Tehran under the ceasefire
The deal gives negotiators 60 days to settle the status of Iran’s nuclear programme, unless both sides agree to an extension, and to establish a $300bn reconstruction fund for Iran along with other financial incentives.
Mr Vance said Washington would also seek to curb Iran’s long-range missiles.
The mounting cost of the war also came under scrutiny after the Wall Street Journal reported that the US defence department told politicians it needed $80bn to cover war costs as well as some unrelated bills.
US officials say the negotiations could still produce a strong agreement on Iran’s nuclear programme, one they hope will improve on the 2015 deal between Iran, the US and other countries that Mr Trump tore up in his first term.
Critics, however, argue that Iran now enters those talks from a stronger position, having withstood a superpower attack, demonstrated its control of the Strait of Hormuz and secured valuable waivers from financial sanctions.
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