U.S. and Iranian officials met Sunday in Switzerland to begin talks about finalizing a deal to permanently end the months-long war.
The American delegation, led by Vice President JD Vance, and the Iranian delegation, led by the Speaker of the Iranian Parliament, Mohammad Bagher, as well as Pakistani and Qatari mediators arrived at the Bürgenstock mountainside resort overlooking Lake Lucerne, the Swiss Foreign Ministry said.
“We’ve already made great progress over just the last few hours, and I expect that we’ll make additional progress in the hours to come,” Vance said while standing alongside Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.
The world leaders will discuss finalizing the memorandum of understanding signed by U.S. and Iran last week, a framework that creates a 60-day window to establish a final agreement, “extendable with mutual consent.”
Israeli leaders are not participating in the negotiations, and ongoing fighting between Israel and the Iran-backed militant group, Hezbollah, in Lebanon has cast a shadow on the prospect of peace. The Israeli military and the militant group have accused each other of violating a ceasefire.
Iran has deemed the cessation of hostilities in Lebanon a red-line in any agreement.
President Donald Trump in recent days has publicly criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his military assault on Lebanon.
“I say, ‘You can do a little softer touch, Bibi [referring to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu],” Trump said at the G-7 summit in France last week. “You don’t have to knock down a building every time somebody walks into it that’s from Hezbollah.” Trump said.
When asked Sunday if Vance had a message for Netanyahu, he said : “I actually feel great about where we are in Lebanon. There’s still some additional wood to chop, but we’re going to keep on working at it.”
Nearly 3,800 people have died in Lebanon, according to Lebanon’s health ministry.