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<\/a><\/p>\nPublished On 21 Jun 202621 Jun 2026<\/p>\n
United States Vice President JD Vance has arrived in Switzerland for talks with Iran days after they signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) aimed at ending the US-Israel war on Iran, which had sent oil prices soaring above $100 per barrel and rattled international markets.<\/p>\n
The latest round of talks mediated by Pakistan and Qatar is scheduled on Sunday as Israel has intensified attacks on Lebanon, killing dozens of people on Saturday.<\/p>\n
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Iran\u2019s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced on Saturday that it was closing the Strait of Hormuz, accusing Israel of violating the ceasefire in Lebanon. The Iranian delegation, including parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, has also arrived in Switzerland.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s what we know about the conflict, which has entered its 114th day:<\/p>\n
Diplomacy
\nThe US and Iran are to hold high-level talks in Switzerland\u2019s Burgenstock on Sunday with the US delegation led by Vance. US President Donald Trump\u2019s special envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner are also part of the US delegation. Before departing for the talks, Vance told reporters he hoped to make \u201cprogress on the nuclear issue\u201d and \u201con the Lebanon ceasefire issue\u201d.
\nIran\u2019s delegation, led by Ghalibaf and Araghchi, said its main goal is to ensure all parties fully implement the interim deal to end the war.
\nEsmaeil Baghaei, spokesperson for Iran\u2019s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said the Iranian delegation \u201cwill be pressing for implementation\u201d of US commitments outlined in the MoU and \u201cseeking clarity on how exactly the other side intends to carry out those commitments\u201d.
\nPakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and military chief Field Marshal Asim Munir have left for Burgenstock to take part in the talks. \u201cPakistan will continue to support and advance the implementation of the understandings reached between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States,\u201d the Pakistani Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement posted on X.
\nQatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani is also expected to take part in the key talks as Israel\u2019s Lebanon attacks threaten to unravel the deal signed electronically by Trump and his Iranian counterpart, Masoud Pezeshkian, on Thursday.
\nEgypt will host a four-way meeting with the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Pakistan amid the Iran-US talks. The group first met in Riyadh on March 18, followed by meetings in Islamabad on March 29 and Antalya on April 18, reflecting growing efforts by regional powers to address crises through regional diplomacy rather than external intervention.
\nIn Iran
\nMohammad Mokhbar, adviser and assistant to Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, warned that Tehran will not accept a paper agreement unless Washington fully implements its commitments. In a post on X, Mokhbar said the US understood pressure in economic terms. \u201cAmericans understand the language of economics and cost-benefit better,\u201d he wrote. \u201cWhen the agreement remains just on paper, the flow of Middle East energy will also come to a halt.\u201d<\/p>\n
Al Jazeera\u2019s Mohammed Vall, reporting from Tehran, said the delegation from Tehran is going to drive home the idea that Iran is not going to move forward in the implementation of the MoU unless the Israelis abide by the agreement. \u201cThey say the Americans bear the responsibility for that and that the Americans have to guarantee that the Israelis comply,\u201d he said.
\nIran\u2019s \u2060oil \u2060industry will be a key testing ground \u2060for any final peace agreement \u2060with the US if Western parties remain committed to its \u200cspirit, Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad says. The ministry\u2019s Shana news agency quoted Paknejad as \u2060saying that in a \u2060post-agreement era, Iran\u2019s oil sector would offer the global \u2060economy significant investment \u2060opportunities and \u2060has hundreds of investment projects as well as technical \u200cand operational partnership contracts ready to be \u200csigned.
\nAmir Ghalenoei, the coach of Iran\u2019s national football team, has criticised increasingly difficult preparation conditions for the team before Sunday\u2019s World Cup match against Belgium, saying \u201cconditions have become even harder\u201d than before their opening match with New Zealand. Iran have been based in Tijuana, Mexico, for the tournament and have been travelling to the US for Group G matches due to restrictions on their stay, an issue that has drawn scrutiny throughout the World Cup.
\nIn the US
\nTrump said there will be no tolls for passage through the Strait of Hormuz unless they are collected by the US. This came after the IRGC said it had closed the waterway, through which a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas supplies passed before the war.
\nDavid Sacks, Trump\u2019s technology adviser, has defended the US-Iran MoU, calling it \u201ca tremendous achievement\u201d and a better path than prolonged conflict. Speaking on the All-In Podcast on Saturday, Sacks dismissed calls to escalate, arguing a ground invasion of Iran would make no sense, given Iran\u2019s size and could require as many as a million troops. He branded any such attempt a \u201csuicide mission\u201d.
\nMembers of the Democratic Party are continuing to criticise Trump over his handling of the war with Iran. Johnny Olszewski, a Democratic congressman from Maryland, said Trump\u2019s \u201cwar of choice\u201d was a \u201cdisaster\u201d and argued that the agreement with Iran was already breaking down.
\nIn Lebanon
\nFive people were killed, among them a child, a woman and two elderly people, in an Israeli raid on the village of Sohmor in Lebanon\u2019s western Bekaa Valley, according to the National News Agency (NNA), citing the Ministry of Public Health. Sunday\u2019s report did not specify when the attack took place. Two people of Palestinian origin were killed in Rashidieh in southern Lebanon\u2019s Tyre district, the NNA reported.
\nThe Times of Israel reported on Sunday that an Israeli soldier has been killed and 13 others wounded when a barrage of rockets and a drone struck the soldiers\u2019 position in Kfar Tebnit in southern Lebanon.
\nIsraeli media reports said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered invading troops to hold fire in Lebanon except for those engaged in a battle raging on the Ali al-Taher Hills near Nabatieh.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lebanon to top the agenda as US and Iran to hold talks in Switzerland\u2019s Burgenstock mediated by Qatar…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":90805,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4],"tags":[197,43543,3188,1731,42348,239,1202,17,74,7199,18445],"class_list":["post-90804","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-switzerland","tag-europe","tag-explainer","tag-iran","tag-israel","tag-lebanon","tag-middle-east","tag-news","tag-switzerland","tag-united-states","tag-us-canada","tag-us-israel-war-on-iran"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ch\/116801620193176633","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90804","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90804"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90804\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/90805"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90804"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90804"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90804"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}