(Bloomberg) — The US and Iran have begun talks on a permanent peace deal that seek to settle the issue of the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program and permanently reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
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Qatar, a mediator in the negotiations, said the first high-level meeting of US, Iranian, Qatari and Pakistani representatives has begun in the Swiss resort of Bürgenstock, in a post on X on Sunday.
US Vice President JD Vance arrived in the Alpine country earlier that day. While a hard-won interim deal signed last week signaled an end to hostilities, the meet is likely just the start of protracted wrangling that will span topics including Iran’s nuclear capabilities.
Iranian media reported there’d be a one-day round of talks, with the Islamic Republic’s delegates first meeting Qatari and Pakistani officials. The Iranian and US representatives will then meet in the afternoon with the mediators present, the Mehr news agency said, citing a foreign ministry spokesman.
The stakes are high, and recent fighting between Israel — which isn’t a party to the provisional deal — and Iranian-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah threatens to derail the diplomacy.
Iran’s semi-official ISNA news agency said the main topics of the talks would be a “comprehensive ceasefire” in Lebanon, from where it demands Israel withdraw, and the fate of billions of dollars in Iranian assets frozen overseas.
Tehran on Saturday accused Israel of violating a truce in Lebanon and said the Strait of Hormuz, a key transit point for global energy supplies, would be shut again. Despite the announcement, millions of barrels of oil continued to flow through the waterway.
Under the terms of the memorandum of understanding signed by US President Donald Trump on Wednesday, the US and Iran have 60 days for negotiations, although the pact allows for an extension.
“I can only be there for a day or two,” Vance told reporters before departing Washington. “I think we’re going to hopefully make progress on the nuclear issue, make progress on the Lebanon ceasefire issue.”
Iran’s delegation includes Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and central bank governor Abdolnaser Hemmati, state-run IRIB News reported.
Vance said the goal is to get “the actual structure of negotiation in place,” building on technical discussions in Switzerland involving Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, Trump’s two global negotiators.
Iran’s announcement on Hormuz cast a cloud over the talks, but the immediate impact on vessel traffic was unclear. Even before the recent ceasefire, millions of barrels of oil had been quietly escaping the waterway each day.
Three fully laden India-linked supertankers re-emerged in the Gulf of Oman on Sunday after signaling an attempt to cross the strait on Friday, according to ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg.
The supertankers, each signaling Indian ownership or India-bound cargo, carry between them nearly 6 million barrels of Iraqi and Kuwaiti oil. Their attempts to sail toward Qeshm island suggest they may have taken a Tehran-approved route.
US Central Command said commercial ship traffic increased in the strait on Saturday, with 55 merchant ships transiting cargo and more than 17 million barrels of oil.
Israel, Washington’s partner in the war on Iran that began Feb. 28, has been fighting a parallel campaign against Hezbollah in neighboring Lebanon. Iran has consistently sought to link the conflict there, which has killed thousands and displaced more than 1 million Lebanese, with the broader US negotiations.
Tehran views the US as having “direct responsibility” for the situation in Lebanon and Israel’s military actions, Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said in comments cited by the IRNA news agency.
Israel has insisted it’ll keep troops on its borders until it’s sure that Hezbollah, designated a terrorist organization by the US, is no longer a threat. The Israel Defense Forces said its recent operations are targeting a network of underground bunkers where Hezbollah fighters are believed to be sheltering.
“There has been, and there is, no restriction on IDF soldiers in Lebanon acting to remove threats,” Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Sunday.
“Our forces remain deployed in the security zone along the Yellow Line in Lebanon and operate from there against terrorists and terrorist infrastructure,” he said, reiterating that Israel would not withdraw.
Trump has expressed frustration with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over previous strikes, suggesting they risked undermining the US-Iran talks.
“Israel has the right to defend itself,” Vance told reporters on Thursday. “But fundamentally, the Israelis, just like everybody else, have to respect this peace process that is fundamentally good for them and good for the entire region.”
The US-Iran memorandum led Washington to lift a naval blockade of Iranian ports and promise to waive sanctions that have blocked the sale of Iranian crude. Iran pledged to reopen Hormuz, a conduit for about a fifth of the world’s oil and gas supplies.
Tehran, though, has warned it will require ships to have its permission and mandatory insurance in order to cross. The US, Europe and Gulf Arab states have balked at the idea of Iran imposing fees.
On Friday, Trump said the two sides have time to make a permanent deal while issuing a veiled threat to Iran.
“Otherwise, we will do things that won’t make them happy, but I don’t think it’s going to get to that,” he said. “I think it’s going to be very good.”
–With assistance from Weilun Soon, Jennifer A. Dlouhy, Dan Williams and Bastian Benrath-Wright.
(Updates with Iranian media on talks topics and Israeli defense minister comments on Lebanon.)
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