US Vice President J D Vance kickstarted direct talks with Iranian negotiators in Switzerland and hinted at progress to end the Middle East conflict. President Donald Trump posted a threatening message aimed at Iran, sparking concerns that the talks could get derailed at the slightest provocation as the Iranian side was already wary of the US upholding peace commitments.
"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!!! President DONALD J. TRUMP," Trump's post on Truth Social said.
Lebanon has said at least 47 people have been killed in Israeli airstrikes since Friday. Israel claims the strikes have claimed the lives of four soldiers of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). Trump was referring to the clashes in Lebanon between Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel. Earlier, Trump had expressed frustration at Israel for launching strikes amid fears that Israel is trying to pull the US back into war.
A reluctant Iran was reportedly persuaded by mediators to begin talks in the wake of its announcement to halt transit through the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday following the Israeli strikes.
Iran's point of contention is that talks are unacceptable as the initial framework involving a cessation of hostilities in Lebanon has been violated by Israel. The US has failed to uphold its commitments regarding the ceasefire, and hence the closure of the Strait of Hormuz had to be resorted to. A ceasefire was reportedly again agreed to by the warring sides in Lebanon late on Friday afternoon.
The Iranian negotiating team headed by Speaker of Parliament Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, the US delegation and mediators from Pakistan and Qatar, were present at the Qatari-owned Swiss mountainside resort of Bürgenstock, the Swiss foreign ministry has said.
Iranian delegation met mediators in the morning, The Guardian reported quoting Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson, Esmail Baghaei, said.
"We already made progress in the last several hours, and I expect we will make additional progress in the hours to come," Vance said in Bürgenstock on Sunday, Axios reported, adding direct talks between Iran and the US started.
The Axios report said Vance and White House envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met on Sunday morning with the Prime Ministers of Pakistan and Qatar and Pakistan's top general, who is mediating talks between the US and Iran. Later, the US and Iranian delegations held a meeting with the Qatari mediators, per the Axios report.
Vance admitted the hard part of the talks remains the nuclear issue and the attacks that threaten the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire.
"I think we're going to hopefully make progress on the nuclear issue, make progress on the Lebanon ceasefire issue. Those are the two big things that I think we're to be focused on," Vance reportedly said ahead of his trip, which was originally scheduled for Friday.
The prime ministers of Pakistan and Qatar and Pakistan's top military general have also arrived to ensure the progress of talks in Switzerland. US envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner is in Switzerland to join the talks. The director of the International Atomic Energy Agency will also participate. The Iranian delegation also includes oil executives and officials of its central bank, indicating that a mechanism to facilitate oil sales that have been under US sanctions and the release of a reported $300 billion in funds will actively figure in talks.
A framework for talks was signed last week. The US and Iranian negotiators would now get 60 days to chalk out an agreement on the technical aspects, AP reported.
Vance is reportedly expected to the stay in Switzerland for "day or two," CNN reported.
"We're going to have a principal level of political leadership at the top and then obviously the technical team is going to stay on the ground," Vance said before departing for Switzerland.
The US vice president said he hoped to make advancements on negotiations regarding the handling of Iran's nuclear material, though the Lebanon ceasefire has vaulted to the top of the agenda now.
Vance has said the initial round will be an effort to get "the actual structure and negotiation in place." Technical experts will continue to fine tune the nitty gritty of a final agreement in Switzerland after the first round of high-level talks concludes, the Axios report said.
The US position is that it would like to extract some sort of an invitation from Iran to United Nations inspectors to visit Tehran's nuclear facilities.
Washington expects this to happen as the initial round concludes, though there is no clarity on the chances of such a step by Iran considering its apprehensions on the Lebanon issue.
The previous visit by UN inspectors to Iran was in June 2025.
The US is reportedly insisting that such a step alone would facilitate progress, as it would enable Washington to take steps to release some of its frozen funds.
The US is exploring options with Qatar to release billions of dollars in frozen funds to Iran for humanitarian spending, as part of the early financial incentive discussed under the recently signed peace deal to end the war, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Iran will be provided access to spend some of its estimated $100 billion in cash frozen worldwide. The fund release will begin with $6 billion held in Qatar, according to the report.
