US and Iran Resume Peace Talks in Switzerland as Hormuz Dispute Flares

US and Iranian delegations arrived in Switzerland on Saturday to resume peace talks on Sunday aimed at implementing a Pakistan-brokered interim ceasefire deal signed by Presidents Trump and Pezeshkian to end their nearly four-month war, even as Iran claimed to close the Strait of Hormuz and violence continued in Lebanon. [1] High-level officials from Iran arrived in Switzerland for peace talks with the US, Iranian state media reported, as US Vice President JD Vance departed Washington for meetings that Pakistan said will begin on Sunday. [1] Although the US and Iran had agreed to a 60-day ceasefire while negotiations take place, Tehran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on Saturday declared the Strait of Hormuz shut, though the US military said commercial vessels had continued operating in the waterway. [1]

Delegations Arrive for Switzerland Peace Talks

The Iran delegation led by chief negotiator Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi arrives at Zurich International Airport on Saturday. [1] Negotiations with the US were due to resume on Sunday. [1] The Iranian negotiating delegation, codenamed "Minab 168," has arrived in Switzerland. [4] Switzerland on Saturday said that it continues to provide a "discreet and reliable setting" to facilitate talks at the central Swiss resort of Burgenstock on the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding between the United States and Iran. [4] An Iranian delegation landed in Switzerland late Saturday for talks with the United States at the Burgenstock resort to halt the conflict in the Middle East. [4] The Iranian delegation is led by chief negotiator Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf and includes Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi as well as senior security, central bank and oil officials, Iranian media said. [1] In addition to Vance, the US negotiating team includes envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law. [1] Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the army chief, Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, will attend this weekend's sessions, the country's ministry of foreign affairs said. [1] Delegations head to Switzerland for US-Iran talks under Islamabad agreement. [3] Emergency session focused on Israel, Hezbollah conflict added to agenda for opening day of peace talks. [3]

Dispute Over Strait of Hormuz Closure

Pointing to what it called Israeli "crimes" in Lebanon that violated US commitments to a ceasefire, the IRGC warned ships would be at risk if they approached the Strait, a vital conduit for global oil and gas supplies. [1] But US Central Command said 55 merchant ships transited the strait on Saturday with more than 17 million barrels of oil for global markets. [1] US forces will ensure commercial traffic continues, Central Command said. [1] Trump said no toll would be charged for passage through the strait during or after the 60-day ceasefire, unless the US imposes one should peace talks fail. [1] 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. [1] Mohammad Mokhber, an adviser to Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, accused the US on X of failing to implement the first clause of its 14-point interim deal with Iran, which includes a ceasefire "on all fronts", including Lebanon. [1] He said that, as long as the agreement was only on paper, the flow of Middle East energy would remain halted. [1] Vance, in an interview with Fox News, said he was confident the ceasefire would hold and that he had seen no evidence that the Strait of Hormuz was closed. [1] The US vice president left for Switzerland shortly after 4pm Washington time (3am Sunday Bangkok). [1]

Fragile Ceasefire in Lebanon

A halt to fighting in Lebanon was one of the conditions for starting US-Iranian talks on Tehran's nuclear programme and other issues. [1] But Lebanese Civil Defence said 20 people had been killed by Israeli strikes in Lebanon on Saturday, hours after a truce took effect there. [1] Israel said it was responding to attacks from Hezbollah, while the Iran-backed militant group said it would not allow Israel "freedom of movement" in Lebanon. [1] Israel says it is not party to the Iran-US deal and will keep its forces in the Lebanese territory it occupies. [1] A military statement said Israel was committed to the ceasefire but would continue to act against any threat to Israel or its forces. [1] Israeli broadcaster Channel 12 reported that the prime minister and defence minister had instructed the military to hold fire in Lebanon but that it would not withdraw from areas it had captured. [1] Lebanon's state news agency NNA said Israeli warplanes and drones had struck locations across southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley on Saturday, both Hezbollah strongholds. [1] An Israeli military official said Hezbollah fired more than 50 projectiles at Israeli forces in southern Lebanon overnight, and that Israel had attacked what it described as Hezbollah targets in response. [1] Lebanon's health ministry says 4,057 people have been killed in Israeli attacks since March 2, including medics, women and children, though it does not specify how many of the dead were combatants. [1] Israeli authorities say at least 32 soldiers and four civilians have been killed in fighting with Hezbollah. [1]

Key Issues on the Agenda

Negotiators would likely have a “couple days of talks", Vance told reporters before boarding a plane at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland. [1] "I think we're going to hopefully make progress on the nuclear issue, make progress on the Lebanon ceasefire issue," he said. [1] Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said Iran would press in Switzerland for fulfilment of commitments, citing past failures by the other side to honour agreements. [1] Those developments could complicate talks in which both sides seek to advance an interim deal brokered by Pakistan and signed on Wednesday by Presidents Donald Trump and Masoud Pezeshkian to end their almost four-month war. [1] The initial negotiations on the implementation of the interim peace deal between the two sides were scheduled for Friday but were later postponed. [4]

Israeli Public Sentiment on the Conflict

A poll by Israel's Hebrew University, shared with Reuters, found that some 92% of Israelis believe Iran benefited more from the joint Israeli-US military campaign than Israel and only some 8% think Israel emerged victorious. [1] Almost 90% of Israelis said the goals of the war were not met and more than 70% do not believe Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's claims that there were major achievements. [1]

What to watch next is whether negotiators can advance the 14-point interim agreement on the nuclear issue and the Lebanon ceasefire during the coming days of talks. [1]