WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. and Iran are reporting early progress after a rare round of face-to-face talks in Switzerland, as both sides begin a two-month push to reach a deal on Iran’s nuclear program, the Strait of Hormuz and other key issues.
“So all in all, a very productive 36 hours. We’re going to have to keep working it,” said Vice President JD Vance.
As of Monday morning, Vance said one of the biggest breakthroughs so far is Iran agreeing to allow international nuclear inspectors back into the country.
“The Iranians have agreed to invite IAEA inspectors back into their country. That is a major milestone for the American people and the first step in permanently denuclearizing or permanently ending a nuclear weapons program in Iran. And that’s exactly what we wanted to do,” said Vance.
Vance departed Switzerland Monday after wrapping up what he called “productive” talks with Iran. However, Vance stressed a final agreement is still far from complete.
“The final deal is the house. We set the foundation. We haven’t built the house, but we’ve laid a successful foundation to get to a good place for the American people,” said Vance. “But honestly, there is still a lot to do.”
Mediators say both sides also agreed to establish new communication channels aimed at preventing incidents in the Strait of Hormuz, a critical global oil shipping route.
“We wanted to build a mechanism for keeping the Strait of Hormuz open — it is open,” said Vance. “But we also wanted to make sure that we actually set up the coordination mechanism so that we could design the Strait of Hormuz so that when there are conflicts that inevitably come up, we can make sure we work through them rather than that leading to escalation.”
The talks expanded to include the violence in Lebanon, where fighting between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah has threatened broader regional stability.
“The past 24 hours have probably been the most peaceful that we’ve seen, the situation in Lebanon,” said Vance. “This is a work in progress, but we’ve set up the operation so that it doesn’t spiral out of control in the future.”
Iran’s Foreign Ministry says formal negotiations over its nuclear program have not fully begun yet. Negotiators are expected to remain in Switzerland for additional talks, including technical details, this week.
