(Reuters) – Peace talks led by U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Iranian chief negotiator Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf were set to begin on Sunday morning at a Swiss mountaintop resort as both nations seek a durable end to their war while disagreeing over Iran’s claim that it had closed the vital Strait of Hormuz.
The U.S. and Iran had agreed to a 60-day ceasefire for the negotiations, but Tehran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on Saturday declared the Strait of Hormuz shut in response to Israeli strikes in Lebanon, although the U.S. military said commercial vessels kept operating.
Those developments could complicate the talks in which both sides want to advance an interim deal brokered by Pakistan and signed on Wednesday by Presidents Donald Trump and Masoud Pezeshkian to end an almost four-month-long war.
Vance arrived at the scenic Buergenstock resort, accessed by a narrow road snaking through leafy hills and several security checkpoints manned by armed guards, after landing at Emmen Air Base early on Sunday, accompanied by second lady Usha Vance.
VANCE HOPES FOR PROGRESS ON NUCLEAR ISSUE, LEBANON
The talks, including mediators, were to start “during the course of the morning,” Switzerland’s Federal Department of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
“I think we’re going to hopefully make progress on the nuclear issue, make progress on the Lebanon ceasefire issue,” with a “couple days of talks” likely, Vance told reporters at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland before departing.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, accusing Israel of “crimes” in Lebanon that violated U.S. commitments to the ceasefire, warned ships would be at risk if they approached the strait, which carried a fifth of global oil supplies before the U.S. and Israel launched attacks on February 28.
Despite the Lebanon truce, Israeli forces and the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah attacked each other on Saturday.
U.S. Central Command said 55 merchant ships transited the strait on Saturday, carrying more than 17 million barrels of oil bound for global markets, and vowed that U.S. forces would ensure commercial traffic continued.
Trump said there would be no toll for passage through the strait during the 60-day ceasefire or after, unless the U.S. imposed one should peace talks fail.
In a social media post, he cited the possibility of a toll levied by the United States “for services rendered as the Guardian Angel to the countries of the Middle East” if a peace deal is not completed.
Mohammad Mokhber, an adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, accused the U.S. of failing to implement the first of the Iran deal’s 14 points, which include a ceasefire “on all fronts”, including Lebanon.
As long as the agreement was only on paper, the flow of Middle East energy would stay halted, he added.
On the other hand, Iranian Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad said that if Western stakeholders adhere to the spirit of the pact, hundreds of investment opportunities and contract formats stand ready, according to the ministry’s news outlet, Shana.
ISRAEL VOWS TO DEFEND ITS FORCES IN LEBANON
The Iranian delegation at the resort – owned by Qatar, which has mediated in the peace efforts – includes Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi as well as senior security, central bank and oil officials, Iranian media said.
In addition to Vance, the U.S. negotiating team includes envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said Iran would press for fulfilment of commitments, citing past failures by the other side to honour agreements.
Pakistan said its Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the army chief, Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, had arrived to join the talks at the resort, where helicopters hovered overhead.
In an interview with Fox News before leaving the United States, Vance said he was confident the ceasefire would hold, and he had seen no evidence of a closed Strait of Hormuz.
A halt to fighting in Lebanon was one of the conditions for starting U.S.-Iranian talks on Tehran’s nuclear programme and other issues. But Lebanese civil defence officials said Israeli strikes had killed 20 people on Saturday, hours after a truce took effect.
Israel said it was responding to attacks from Hezbollah, while the group said it would not allow Israel “freedom of movement” in Lebanon.
Israel says it is not party to the Iran-U.S. deal and will keep its forces in the Lebanese territory it occupies. In a statement, its military said Israel was committed to the ceasefire but would act against any threats.
Israeli broadcaster Channel 12 said the prime minister and defence minister had told the military to hold fire in Lebanon, but it would not withdraw from captured areas.
A poll by Israel’s Hebrew University, provided to Reuters, showed about 92% of Israelis believe Iran benefited more than Israel from the joint Israeli-U.S. military campaign, while just 8% see Israel as having emerged victorious.
Almost 90% of Israelis said war goals had not been met and fewer than 30% believe Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s claims of major achievements.
Lebanon’s health ministry says Israeli attacks have killed 4,057 since March 2, including medics, women and children, but not how many combatants are included.
Israeli authorities say at least 32 soldiers and four civilians have been killed in fighting with Hezbollah.
Reporting by Reuters bureaus; Writing by William Maclean, John Kruzel and Clarence Fernandez; Editing by Sergio Non, Christian Schmollinger and William Mallard
