The US and Iran officials have made progress was during the first day of peace talks despite a rocky start to the summit in Switzerland.
This comes after Iranian officials initially abandoned talks in the wake of President Donald Trump’s threat to ‘blow the s*** out of them.’
However, things eventually got back on track and a second day of meetings is scheduled.
A senior US diplomat claimed progress on multiple fronts, including the establishment of ‘mechanisms’ to ensure the Strait of Hormuz remains open and that a ceasefire in southern Lebanon holds.
The diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity to brief journalists on the ongoing talks, said late Sunday that the Iranians remained on site and the negotiations were on.
He said among the issues discussed was Iran’s messaging as it related to the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran’s military said it closed Saturday in response to continued fighting in Lebanon.
US Central Command has disputed that Iran closed the strait again. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote on X that ‘tireless Pakistani and Qatari mediation has delivered major progress to end Lebanon War.’
Mediators Qatar and Pakistan hailed what they called ‘encouraging progress’ made during the talks.
The high-level negotiations seeking a permanent end to the Iran war concluded early Monday.
Lower-level talks are 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.
