ISLAMABAD/ ZURICH/DUBAI/ WASHINGTON: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chief of Army Staff (COAS) and Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir will join the technical-level talks between the US and Iran set to start in Burgenstock, Switzerland on Sunday (today), the PM Office said in a statement.
The Prime Minister along with a high-level delegation has departed from Islamabad for Switzerland, it added.
A high-level Iranian team departed for Switzerland on Saturday for talks with the United States, Iranian state media reported. While US Vice President JD Vance was also on his way to Switzerland. He told reporters that he hoped to “make progress on the nuclear issue” and “the Lebanon ceasefire issue.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Deputy Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Ali Bagheri left for Switzerland. Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi was accompanying them.
On Saturday, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi visited Iran’s Foreign Ministry, where he was received by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. During their meeting, the two discussed Pakistan-Iran relations and the regional situation following the agreement.
The Iranian delegation led by chief negotiator Mohammad Baqer Ghalibaf also includes senior security, central bank and oil officials, Iranian media said.
Hours earlier, Tehran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps had declared the Strait of Hormuz shut. The IRGC warned ships not to approach the waterway, citing Israeli “crimes” in Lebanon and a US violation of commitments to establish a ceasefire. It said vessels would be at risk if they approached.
US Central Command, however, said that 55 merchant ships had transited the Strait on Saturday, moving large amounts of cargo and more than 17 million barrels of oil to global markets, and that US forces would ensure the flow of ships continued.
Mohammad Mokhber, an adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, accused the US on X of failing to implement the first clause of its 14-point interim deal with Iran, which includes a ceasefire “on all fronts”, including Lebanon. He said that, as long as the agreement was only on paper, the flow of Middle East energy would remain halted.
The Lebanon truce appeared fragile as Israeli forces and Hezbollah attacked each other.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said Iran would press in Switzerland for a fulfilment of commitments, citing past failures by the other side to honour agreements.
Meawnhile, US Vice President JD Vance was on his way to Switzerland for talks with Iran on Sunday (today) and told reporters on Saturday that he hoped to “make progress on the nuclear issue” and “the Lebanon ceasefire issue.” “Despite the headlines, things are actually getting better there (in Lebanon), and things are slowing down a little bit,” Vance told reporters before leaving for Switzerland. “It’s going to be something we’re just going to have to continuously manage to ensure that you know Israel and Lebanon are both safe and secure.”
Earlier, in an interview with Fox News, Vance said he was confident the ceasefire agreed in Washington’s 14-point deal with Tehran would hold, and that he had seen no evidence that the strait was closed. He said that US negotiators Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff had been in Switzerland “for a few hours, dealing with some of the technical elements of this negotiation”. “My understanding, talking to Jared and Steve this morning, is things are going well,” he added.
One of the conditions for starting 60 days of US-Iranian talks on Tehran’s nuclear programme and other issues is a halt to fighting in Lebanon.
Israel said it was responding to attacks from Hezbollah, while the Iran-backed group said it would not allow Israel “freedom of movement” in Lebanon. Israel, left out of the talks, says it is not party to the Iran-US deal, and will keep its forces in the Lebanese territory it occupies.
A US official had said the truce took effect at 4 p.m. (1300 GMT) on Friday, and Israeli and Hezbollah sources confirmed the agreement to Reuters.
The Israeli broadcaster Channel 12 reported that the prime minister and defence minister had instructed the military to hold fire in Lebanon, but that it would not withdraw from areas it had captured.
Lebanon’s state news agency NNA said Israeli warplanes and drones had struck locations across southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley on Saturday, both Hezbollah strongholds.
An Israeli military official said Hezbollah fired more than 50 projectiles at Israeli forces in southern Lebanon overnight, and that Israel had attacked what it described as Hezbollah targets in response.
Pakistan’s foreign ministry said earlier on Saturday that follow-up technical-level talks between Iran and the US will be held in Burgenstock, Switzerland, on June 21 (today).
