First US-Iran Talks Hit Snag; Iran Says Plans Underway to Hold Meeting Within Days

As Israel continues its airstrikes on Lebanon even after the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to end the war between the United States and Iran, follow-up negotiations are hitting snags right from the start.

However, working-level talks could begin soon, as Iran announced on June 19 (local time) that plans are being made to hold negotiations within the next few days.

Esmaeil Baghaei, spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, said on Friday, "The Swiss talks scheduled for today (June 19) have been postponed to another date," adding, "Plans are currently being drawn up to hold the negotiations within the next few days."

The White House had previously announced that Vice President JD Vance's scheduled visit to Switzerland for follow-up nuclear negotiations with Iran had been postponed.

The Swiss canton of Nidwalden, which has jurisdiction over Bürgenstock where the first working-level talks were scheduled to take place, stated that delegations from the U.S. and Iran are scheduled to negotiate the implementation of the MOU over the weekend of June 19 – 21.

The Nidwalden government announced this on its website on Friday afternoon, extending traffic restrictions in the surrounding area—originally set until June 20—until the morning of June 22 at the latest.

Swiss media reported that even after the Swiss Foreign Ministry's announcement early Friday morning that the U.S.-Iran talks had been postponed, an aircraft belonging to the mediating Qatari government and a U.S. military transport plane landed at Zurich Airport and a military base near Bürgenstock, respectively, on Friday morning.

However, even if follow-up negotiations take place, it remains unclear whether the chief negotiators from both sides, including Vice President Vance and Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, will attend in person.

There were also reports that Israel and Lebanon's pro-Iranian militant group Hezbollah agreed to a ceasefire on Friday afternoon through the mediation of the U.S. and Qatar.

A senior U.S. official told the Israeli daily The Times of Israel, "Israel and Hezbollah have agreed to a ceasefire in Lebanon.

The ceasefire officially took effect at 4 p.m. local time."

The official explained that this was the result of mediation by the U.S. and Qatar, which held talks with Israel and Iran, respectively.

Behind the disruption of the follow-up negotiations between the U.S. and Iran is the armed conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.

The Israel Defense Forces stated that they launched airstrikes on about 80 Hezbollah targets in Lebanon from Thursday night to Friday morning.

Israel claimed the airstrikes were in response to Hezbollah's "ceasefire violation" that killed four Israeli soldiers.

Article 1 of the MOU to end the war, signed by U.S. President Donald Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, stipulates that "an immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including Lebanon, is declared."

For Iran, which had put forward a ceasefire in Lebanon as the top priority for the peace talks, Israel's continued offensive is likely to be perceived as a violation of the MOU.

There were also reports that the Iranian delegation put their visit to Switzerland on hold, taking issue with Israel's continued attacks on Lebanon despite the agreement to end the war.

Baghaei also emphasized on Friday, "According to the memorandum of understanding, the commencement of negotiations for a final agreement is contingent upon the start and continuation of the implementation of Article 1 (ceasefire on all fronts, including Lebanon), Article 4 (lifting of the U.S. maritime blockade), Article 5 (reopening of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran), Article 10 (sanctions waivers on Iranian crude oil, etc.), and Article 11 (release of frozen Iranian assets)."

This implies that Israel must halt its airstrikes on Hezbollah in Lebanon for Iran to proceed with main negotiations with the U.S.
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.