US-Iran Talks Open in Switzerland Amid Hormuz Dispute

Delegations from the United States and Iran arrived Sunday at the Bürgenstock resort in Switzerland to begin technical talks on implementing a 60-day interim agreement signed days earlier. The memorandum calls for an end to hostilities on all fronts, including Lebanon, the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz without Iranian tolls, and progress toward limits on Iran’s nuclear program.

The central tension is whether the fragile ceasefire can survive continued Israeli strikes in Lebanon and competing claims over the strait. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced the waterway closed again, citing Israeli operations and alleged U.S. failure to enforce the truce. U.S. Central Command stated that 55 merchant ships transited on Saturday carrying more than 17 million barrels of oil and that traffic continues to flow.

Vice President JD Vance leads the U.S. side, joined by envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. Iran’s delegation is headed by parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, along with Qatari officials, are serving as mediators.

Vance told reporters before departure that he hoped to advance both the nuclear file and the Lebanon ceasefire. He described conditions in Lebanon as improving despite the headlines. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said Tehran would press for immediate implementation of the memorandum’s first clause on halting military operations everywhere.

Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon on Saturday killed at least 47 people, according to Lebanese health authorities, while the Israel Defense Forces reported striking 80 Hezbollah-linked targets. Hezbollah said it would not allow Israeli freedom of movement. President Trump warned on social media that the United States could impose its own tolls on the strait if no final deal is reached within 60 days.

IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi met Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis on the sidelines. The talks are scheduled to last up to two days at the principal level before shifting to technical teams.