Tehran said Saturday it will send a delegation to Switzerland for renewed talks with the US, but conditioned progress on Washington forcing Israel to halt its operations in Lebanon. The position was reported by i24NEWS, citing an Iranian official statement.
Iran confirmed Saturday evening that it will send a delegation to Switzerland for renewed talks with the United States, but conditioned progress on Washington forcing Israel to halt its military strikes in Lebanon, according to a report by i24NEWS. The precondition, attributed to an Iranian official statement, frames the IDF's ongoing operations in Lebanon as a breach of understandings underlying the previous diplomatic track.
The announcement follows a rapid sequence of signals from Tehran throughout Saturday. At 16:36 Jerusalem, the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson said the delegation would travel to Switzerland to monitor the other side's commitments; minutes later, Iran confirmed Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi would lead the delegation despite having announced the closure of the Strait of Hormuz earlier in the day. By late evening, the i24NEWS report added the explicit demand that the US compel Israel to stop its Lebanon strikes. The thread shows Tehran's position hardening over the week: on June 16 it linked any Israeli attack in Lebanon to a breach of the US-Iran deal; on June 18 it delayed talks over the same issue; on June 19 it froze talks entirely and threatened to keep Hormuz closed — a threat it later carried out.
US Vice President Vance, who was expected to participate, reportedly clarified Saturday that a ceasefire in Lebanon could be maintained but that talks with Iran were expected to resume as planned on Sunday, as The Zioneer reported. The Iranian delegation is expected to press Washington to enforce commitments Tehran claims have not been met, warning that failure would jeopardize the entire memorandum of understanding.
What remains open is whether the US will accept the Iranian precondition and whether Iran's announced demand represents a non-negotiable red line or a starting position for bargaining. Hezbollah has continued to fire munitions at Israeli forces in southern Lebanon, according to i24NEWS citing IDF sources, adding a parallel track of escalation alongside the diplomatic one.
4 developments
- StrongIran indefinitely postpones Switzerland talks; 'later date' said
- DevelopingAnalyst: international pressure on Israel mounts over Lebanon strikes; Iran demands halt before talks
- StrongIran says oil sanctions lifting begins, warns US over Israeli strikes in Lebanon; Friday talks in Switzerland not final
- StrongAmichai Stein: US-Iran talks now test Israel's Lebanon war scope
Source and signal
- Internal intake