World
US-Iran set for new talks; Trump threatens US tolls in Hormuz if deal not reached in 60 days
A round of US-Iran negotiations on the implementation of their agreement to end their war was set to kick off in Switzerland on Sunday, with Iranian negotiators arriving in the Swiss host city hours ahead of US Vice President JD Vance, even as renewed tensions flared over Tehran’s claim that it had closed the Strait of Hormuz once again.
Before boarding his flight to Europe, Vance told reporters he could “only be there for a day or two” and hoped to “make progress on the nuclear issue, make progress on the Lebanon ceasefire issue. Those are the two big things that I think we’re going to be focused on.”
Asked whether the fighting in Lebanon was threatening to derail the talks, Vance said: “Things are actually getting better there, and things are slowing down a little bit.”
“[Secretary of State Marco Rubio] and the entire team have been actively managing what’s going on in Lebanon,” he added.
“Despite the headlines, things are actually getting better there, and things are slowing down a little bit. It’s going to be something we’re just going to have to continuously manage to ensure that, you know, Israel and Lebanon are both safe and secure.”
“That’s fundamentally the goal of this, to make the whole region safe and secure,” he says. “The big problem is that you have somebody [who] will shoot and then somebody will respond, and you kind of have a chicken and egg problem where you’ve just got to stop the shooting for long enough to get the ceasefire to keep hold, that’s what we’re going to try to do.”
That remark appeared to decline to blame Hezbollah for the recent flareup, after Israeli officials said the terror group violated the truce by mounting repeated attacks on IDF troops, killing a four-member tank crew and prompting deadly Israeli airstrikes on Hezbollah targets in response.
Iran, for its part, blamed Israel, claiming its strikes violated the ceasefire, and with it the MOU with the US as well, declaring that in response, it was shutting the Strait of Hormuz. The American military said in response that this was untrue, that traffic was following in the key oil waterway, and that Iran “doesn’t control” it.
US President Donald Trump reacted by threatening to impose US tolls in the Strait of Hormuz if a final deal with Iran isn’t reached in 60 days.
Trump, spending the weekend at Camp David, underscored that the initial agreement to end the war with Iran calls for toll-free travel through the vital waterway for 60 days. Iran has said it will comply, but has claimed ships need to coordinate with its Revolutionary Guards regardless and pledged to introduce passage fees after the 60-day period.
“There will be NO TOLLS after the 60 day period has expired, unless they are imposed by and for the United States of America, should the deal not be completed,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
Trump said the money would be for “services rendered as the Guardian Angel to the countries of the Middle East for purposes of both past, present, and future reimbursement of costs.”
The US president has faced a lot of blowback domestically for how the memorandum of understanding with Iran addresses the issue of tolls in the Strait of Hormuz. The deal only secures toll-free passage for the 60-day period and doesn’t preclude future fees.
Iran and Switzerland said Saturday that Tehran’s delegation had arrived at the Burgenstock resort ahead of the talks.
Vance will head the US delegation in Switzerland, which will include Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff. The Iranian team will be led by parliament speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and include senior security, central bank and oil officials.
Mediator Pakistan said its premier Shehbaz Sharif was also traveling to the mountaintop resort and would hold meetings with the delegations of both sides.
The initial US goal in the talks is to secure an agreement from Iran for International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors to inspect Iran’s nuclear sites for the first time since the 12-day war in June 2025, Channel 12 reported Saturday.
In return for Iran’s consent to allow the inspectors to return to the sites — presumably including Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan, which were bombed by the US last year — the US is willing to unfreeze several billion dollars in Iranian assets held in Qatar, the report said, with those funds to be used by the regime to purchase food, medicines and other humanitarian needs.
Most of Iran’s 440-kilogram stockpile of uranium enriched to 60 percent — a short step from weapons-grade — is believed by the IAEA to be stored at Isfahan, with lesser quantities at Natanz and Fordo.
A source familiar with the matter has told The Times of Israel that the IAEA’s director general, Rafael Grossi, is slated to participate in Sunday’s technical talks.
The talks in Switzerland had been scheduled to begin on Friday, after the US and Iran signed their memorandum of understanding on Wednesday. But they were delayed amid friction over the ongoing fighting between Hezbollah and Israel.
The crisis in Lebanon has been resolved, at least for now, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructing the IDF to “hold its fire” in Lebanon, the report said.
Channel 12 quoted a senior US official saying that the US had demanded that Israel cease fire in Lebanon, except in self-defense.
Israel had no part in negotiating the MOU, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has distanced himself from it. Still, the terms of the opening clause, permanently ending the war and ruling out any resumption, indicate that it is binding on the US, Iran “and their allies.” Israeli officials are bitterly opposed to the deal’s terms, which resolve none of the war’s key goals, notably eliminating Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs, and creating the conditions for the fall of the regime.
