US VP Vance in Switzerland to Launch Nuclear Talks with Iran Amid Regional Tensions

US Vice President JD Vance has travelled to Switzerland to help formally launch negotiations with Iranian leaders over curbing Tehran's nuclear program and building out the fragile interim deal to end the war in Iran.

The framework was signed last week, and now US and Iranian negotiators are in a 60-day sprint to reach agreement on the technical details that hold massive implications for the world economy and global security.

Yet the first days of that two-month period were complicated by the heavy exchange of fire in Lebanon between Israel and the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah and by the subsequent announcement by Iran's military that it had closed the Strait of Hormuz, the vital waterway that transits a fifth of the world's traded oil and natural gas.

Speaking briefly as the talks got underway, Mr Vance said: "The question before us now is how much more can we accomplish together? Can we turn over a new leaf?

"Can we change relations in the Middle East permanently, or do we go back to doing things the old way, which is not our preference, but is certainly very much something that can happen."

Iran's Foreign Ministry later said talks focused on the end of the war, sanctions relief and the release of frozen Iranian funds.

The ministry added that Iran's nuclear program was not discussed.

Delayed take-off

Mr Vance had originally been slated to be on the ground at the picturesque Bürgenstock resort near Lucerne on Friday, but his departure from the United States was delayed after fighting escalated in Lebanon and Iranian officials cancelled plans to attend the talks.

US Central Command disputed Iran's claim that it had once again shuttered the strait and said US forces continued to monitor the situation to ensure traffic continued to flow through the waterway.

Mr Vance has said that millions of barrels of oil have moved through the strait in recent days.

The vice-president departed the US just after Iranian state TV said Iran's negotiators had arrived in Switzerland.

Tehran's negotiators include parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, along with central bank and oil officials.

Mr Vance joins special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, US President Donald Trump's son-in-law, who have already been on the ground to begin sifting through the technical details of the nuclear talks.

The talks between US and Iran will also include Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, as well as Qatari mediators.

Mr Vance said he planned to be in Switzerland for just "a day or two", leaving much of the detailed negotiations to be spearheaded by Mr Witkoff and Mr Kushner.

Vance and Trump under pressure

His role in the talks has heightened the scrutiny on him at a time when Mr Vance is actively considering a 2028 presidential campaign.

Mr Trump and Mr Vance have come under searing criticism from parts of their own party for the deal, with Republican hard-liners unfavourably likening it to a nuclear agreement signed by the Obama administration that Mr Trump has repeatedly insisted did nothing to actually terminate Iran's nuclear program.

The chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which monitored Obama's 2015 agreement, was also present at the gathering at the picturesque mountainside resort near Lake Lucerne.

Rafael Grossi met with Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis on the sidelines of the gathering on Sunday morning, local time.

The agreement signed by Mr Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian immediately allows Tehran to sell its oil freely and paves the way for Iran to tap into billions of dollars in assets that are currently frozen.

It also calls for Iran to dilute its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, believed to be buried under nuclear sites that were targeted in US strikes in mid 2025.

The agreement says commercial vessels can pass through the Strait of Hormuz for 60 days without a charge, but does not preclude future fees imposed by Iran.

Mr Trump made his own threat on Saturday to levy US tolls on the strait if there was no deal with Iran in 60 days, insisting in a social media post that the money would be for "services rendered as the Guardian Angel to the countries of the Middle East".

Further complicating matters, neither Israel nor Hezbollah are signatories to the deal between the US and Iran, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to keep forces in southern Lebanon until any threat to Israel is eliminated.

Hezbollah has refused to halt its attacks unless Israel commits to withdrawing from Lebanon.

Fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in the initial days after the agreement between the US and Iran killed 47 people in Lebanon, as well as four Israeli soldiers.

Mr Trump posted on Sunday that the US would resume attacks on Iran unless the Iranians could keep their Hezbollah allies in Lebanon from causing violence.

"Iran must immediately stop their highly paid PROXIES in Lebanon from causing trouble," Mr Trump wrote on Truth Social.

"If they don't, we'll hit Iran very hard again, just like we did last week, only harder!!!"