It said US and Iranian representatives would participate, along with mediators from Pakistan and Qatar. It added in a post on X that Pakistan will continue to facilitate the process in its role as mediator.
The US military denied Iran’s claims that it had closed the Strait of Hormuz, saying the critical waterway remained open and that US forces were monitoring the situation to ensure that continued. “Iran does not control the Strait of Hormuz,” US Central Command spokesperson Navy Captain Tim Hawkins told Reuters. “Traffic continues to flow, and US forces are monitoring the situation to ensure this remains the case.”
Follow-up negotiations had been planned in Switzerland on Friday, but were postponed at the last minute as Israel carried out a wave of deadly strikes in Lebanon after four of its soldiers were killed in combat.
The US announced a renewed ceasefire there on Friday afternoon -- a stipulation under the deal it signed with Iran -- but Israeli troops clashed with Hezbollah fighters and conducted strikes again on Saturday, with both sides accusing the other of violating the new truce.
Citing a US “breach of contract” and “the Zionist regime’s continuous and relentless violation of the ceasefire in southern Lebanon”, Iran’s central military command announced Saturday “that the Strait of Hormuz will be closed to vessel traffic”. An Iranian delegation left for Switzerland on Saturday afternoon, state media reported, with foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei saying they would “demand implementation of the other party’s commitments” under the deal as soon as possible. “Otherwise, the entire understanding will be in trouble,” he said, according to official news agency IRNA.
The Swiss talks are meant to kick off a two-month period of negotiations to discuss outstanding issues not covered by the initial deal, notably Iran’s nuclear programme.
Switzerland’s foreign ministry confirmed unnamed foreign envoys there were “continuing their efforts to maintain the dialogue”, but declined to offer further details.
Diplomats from several countries were meeting Saturday at a Swiss retreat in a bid to maintain dialogue on the preliminary US-Iran deal to halt the Middle East war, said Bern. The Swiss foreign ministry said diplomats were in discussions at the luxury Burgenstock resort near Lucerne in central Switzerland, without giving further details. A diplomatic source told AFP the discussions under way on Saturday were preparatory in nature.
Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Minister Senator Ishaq Dar Saturday arrived in Cairo to attend the Regional Foreign Ministers’ Meeting on Sunday (today). He will also hold bilateral meetings with his counterparts on the sidelines.
Upon arrival, he was received by Nazih El Naggary, Assistant Foreign Minister for Policy Planning, Research, Crisis Management and Assessments, and Pakistan’s Ambassador to Egypt, Ambassador Aamir Shouket.
The US is working with Qatar on a plan to make billions of dollars in frozen funds available to Iran for humanitarian spending, another early financial incentive under the recently signed deal to end the war, people familiar with the matter said, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The plan, which isn’t yet completed, is aimed at giving Iran access to the spending power of some of its estimated $100 billion in cash frozen worldwide, beginning with $6 billion held in Qatar. Under the deal, Qatar would allow purchases of food, medicine and other humanitarian goods ordered by Iran’s central bank with money drawn from frozen Iranian assets, mainly cash from oil sales that has been locked up overseas by sanctions, the people said.
President Trump posted on Saturday that no toll will be charged for passage through the Strait of Hormuz during or after the 60-day interim ceasefire with Iran — unless the US imposes one should peace talks fail.
“There will be NO TOLLS in the Hormuz Strait for 60 days during the Cease Fire Period, and there will be NO TOLLS after the 60 day period has expired, unless they are imposed by and for the United States of America, should the deal not be completed, for services rendered as the Guardian Angel to the countries of the Middle East for purposes of both past, present, and future reimbursement of costs,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.
Iranian delegation landed in Switzerland late Saturday ahead of talks at the Burgenstock resort, said Bern. “We welcome the arrival of the Iranian delegation in Switzerland,” the Swiss foreign ministry said on X, adding that the talks were part of the implementation of the memorandum of understanding signed with the US. Iran´s official news agency IRNA also said Tehran´s delegation had arrived in Switzerland ahead of the talks.
