US Vice President JD Vance overnight said his lengthy talks with senior Iranian officials in Switzerland created a "good foundation for a successful final deal" as they seek a permanent end to the war that the US and Israel began in late February.
Vance and US officials claimed progress on multiple fronts, including the establishment of "mechanisms” to ensure the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway for global energy shipments, stays open and to address fighting between Israel and Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants in southern Lebanon, where a ceasefire appeared to be holding.
The vice president departed Switzerland as technical teams were still in place negotiating. He stressed that the key for US President Donald Trump would be Iran's actions rather than its words.
"My point is that I trust actions, and what the president has asked us to do is verify what they’re doing, focus less on what they’re saying," Vance said.
Iran effectively closed the strait after the US and Israel attacked on February 28, causing fuel prices to skyrocket far beyond the region. The interim agreement to end the war was supposed to reopen the channel. Dozens of ships passed through it over the weekend, even though the main route is still mined and closed.
Shortly after those attacks, Hezbollah and Israel also went to war, with Hezbollah firing rockets and drones at civilian communities in northern Israel and Israel seizing large swaths of southern Lebanon. Iran has insisted that addressing the fighting in Lebanon is a critical component of any deal to end the wider conflict.
Iran noted “major progress” to end the fighting in Lebanon and called that the first real test of the negotiations.
In other developments, the US Treasury issued a 60-day license waiving sanctions on Iranian oil as part of the interim agreement. Notably, the license allows Iranian oil to be imported into the US, which has not imported significant amounts of Iranian oil since the 1990s.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent cited the "ongoing productive talks in Switzerland" in a post on X announcing the license, which will last through August 21.
Also on Monday, the State Department announced that Secretary of State Marco Rubio would travel this week to the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Bahrain to discuss the latest developments in Iran.
Trump was not in Switzerland but loomed large over talks
The mediation effort in Switzerland started Sunday and stretched into early Monday.
“We haven’t built the house, but we’ve laid a successful foundation to get to a good place for the American people,” Vance told reporters after initial talks with Iran’s parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf.
President Donald Trump did not attend what was dubbed the “Lake Lucerne Summit,” but his presence certainly loomed large. The talks were jolted by statements from Trump, who, from thousands of miles away, fired off comments that offended the Iranians.
Iranian state media said talks had paused after the “publication of an insulting message by the US President.” The negotiations later continued.
Vance pushed back against the notion that Trump's threats complicated the talks.
“No, they didn’t throw a wrench in the system," Vance said. He added, "Yes, they did threaten to walk out, or at least there were social media threats that they would walk out. But we were negotiating well past one in the morning yesterday, so they didn’t walk out.”
Vance floats unfreezing Iranian assets to purchase US goods
The vice president suggested that the US could agree to unfreeze Iranian assets for purchases of US soy, corn and wheat. He said Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law and one of the lead US negotiators, came up with the idea with officials from Qatar.
Vance said Qatar would have approval over the process, and Iranian money that would be accessible as sanctions were lifted would buy American products "for the benefit of the Iranian people.”
Iran, which has pressed for the unfreezing of billions of dollars in assets, has not commented on the idea. The assets have been frozen over years of sanctions, banking restrictions and legal disputes imposed by the US and international community on the Islamic Republic.
High-level talks have ended but technical talks continue
In a joint statement, mediators Pakistan and Qatar hailed what they called “encouraging progress.”
The interim deal to end the fighting in Iran, signed last week by the leaders of the US and Iran, sets a 60-day period for negotiations on key issues, including the future of Tehran’s nuclear program amid concerns that Iran wants to use it for military purposes, a claim the country denies.
Vance said the technical talks, which were to continue this week, were critical.
“We wanted to set up a structure for that so that you could have proper political oversight, but obviously, as much as this place is very beautiful, I can’t stay here for the next 60 days,” Vance told reporters.
US envoys Kushner and Steve Witkoff are handling many of the technical details.
More ships pass through strait
Meanwhile, more ships went through the Strait of Hormuz. According to data and analytics firm Kpler, there were 71 confirmed transits over the weekend, with a peak of 35 crossings on Saturday. Before the war, 100 to 130 vessels passed through the strait each day.
Ships have been avoiding the central route to steer clear of mines, choosing instead to use the smaller northern route, which goes through Iranian waters, and the southern route, which goes through Omani waters. In the markets, US oil prices dropped more than 2% in Monday afternoon trading to USD$74.66 a barrel.
Trump, over the weekend, made clear he was annoyed by Iran’s public commentary on the strait, which Iran’s military said it closed Saturday in response to continued fighting in Lebanon. US Central Command disputed that Iran closed the strait again.
Ahead of the talks, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian had vowed to “never back down from the right to enrich uranium,” according to state media.
Trump on Sunday told Fox News in a phone interview that Pezeshkian should watch what he says and threatened to take over Iran, according to one of the news channel's correspondents.
Trump also posted on social media as negotiators worked: “Iran must immediately stop their highly paid PROXIES in Lebanon from causing trouble. If they don’t, we’ll hit Iran very hard again, just like we did last week, only harder!!!”
Vance said the Iranians should have expected such a reaction from Trump.
"What we told the Iranians yesterday is when you guys engage in what us millennials might call trash talk, you can't expect the president of the United States not to respond and not to correct the record," Vance said.
Iranians agree there was progress on their top issue
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote on X that mediators delivered "major progress to end the Lebanon War". But he said the first "real test" of negotiations would be whether the mechanism succeeds in halting the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.
Neither Israel nor Hezbollah is a signatory to the US-Iran deal.
But as of Monday evening in the Middle East, the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah appeared to be holding.
“We have not detected trajectories from either side since yesterday,” said Tilak Pokharel, a spokesperson for the UN peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon known as UNIFIL.
Airspace violations and Israeli military movements continued, Pokharel said.
Hezbollah has not announced any attacks on Israeli forces since Saturday.
The lull in fighting in Lebanon is the longest since the latest Israel-Hezbollah war began on March 2.
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