U.S. Vice President JD Vance, proper, meets with Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, throughout high-level talks geared toward advancing a deal to finish the Center East battle, on the Bürgenstock Resort in Obbuergen, close to Lucerne, in Switzerland, Sunday, June 21, 2026.
Nathan Howard/Pool Reuters/AP
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Nathan Howard/Pool Reuters/AP
President Trump has threatened additional assaults on Iran whereas Vice President Vance attended talks with Iranian officers in Switzerland on Sunday.
“Iran must immediately stop their highly paid PROXIES in Lebanon from causing trouble. If they don’t, we’ll hit Iran very hard again, just like we did last week, only harder!!!” Trump wrote in a social media put up on Sunday.
A day earlier, Iran’s navy introduced it had closed the Strait of Hormuz due to continued Israeli strikes in Lebanon in opposition to the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah. Iran mentioned the U.S. failure to rein in Israel violated the phrases of final week’s tentative settlement, which specifies that every one combating in Lebanon should finish.
Additionally on Sunday, Vance, who arrived in Switzerland within the early morning, met with representatives from Pakistan who’ve been brokering the talks – together with with the nation’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Workers Discipline Marshal Asim Munir.
An Iranian workforce, mediators from Qatar and Rafael Grossi, chief of the Worldwide Atomic Power Company, are additionally attending the conferences.
The talks are targeted on a Memorandum of Understanding that was signed by each the U.S. and Iran final week, however which is already coming below intense pressure. Whereas Iran on Saturday mentioned it had closed the Strait of Hormuz, U.S. Central Command has mentioned delivery by the strait was continuing usually.
Additionally below dialogue is Iran’s nuclear program, one other controversial subject. On Sunday morning, Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian mentioned: “What is certain is that we will never back down from the right to enrich uranium, and the other side is also forced to accept it”. Iran has insisted its nuclear program is peaceable.
Regardless of saying a ceasefire on Friday, Israeli forces and Hezbollah exchanged heavy hearth all through Saturday, additional placing stress on the negotiations.
Regardless of the tensions, Vance claimed the talks have been going nicely, telling reporters on Sunday: “We’ve already made great progress over just the last few hours, and I expect that we’ll make additional progress in the hours to come.”
Vance mentioned there was “great progress” within the final couple of days and “these things are always a little bit messy” when requested if he had a message for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“There, of course, are going to be sometimes disagreements about precisely how to get there, but I actually feel great about where we are in Lebanon. There’s still some additional wood to chop, but we’re going to keep on working,” Vance mentioned.
The Vice President additionally mentioned the U.S. has “done more to stop the conflict in Lebanon than any government anywhere in the world.”
A minimum of 16 individuals, together with civilians, have been killed by Israeli strikes on Saturday, in keeping with the Lebanese Nationwide Information Company. Israel mentioned the strikes have been a response to Hezbollah firing projectiles at its forces in a single day on Saturday. Hezbollah mentioned it fired in response to Israel transferring towards Lebanese territory.
On Sunday, nonetheless, the interim head of the United Nations Interim Drive in Lebanon informed NPR that for the primary time for the reason that warfare between Israel and Hezbollah began on March 2, the peacekeeping power has recorded no assaults from both facet.
Neither Israel or Lebanon have signed the Memorandum of Understanding, however the settlement requires respect of Lebanese sovereignty, a provision Iran says the U.S. should implement. It additionally requires a halt to navy operations in Lebanon.
NPR’s Jane Arraf contributed to this report.
