US vice-president JD Vance is hopeful of makming progress
Keystone-SDA
United States vice-president JD Vance has arrived in Switzerland for peace talks with Iranian officials at the mountain resort of Bürgenstock.
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Vance and his wife arrived at Emmen Air Base in Switzerland at around 6am. “I think we will hopefully make progress on the nuclear issue and also on the ceasefire in Lebanon,” Vance told reporters.
US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, US president Donald Trump’s son-in-law, arrived in Switzerland in advance to handle technical aspects of the negotiations.
+ The special relationship between Iran and Switzerland
The Iranian delegation in Switzerland includes parliament speaker Mohammed Bagher Ghalibaf, who is serving as chief negotiator, and foreign minister Abbas Araghchi.
Pakistan and Qatar also said they were sending mediators, including Pakistan prime minister Shehbaz Sharif.
+ Iran-US: the stakes of disruption at Hormuz for Switzerland
The US and Iran have already signed a memorandum of understanding to negotiate an array of issues central to ending the Middle East conflict. Talks were originally slated to begin on Friday but were delayed due to continued fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Iran has threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz in response to further bloodshed in Lebanon but the US military vowed to keep the vital shipping lane open.
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Swiss-hosted Middle East peace talks hang by thread
Translated from German, sub-edited by mga
