‘High drama’ over Trump threats and Lebanon at US-Iran talks in Switzerland

Talks between the US and Iran are under way in Switzerland, even as fissures emerge over President Donald Trump’s threats and Israel’s refusal to cease hostilities in Lebanon.

Tehran and Washington agreed to a 60-day ceasefire extension for the negotiations earlier this week. But the agreement is facing tensions after Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said Saturday it was closing the ⁠Strait of Hormuz again in response to Israeli attacks in Lebanon, and Trump threatened fresh strikes against Iran.

“It is high drama in one of the world’s highest-stakes diplomatic exercises,” said Al Jazeera’s Osama Bin Javaid, reporting from the Swiss mountain resort of Burgenstock where talks began Sunday.

Leading the discussions were US Vice President JD Vance and Iranian chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, with the presence of Qatari and Pakistani mediators.

“The biggest impediment to this process remains Israel – because the Lebanon issue is something which is existential for Iran,” Bin Javaid said.

Not long after the talks began, Trump – who is not attending the talks – wrote on Truth Social that “Iran must immediately stop their highly paid PROXIES in Lebanon from causing trouble”, referring to Hezbollah.

“If they don’t, we’ll hit Iran very hard again, just like we did last week, only harder”, he said.

Ghalibaf responded on X that “we don’t count on the American threats”, adding: “Don’t they think to themselves that if their threats had any effect, they wouldn’t have reached the point of desperation they are in today?”

Earlier, Vance had projected optimism when he addressed reporters alongside Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani.

“The opening of the Strait of Hormuz, the ending of the Iranian nuclear programme – all of these things have been accomplished,” Vance said. “The question before us is now how much more can we accomplish together.”

“Can we turn over a new leaf? Can we change relations in the Middle East?”

Sharif said he hoped discussions would end with a “wonderful paper in our hands that will promote peace, progress and prosperity around the globe”.

The Iranian delegation did not speak during the opening remarks, nor appear in photos or footage alongside Vance, indicating “how tense things are”, Al Jazeera’s James Bays reported from Burgenstock.

A first-round quadrilateral meeting between Iran, the US, Qatar and Pakistan ended after 80 minutes around 15:00 GMT for “internal consultations”, according to Iran’s Fars news agency.

The initial negotiations covered frozen assets and sanctions relief tied to Iran’s energy sector, with a final draft proposal ready, Iranian delegation member Hussein Gurbanzadeh told state television.

Tension over Lebanon

The talks unfolded as ongoing hostilities in Lebanon have put the deal under strain.

Israel has continued its attacks on Lebanon unabated, killing dozens of people in recent days. Iran’s IRGC cited the ongoing strikes when it declared the Strait of Hormuz shut.

Mohammad Mokhber, an adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, accused the US on X of failing to implement the first clause of its 14-point interim deal with Iran, which stipulates a ceasefire “on all fronts”, including Lebanon.

He said that if the deal were not implemented, the flow of energy through the region would remain halted.

The US military said commercial vessels had continued operating in the waterway, with 55 merchant ships transiting the strait on Saturday laden with more than 17 million barrels of oil.

Although Trump said no toll would be charged for passage through the strait during or after the 60-day ceasefire, Tehran will seek to change some of the rules regulating the Strait of Hormuz “within the framework of legal and international mechanisms”, an adviser and assistant to the supreme leader has told Fars news agency.

Despite the rising tensions, “the US and Iranian goals are somewhat on the same page” over Lebanon, Al Jazeera’s Patty Culhane reported from Washington, DC, as the US and Israel diverge.

“Israel is in the position where it will have to decide: does it want to anger the US side or does it want to stop hostilities?”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday Israel will continue to occupy southern Lebanon.

“We established a security zone in Lebanon, and we shall keep it as long as is necessary to protect our people,” he told reporters in Jerusalem.

His comments followed an earlier visit by Israeli Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir to southern Lebanon.

“We are continuing to fight,” Zamir said. Troops “need to be prepared with high readiness to renew combat activity”.

The Iran-aligned Hezbollah group meanwhile claimed attacks on Israeli forces. At least Israeli six soldiers have been killed, and 20 others wounded, over the past few days in Hezbollah attacks.

The group also condemned upcoming talks between Lebanon and the US in Washington, saying Beirut would be forced to “confiscate Lebanon’s sovereignty”.

Israeli attacks on Lebanon have killed 4,106 people and wounded 12,153 others since March 2, the Lebanese Ministry of Health said in its latest toll Sunday.