US Vice President J.D. Vance is still staying at the Bürgenstock resort in Switzerland, where talks between Washington and Tehran are taking place. Iranian media reported this morning (Monday) that Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had already left the venue.
Despite the departure of the senior officials, the talks are not over. In the coming days, the parties are expected to continue professional discussions aimed at formulating practical mechanisms for implementing the understandings reached so far. An American source familiar with the details said that during last night’s talks, progress was made on a number of key issues, including the situation in Lebanon and the tensions surrounding the Strait of Hormuz.
One of the key understandings announced was the establishment of an “incident management communication line” in the Strait of Hormuz. Qatar and Pakistan, which are acting as mediators between the parties, said that the mechanism is intended to prevent friction and misunderstandings in the region, and to ensure freedom of navigation in the strategic maritime passage during the period of validity of the memorandum of understanding signed between the parties.
The issue has become one of the main sources of contention in recent weeks, after Iran repeatedly threatened to close the strait. American officials rejected the claims and made it clear that Tehran has no practical ability to prevent maritime traffic through the passage. However, Iran continued to send strong messages. The chairman of the National Security and Foreign Policy Committee in the Iranian parliament, Ebrahim Azizi, declared that “the Strait of Hormuz is no one’s casino” and made it clear that decisions on the matter would be made in Tehran.
At the same time, the mediators announced the establishment of a “friction prevention cell” in Lebanon, which is supposed to deal with maintaining the ceasefire and preventing renewed deterioration in the region. The announcement did not provide many details about how the mechanism would operate, and the identity of the parties that would take part in it was not clarified.
The fact that the declaration did not include an explicit reference to Israel or Hezbollah raised many questions. Jerusalem has not yet officially responded to the move, and apart from the public rejection of demands for withdrawal from southern Lebanon, no further comment has been made. At this stage, it is unclear how the cell is expected to operate in practice, and what its impact will be on Israeli activity in Lebanon.
In light of the progress in the talks, Vance held a conversation with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun last night. According to reports, the two discussed efforts to maintain the ceasefire in the country. Jared Kushner and Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed al-Thani, who are involved in the mediation efforts, also joined the conversation.
Iran was quick to present the developments as a diplomatic achievement. Foreign Minister Araghchi called the coordination mechanism in Lebanon “the first real test” of the understandings reached. According to him, initial economic results have also been recorded, with some of the frozen Iranian assets being released. He also claimed that restrictions on the export of oil and petrochemical products had been lifted and that a broader economic rehabilitation process had begun.
At the same time, additional details about the behind-the-scenes meetings were revealed. According to reports in Iran, a direct meeting was held between Vance, Jared Kushner, and Steve Witkoff with Ghalibaf and Araghchi. Released footage from the scene showed Vance and Araghchi in the same room, but the Iranians claimed that they refused to be photographed together. Later, photos were also released from the hotel in Bürgenstock, showing Vance, Kushner, and the Qatari prime minister during the consultations.
The technical talks are expected to continue throughout the week, with the goal of finalizing the practical details of the memorandum of understanding and establishing joint working teams. According to reports in Tehran, Iran’s professional delegation will be headed by Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Garibadi, alongside experts in the fields of economics, law, and politics.
In the meantime, Israel continues to monitor developments carefully. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the situation in Lebanon last night and said that Israel will act to remove the threat posed by its northern border as any country would do in the face of a similar threat. Although he did not explicitly mention the talks in Switzerland, his words were seen as a clarification that Israel does not intend to give up its freedom of security action in Lebanon.