US, Iran begin peace talks in Switzerland with Hormuz, Lebanon in spotlight

• US-Iran negotiations began in Switzerland to advance an interim peace deal meant to sort out the Strait of Hormuz and Israel's war in Lebanon.
• Talks are complicated by Iran's threat to close the Strait of Hormuz due to Israeli strikes in Lebanon, despite US military denying any shutdown.
• Despite the ceasefire, Israel and Hezbollah attacked each other in Lebanon, violating deal conditions and raising doubts about implementation.

BUERGENSTOCK, Switzerland – High-level talks began in Switzerland on June 21 between officials from the United States and Iran, with disagreements over the Strait of Hormuz and the conflict in Lebanon threatening to derail the deal.

The negotiations to end a war that sowed chaos across the Middle East and rattled the global economy are meant to trigger a 60-day period to settle broader issues that have dogged US-Iranian relations for decades, from Iran’s nuclear programme to crippling sanctions.

American and Iranian representatives gathered alongside delegations from mediators Pakistan and Qatar at the luxury Swiss resort of Burgenstock perched high above Lake Lucerne, with Tehran saying all four sides were expected to meet in the afternoon on June 21.

Yet, negotiations to end the months-long conflict are taking place against the backdrop of Iran closing the strategic Strait of Hormuz again in response to Israel’s attacks on Lebanon.

“It is not possible to enter the negotiation phase for a final agreement,” Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei wrote on X, unless there is an end to the war in Lebanon.

The fighting in Lebanon between Israel and the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah flared up on June 20, but it appeared to ease on June 21 after the Israeli government directed the military to restrict itself to defensive actions.

The status of the Strait of Hormuz, meanwhile, was thrown into confusion on June 20 after Iran claimed it was closing the waterway over the fighting in Lebanon.

The US military said that marine traffic in the strait continued to flow and asserted that Iran “does not control” the strait.

Those developments are seen complicating the talks in which both sides want to advance an interim deal brokered by Pakistan and signed on June 17 to end an almost four-month-long war.

US Vice-President J.D. Vance arrived in Switzerland early on June 21 to lead an American negotiating team that includes US President Donald Trump’s special envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.

An Iranian team that included General Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, its lead negotiator in earlier talks and the speaker of its Parliament, arrived earlier.

“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.

He said he was confident the ceasefire would hold, and he had seen no evidence of a closed Strait of Hormuz.

There remained scepticism from Tehran, however, with Mohsen Rezaei, a military adviser to supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, posting on X that “the enemy has shown itself to be a promise-breaker”.

Speaking on June 21, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tehran would not relinquish its right to enrich uranium, though he repeated Iran’s denial that it wants nuclear weapons.

“We can also state in writing that we have no intention of building a bomb,” he said on the presidential website.

Baghaei, meanwhile, said the unfreezing of Iranian assets and “issuing the necessary licences for the sale of Iranian oil, will also be on the agenda”.

Lebanon remains a stumbling block

The latest fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, sparked by Hezbollah attacking Israel in support of Iran in the wider war, has repeatedly threatened to derail peace efforts.

On June 19, planned US-Iranian talks were postponed after Israel launched deadly strikes in Lebanon following the deaths of four of its soldiers in combat there.

Washington announced a renewed ceasefire in the country later the same day, but Israeli troops again clashed with Hezbollah fighters the following day, trading accusations of violating the truce.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, accusing Israel of “crimes” in Lebanon, warned ships will be at risk if they approach the Strait of Hormuz.

The US Central Command said, however, that 55 merchant ships transited the strait on June 20, carrying more than 17 million barrels of oil bound for global markets, and vowed that American forces would ensure commercial traffic continues.

Mohammad Mokhber, another of Khamenei’s advisers, accused the US 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 is only on paper, he added, the flow of Middle East energy would stay halted.

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.

A poll by Israel’s Hebrew University, meanwhile, showed about 92 per cent of Israelis believe Iran benefited more than Israel from the joint Israeli-US military campaign, while just 8 per cent see Israel as having emerged victorious.

Almost 90 per cent of Israelis said war goals have not been met, and fewer than 30 per cent believe Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s claims of major achievements. AFP, REUTERS