Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian affirmed that all provisions of the memorandum of understanding serve his country’s interests, noting that “the gains from these negotiations will soon become apparent.”
The Iranian President observed that “US President Donald Trump’s positions have completely changed,” noting that Trump stated in his recent speech that “many things are the right of the Iranian people.”
US Vice President Vance traveled to Switzerland on Saturday ahead of a first round of negotiations with Iran that’s expected on Sunday at the Burgenstock ski resort.
This will be the first round of direct talks between the U.S. and Iran since the Islamabad summit last April. It’s supposed to launch 60 days of nuclear negotiations.
The talks are expected to take place despite Iran claiming on Saturday that it was shutting down the Strait of Hormuz in response to Israeli ceasefire violations in Lebanon. Given that backdrop, things could break down at any time,
“I think we’re going to hopefully make progress on the nuclear issue, make progress on the Lebanon ceasefire issue. Those are the two big things that I think we’re to be focused on,” Vance told reporters on Saturday before leaving Washington.
White House envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner arrived in Switzerland on Saturday morning.
Later on Saturday, an Iranian delegation headed by Speaker of Parliament Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived in the country.
The prime ministers of Pakistan and Qatar and Pakistan’s top general are in Switzerland to serve as mediators. The director of the International Atomic Energy Agency will also participate.
The U.S. would like the first round of talks to end with an Iranian invitation for UN inspectors to visit its nuclear sites, which were bombed by the U.S. and Israel, two regional sources with direct knowledge said. The last such visit took place before the previous war in June, 2025.
