JD Vance, Sharif and Iran speaker reach Switzerland for peace talks

Senior US, Iranian and Pakistani leaders have gathered in Switzerland to launch formal talks on Tehran's nuclear programme. The meeting tests a fragile 60-day peace process already strained by fresh regional fighting and Hormuz tensions.

In Short

• Qatar's negotiators will join discussions to support the fragile diplomatic process
• Talks seek limits on Tehran's nuclear programme under a 60-day window
• Pakistan joined the memorandum as guarantor and mediator, officials said

Top leaders, including US Vice President JD Vance, Iran's Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, arrived in Switzerland on Sunday for high-level talks aimed at restoring peace in West Asia. Negotiators from Qatar are also set to take part in the meeting.

The talks are meant to formally launch negotiations on curbing Tehran's nuclear programme and to move a fragile interim deal towards a durable peace. The process follows a Memorandum of Understanding signed last week by US President Donald Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, which opened a 60-day negotiation window, with Pakistan signing on as a guarantor.

Vance arrived on Sunday morning, while other US negotiators, including envoy Steve Witkoff and adviser Jared Kushner, were already in Switzerland. Before departing, Vance told Fox News, "My understanding, talking to Jared and Steve this (Saturday) morning, is things are going well."

According to Iran's state-run IRNA news agency, the Iranian delegation is being led by Ghalibaf. It said, "Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, Deputy Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council Ali Bagheri Kani, and Central Bank of Iran Governor Abdolnaser Hemmati are also part of the delegation." IRNA also reported that Araghchi met his Swiss counterpart Ignazio Cassis on Sunday.

Sharif also landed in Zurich on Sunday, accompanied by Army chief Asim Munir and other delegates. Pakistan's Foreign Office said on Saturday, "Pakistan will continue to facilitate the process in its role as mediator, with a view to advancing the understandings reached under the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding." Pakistan has been described as a key mediator in the process.

The technical aspects of the negotiations were due to begin on Friday, but were delayed mainly because of fresh rounds of firing between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah. The MoU had led to the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, the waterway through which roughly one-fifth of the world's energy supplies pass in normal times. However, Iran said on Saturday that it had closed the strait again, citing an Israeli attack in Lebanon. Vance said the Gulf chokepoint remains open for shipping, while Trump threatened to impose American tolls in the waterway if a final deal with Iran is not reached within 60 days.

With senior leaders and negotiators now in Switzerland, the talks are focused on taking forward the MoU, addressing Tehran's nuclear programme and trying to stabilise a process that has already faced setbacks from renewed regional hostilities.

With PTI Inputs

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