Iran says technical talks with US in Switzerland conclude successfully

Iran Reports Conclusion of Technical Talks With US in Switzerland

Iranian officials said technical talks with the United States and mediators in Switzerland ended with agreements on future negotiation arrangements. Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi, who led Iran’s technical team, stated that the four-party discussions produced understandings on working groups and implementation mechanisms, according to Iran’s official IRNA news agency.

Gharibabadi said the technical sessions followed a high-level committee meeting on Sunday that reviewed implementation of the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding. That framework agreement was signed virtually on June 17 by the US and Iranian presidents to end more than 100 days of conflict. “Technical discussions were held to determine the implementation mechanisms of the memorandum of understanding and the statement issued at the conclusion of the high-level meeting, and the necessary understandings were reached,” Gharibabadi said.

Iranian parliament speaker and lead negotiator Mohammad Ghalibaf separately stated that an agreement had been reached with the United States on the release of $12 billion in frozen Iranian assets. US President Donald Trump said the funds would be used to purchase US agricultural products. “Money that’s being unfrozen is going to be used to buy food, and the food is going to be bought exclusively through the United States from our farmers,” Trump said from the Oval Office, listing corn and soybeans among the items.

The US Department of the Treasury announced a 60-day waiver permitting Iran to sell oil and petrochemical products. The waiver is temporary and conditioned on Iran meeting specified benchmarks for additional sanctions relief. Alan Fisher, reporting from Washington, noted that the measure reverses prior restrictions on Iranian oil exports. He said Iran had previously sold oil at a discount due to sanctions concerns but could now receive full market prices under the waiver terms, while further sanctions relief would still require compliance with the stated benchmarks.

On the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly one-fifth of global energy exports pass, Tehran agreed to establish a communications channel with the United States to facilitate safe transit. Ghalibaf said the pre-conflict administrative arrangements for the strait would not be restored. “Everybody should know that the administration of the Strait will never return to the way it was before the war; of course, we will fully comply with international law,” he said while returning from the Switzerland meetings. During the conflict, Iranian forces attacked or threatened vessels transiting the waterway.

The reported understandings set the stage for additional negotiation phases focused on ending the conflict. Both sides have described the recent steps as progress, though US officials have emphasized that sanctions relief remains tied to verifiable Iranian actions on the agreed benchmarks.