BUERGENSTOCK, Switzerland/DUBAI—U.S. Vice President JD Vance arrived for peace talks with Iran at a Swiss mountaintop resort on Sunday as foreseen in a tentative peace deal.
Vance and envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and army chief, Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir ahead of peace talks between Washington and Tehran set to begin on Sunday.
A memorandum of understanding on a path to end the war, agreed a week ago, calls for the Strait of Hormuz to be reopened and a halt to all hostilities, including in Lebanon, which Washington's ally Israel invaded in March.
But with little sign of an end to fighting there, Iran said on Saturday it had shut the Strait again.
Oil Prices Tumbled After Agreement Announced
As often the case with major developments potentially affecting the global economy during the war, the announcement that the Strait was again shut took place on the weekend with markets closed, making it difficult to assess the impact.U.S. President Donald Trump said he agreed last week's memorandum of understanding to avert a global depression from high oil prices caused by shutting the Strait.
Since the agreement was announced, oil prices have tumbled to levels unseen since the war started, but a return of Iran's effective blockade could see them surge again when markets reopen on Monday.
Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson, Esmail Baghaei, said Sunday's talks in the scenic Qatari-owned Swiss mountain resort of Buergenstock, involving mediators Qatar and Pakistan as well as Iran and the United States, would last for just one day.
Vance Hopes for Progress
The memorandum of understanding foresees 60 days of talks on issues such as curbing Iran's nuclear program in return for the lifting of international sanctions. Iran is already expected to receive initial economic benefits, such as sanctions waivers and the unfreezing of blocked assets.Vance leads the U.S. delegation, opposite Iran's parliament speaker, Mohammed Baqer Qalibaf. They previously met at the only known face-to-face talks so far, more than two months ago.
"I think we're going to hopefully make progress on the nuclear issue, make progress on the Lebanon ceasefire issue," with a "couple days of talks" likely, Vance told reporters at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland before departing.
On Saturday, Iran's Revolutionary Guards, accusing Israel of "crimes" in Lebanon that violated U.S. commitments to the ceasefire, said ships would be at risk if they approached the Strait, which carried a fifth of global oil supplies before the U.S. and Israel launched attacks on February 28.
Ceasefires have been repeatedly announced in Lebanon, most recently on Friday, but appear to have had little impact so far on the fighting there, with more than a million people driven from their homes by Israel's invasion.
The Iranian delegation at the talks includes Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi as well as senior security, central bank and oil officials, Iranian media said. In addition to Vance, the U.S. negotiating team includes envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law.
Pakistan said its Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the army chief, Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, had arrived to join the talks at the resort, where helicopters hovered overhead.
In an interview with Fox News before leaving the United States, Vance said he was confident the ceasefire would hold and he had seen no evidence of the Strait of Hormuz being closed.