Switzerland talks enter tough phase after Trump renews threats against Iran

 US Vice President JD Vance said Sunday there was a chance to “turn over a new leaf” with Iran as negotiators met in Switzerland to build on last week’s interim agreement. But President Donald Trump’s renewed threats over Iran-backed Hezbollah and the Strait of Hormuz – and Israel's refusal to withdraw from a security zone in southern Lebanon – cast a long shadow over the fragile talks. 

US Vice President JD Vance said Sunday there was an opportunity to “turn over a new leaf” with Iran as the sides held talks aimed at building out the interim deal to end the war in Iran reached by the two sides last week.

But even as Vance called on Tehran to build on the moment, President Donald Trump threatened to restart strikes on Iran for its support of Hezbollah militants in Lebanon or if it moved to close the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

“Iran must immediately stop their highly paid PROXIES in Lebanon from causing trouble,” Trump said on social media, one of multiple provocative warnings to Iran on Sunday. “If they don’t, we’ll hit Iran very hard again, just like we did last week, only harder!!!”

Vance and U.S. negotiators met with Iran's parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi at a Swiss mountainside resort near Lake Lucerne. Mediators from Pakistan and Qatar were also present for the direct engagement that, according to Iranian state media, lasted about 80 minutes. The U.S. and Iranian negotiating teams also held separate private talks with Pakistani and Qatari officials.

The U.S. is looking to get Iran locked into negotiations over its nuclear program amid concerns it may be used for military purposes, which Iran denies. Vance also is pushing Tehran to commit to keeping open the Strait of Hormuz, the critical waterway through which about a fifth of world traded oil passes.

But Trump's comments from afar—he spent much of the weekend at the presidential retreat at Camp David, Maryland— appeared to threaten to derail the negotiations.

“They would do better to be careful about their statements," Qalibaf posted on X. "Our armed forces are prepared to respond to them in a different manner. They may keep talking, it is we who act.”

Talks enter 'difficult phase'

Iranian state media said the talks had entered a “difficult phase” and recessed after the “publication of an insulting message by the U.S. President.” The Iranian delegation then met with Qatari mediators and left the negotiating site, state media said.

Despite the heated social media exchanges, an official with knowledge of the talks later told the AP the Iranian delegation remained engaged in the talks and has not indicated to mediators any intention to leave. The official requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the talks.

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

The on-again, off-again conflict in Lebanon between Israel and Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants continues to threaten to derail the effort for the U.S. to win concessions from Tehran on its nuclear program and keep the strait open.

“The question before us now is how much more can we accomplish together? Can we turn over a new leaf?” Vance said as the talks, dubbed the “Lake Lucerne Summit,” got underway.

“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.”

Focus on Lebanon

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei told the country's state news agency that their team's negotiations looked to focus on the war between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Only days after signing the agreement, it was stress-tested after fighting escalated in Lebanon between Israel and the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah — and by the subsequent announcement by Iran’s military that it had again closed the vital waterway. Still, a renewed ceasefire in Lebanon, brokered on Saturday, appeared to be holding.

The agreement signed by Trump and Iranian President 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 U.S. strikes last summer.

Pezeshkian, however, has insisted on Iran maintaining its right to enrich uranium.

He repeated that stance on Sunday. “What is certain is that we will never back down from the right to enrich uranium, and the other side is also forced to accept it,” Pezeshkian said, according to Iran’s state media.

Trump, in a telephone interview Sunday with Fox News, warned that the Iranian president should watch what he says and threatened to take over the rest of the country, in comments relayed by a Fox correspondent.