Here's the latest
• Sunday talks: Vice President JD Vance has arrived in Switzerland. Earlier he said the US will set up the structure of negotiations with Iran and potentially start to make progress on nuclear issues. A delegation from Tehran has warned that talks won’t advance without first addressing Lebanon. On Sunday, a diplomatic source told CNN that Lebanon will be the first topic addressed at the talks.
• Strait of Hormuz: Iran said it is closing the vital waterway in response to renewed Israeli strikes in Lebanon. The US military denied Iran’s claim to control the strait, and President Donald Trump threatened to impose US tolls in the shipping lane if a deal with Tehran is not ultimately reached.
• On the ground: Despite a stated truce in Lebanon, Israel continues to exchange fire with Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militant group. Dozens of people have been killed by Israeli strikes in Lebanon over the past two days, marking some of the worst bloodshed of the current conflict.
Ghalibaf leading Iranian delegation to Switzerland, media reports
Iran’s lead negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, will head the country’s delegation to engage in talks with the US in Switzerland, Iranian media outlet Saberin News reported Saturday.
Ghalibaf, speaker of the Iranian parliament, has played a central role throughout Iran’s series of negotiations for an end to the conflict.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei are also in the delegation with several other officials, including banking and oil leaders, the outlet said.
As we’ve reported, US Vice President JD Vance has also arrived in Switzerland for the talks, according to his office.
Vance on "rescue mission" in Switzerland, former US government advisor says
Vice President JD Vance is on a “rescue mission” in Switzerland where US-Iran talks are due to take place , a former US government advisor told CNN on Sunday.
“I think the vice president’s trip right now is less about this victory lap and more of a rescue mission of those talks,” said Negah Angha, a former senior advisor at the US Department of State and National Security Council.
“Merely being able to move forward with the talks, having those, those conversations will be a clear win for the next couple of days.”
She said that the 60-day deadline to hammer out a deal on Iran’s nuclear program might be too short.
“Sixty days is going to be complicated when you’re trying to decide whether or not some of these nuclear components are going to essentially be watered down in Iran,” she said.
Vance has landed in Switzerland for talks
Vice President JD Vance has arrived in Switzerland for US-Iran talks, according to his office.
His convoy was seen at the Bürgenstock Resort in Obbuergen, near Lucerne on Sunday.
Before departing, he said his top priorities in negotiations with Iran are to set up the structure of the talks, “make progress” on the nuclear issues and achieve a ceasefire in Lebanon.
US and Iran share "vested interest" in continuing talks despite violations: analyst
Both the United States and Iran have sent high-level officials to Switzerland for talks despite claims of violations from both sides because they share a “vested interest” in ending the conflict, an analyst told CNN on Sunday.
Sina Azodi, director of George Washington University’s Middle East studies program, noted Israel’s attacks on Lebanon are an issue for Iran while the US could possibly interpret Tehran claiming to close the Strait of Hormuz as a violation of the memorandum of understanding.
“For both sides, ending this conflict, this war of choice, rather, is a vested interest,” he said.
Azodi also said Tehran may want to “test and see” whether Washington will be able to rein in Israel and end the hostilities in Lebanon.
“They hope that through negotiations with the American side, they can get the US to pressure Israelis to stop for them.”
Talks in Switzerland to start with emergency session on Lebanon: source
An emergency session on Lebanon has been added to the talks in Switzerland and will be the first topic addressed, a diplomat briefed on the session told CNN on Sunday.
Before departing for Switzerland, US Vice President JD Vance said one priority was to make progress on a ceasefire in Lebanon, which has again come under missile fire from Israel.
Ending the conflict in Lebanon is “the most important item on the Iranian delegation’s agenda,” an Iranian official told CNN on Saturday.
Vance sets top priorities as he departs for negotiations
US Vice President JD Vance said his top priorities in negotiations with Iran are to set up the structure of the talks, “make progress” on the nuclear issues and achieve a ceasefire in Lebanon.
“We’re going to have a principal level of political leadership at the top and then obviously the technical team is going to stay on the ground,” Vance said before departing for Switzerland today.
The vice president said he would be able to stay in Switzerland only for a “day or two” but hoped he would make advancements on negotiations surrounding the handling of Iran’s nuclear materials.
Vance said one priority is to make progress on a ceasefire in Lebanon, which has again come under missile fire from Israel. Vance said the situation is one “we’re just going to have to continuously manage.”
