Qatari and Pakistani mediators said Sunday night the first round of high-level talks between the United States and Iran had concluded, saying in a joint statement the “Lake Lucerne Summit was conducted in a positive and constructive atmosphere.”
The announcement came after a long day of negotiations between Vice President JD Vance, U.S. envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, and the Iranian delegation in Switzerland, with Qatar and Pakistan serving as mediators.
Though a memorandum of understanding had been signed by the U.S. and Iran last week, the status of Sunday afternoon’s negotiations was thrown into question following days of intermittent fighting between Israel and the Iran-backed terrorist group Hezbollah, which is based in Lebanon.
“Building on the MoU, the parties have agreed to the establishment of a High Level Committee,” the announcement said, “which will provide political oversight on the mediation. Chief negotiators will report regularly to the High Level Committee and lead working groups focused on nuclear, sanctions, and a monitoring and dispute resolution group to ensure the effective implementation of the MoU, and on other matters.”
This committee has “agreed upon a roadmap towards reaching a final deal within 60 days, laying the foundation for the immediate commencement of further technical talks,” according to the statement.
Iranian official Seyed Abbas Araghchi said on X the mediators have “delivered major progress” to end the hostilities in Lebanon before referencing a “Lebanon deconfliction cell” also mentioned in the mediators’ statement.
“The parties agreed on the creation of a de-confliction cell, the mediator between the parties, the Lebanese Republic and facilitated by the Mediators, to ensure the adherence of the termination of military operations in Lebanon as per the MoU,” the joint statement said.
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President Donald Trump on Sunday morning threatened to collect tolls on ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz hours after saying the U.S. would strike Iran if Hezbollah didn’t stop attacking Israel. Unconfirmed reports Sunday afternoon suggested the Iranian delegation had left the meeting after Trump’s comments, but that proved to be false.
The talks were held in Burgenstock, Switzerland, and are widely seen as a test of Vance’s ability to negotiate a foreign policy victory for the administration.
