US–Iran talks begin in Switzerland as Strait of Hormuz remains closed
By The Guardian, June 21, 2026Talks between Iran and the US aimed at building out the fragile interim deal to end the war have got underway in Switzerland, beset by difficulties including an Iranian decision to keep the Strait of Hormuz closed in protest at Donald Trump’s inability to force Israel to end the fighting in Lebanon.
The US vice-president, JD Vance, leading the US delegation, said he was adding Lebanon to an agenda that had originally been conceived to focus on the opening of the strait, the lifting of US sanctions on Iranian oil exports and the unfreezing of Iranian assets held overseas.
Vance arrived at a Qatari-owned Swiss mountainside resort in Bürgenstock early on Sunday to meet Iranian negotiators for the second time since the months-long conflict began. He has already held direct talks with the Iranians in Islamabad.
Inside the Iranian delegation
The Iranian delegation is led by the speaker of the parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, but the presence of the deputy oil minister and the governor of Iran’s central bank shows how Iran had wanted to focus on the terms for lifting sanctions.
The first clause of the memorandum of understanding published last week requires a ceasefire on all fronts, including Lebanon, where fighting has escalated between Israel and the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah.
Vance said: “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.” He said he could join the talks only “for a day or two”.
The Swiss foreign ministry said the US and Iranian delegations, plus mediators from Pakistan and Qatar, were all present at the luxury resort.
The Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson, Esmail Baghaei, said Iran was meeting mediators in the morning and would then hold a four-way meeting with the mediators and the US in the afternoon.
Closure of the Strait of Hormuz
The practical impact of the Iranian decision to keep the Strait of Hormuz closed is yet to be tested, but Trump said last week that the world was four weeks from running out of sufficient refined oil and said there would have been a worldwide recession if he had not agreed to the strait’s reopening by lifting the US blockade on Iranian oil ports.
He is under fierce attack from US supporters of Israel who are angry at the personal attacks mounted on the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, by Trump and Vance.
The Iranian delegation arrived in Switzerland with a furious row exploding in Tehran between advocates of negotiations and those who insist on pursuing an agreement with the US is purposeless because the US cannot be trusted.
Mahmoud Nabavian, a long-term critic of the negotiations and a member of the delegation that went to Islamabad, claimed the negotiations being pursued were “fundamentally different” to the conditions originally approved by the new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei. Last week, Khamenei published a letter saying he opposed the talks but, in deference to the president, Masoud Pezeshkian, had permitted the talks to proceed so long as the interests of the axis of resistance – a reference to Hezbollah – were protected.
Nabavian’s appearance on state TV was cut short, and it was announced that legal action would be taken against him. A senior official from the state broadcaster Irib was reportedly to resign.