“Those are the two big things we’re going to be focused on. I’m sure the Iranians are going to have issues they’d like to discuss as well,” he said.
Pakistan leader and army chief depart for Switzerland to attend US-Iran talks
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and army chief Syed Asim Munir have departed Islamabad and are on their way to Switzerland where diplomatic discussions between the US and Iran are unfolding, a statement from the prime minister’s office said Sunday.
Pakistan has operated as a major mediator in US-Iran talks since a ceasefire was first announced.
“Pakistan will continue to support and advance the implementation of the understandings reached between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States,” Pakistan’s foreign ministry said in a statement.
The talks will include US Vice President JD Vance, Jared Kushner and the US special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff.
Ending attacks in Lebanon is "most important" to Iran's delegation
Ending the conflict in Lebanon is “the most important item on the Iranian delegation’s agenda” during today’s negotiations with the US in Switzerland, an Iranian official told CNN on Saturday.
The official said Iran does not consider this weekend’s talks a part of the official negotiations outlined in an initial agreement signed by the two countries, because key provisions have not yet been fulfilled — most notably the clause that calls for ending the war in Lebanon.
The conflict gave Iran a new bargaining chip — and Tehran will use it in negotiations
US and Iranian delegations are both coming to talks in Switzerland on the next steps in their tentative truce. Tehran will arrive carrying a big diplomatic stick — the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
Accusing Israel of violating the ceasefire in Lebanon, Iran balked at attending talks planned Friday, the first since the Iranian and US presidents signed the 14-clause memorandum of understanding (MoU) earlier in the week.
Despite a truce agreed between Israel and Lebanon’s Iranian-backed Hezbollah militia, violence there has continued, with the death toll among Lebanese civilians growing Saturday.
One of Pakistan’s top mediators flew to Tehran to persuade Iranian negotiators to reconsider and come to the talks in the Swiss mountains.
The threat to close the key waterway seems to be leverage to secure a full ceasefire in Lebanon.
Iran’s Tasnim News Agency, which is aligned with Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard Corps, warned one of its top negotiators, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, against going to the talks empty-handed. It said that since the MoU had been violated in Lebanon, Iran had no obligation to keep the Strait of Hormuz open.
Iranian negotiators have been clear: President Donald Trump signed the MoU; therefore if he cannot ensure the ceasefire in Lebanon, then the rest of the MoU is in question.
By carrying a diplomatic stick into the talks, Iranian negotiators ensure not only that they keep their hard-liners onside, but they also have something to trade to get what they want.
The Iranians’ ability to stymie global trade in the strait is their new superpower, and they clearly intend to use it.
What today's US-Iran talks in Switzerland will likely focus on
Welcome back to our coverage.
Iran and the US are attending talks in Switzerland this weekend, even as persistent fighting in Lebanon threatens to derail the diplomatic process.
Should direct meetings take place, it will mark the first face-to-face discussions between Washington and Tehran since a 14-point memorandum of understanding was agreed upon by both parties last week.
Here are some of the topics that will likely be under discussion:
- Fighting in Lebanon: Iran has repeatedly insisted that it will not go further in talks with the US if Israel continues its deadly bombardment of Lebanon, where a conflict with the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah is still raging. An Iranian official told CNN this is the number one issue for the delegation, and that Tehran does not consider the next phase of negotiations started until Lebanon is addressed.
- Strait of Hormuz: On Saturday, Iran’s military command said it will close the Strait of Hormuz, citing the Lebanon issue. Traffic had only just begun to pick up in the strait. The US military denied Iran’s claim to control the channel, and President Donald Trump threatened to impose US tolls in the shipping lane if a deal with Tehran is not ultimately reached. Mediators will be keen to smooth these issues over and keep shipments flowing through the strait.
- Nuclear issues: If negotiators can get there, the next stage of talks will likely center closely on Iran’s nuclear program. Vance told reporters as he departed Saturday that he hopes to make some progress on the issue this weekend. In the initial framework, Tehran agreed that it “shall not procure or develop nuclear weapons.” But the sides agreed to wait on deciding what to do with Tehran’s stockpile of enriched nuclear material until they entered a designated 60-day window to negotiate final terms. That time has arrived. What happens to this stockpile has been one of the primary sticking points in negotiations previously, so it’s no small hurdle.
CNN’s Sophia Saifi, Adam Pourahmadi and Kaanita Iyer contributed to this reporting.
