Mediators ‘delivered major progress’ in Swiss-based peace talks between the US and Iran on Sunday, Iran’s foreign minister claimed.
Though Tehran officials backed out of negotiations after discussions entered a ‘difficult phase’ after just 80 minutes of talks, according to Iranian state media.
High-level negotiations in Switzerland seeking a permanent end to the Iran war ended early Monday, with lower-level talks planned for the rest of the week as Iran and the United States agreed to create a ‘de-confliction cell’ to address the fighting in Lebanon.
The progress comes despite Iranian officials abandoning talks in the wake of President Donald Trump’s threat to ‘blow the s*** out of them,’ just hours after Vice President JD Vance arrived in Switzerland for negotiations with Tehran.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi claimed in a post to X that ‘a major reconstruction and development plan for Iran has been launched.’
He also claimed that sanctions on Iranian oil have been waived and some of the country’s assets had been unfrozen.
A statement from mediators Pakistan and Qatar said the cell would include the Lebanese government and would ‘ensure the adherence of the termination of military operations in Lebanon.’
They also claimed Washington and Tehran have formed a ‘line of communication’ to manage the Strait of Hormuz to ‘avoid incidents and miscommunication with the aim of safe passage for commercial vessels’ during the ceasefire.
But it remains unclear whether that will be enough to stop fighting between the Iranian-backed militia Hezbollah and Israel, which occupies Lebanon and insists it must maintain a free hand to attack militants who are launching attacks into northern Israel.
