Vice President JD Vance on Monday said the U.S. and Iran built “a successful foundation” during the first round of negotiations in Switzerland over the weekend, days after the two countries signed a memorandum of understanding to end the war.
Vance denied reports that Iranian negotiators left the negotiations after President Donald Trump threatened Iran with more attacks if it closed the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump had said in an interview with Fox News on Sunday morning that he had spoken to Iranian officials overnight, warning them not to close the critical trade route at the mouth of the Persian Gulf.
“You close it and you won’t have a country,” Trump said he told Iranian officials, referring to the strait. Speaking with Fox News’ Trey Yingst, Trump added: “You won’t even make it back to your f–––ing country. We may take over the strait, if we have to. If they don’t make a deal, we’ll collect tolls. I’ll blow the s––– out of them.”
Speaking to reporters in Lucerne, Switzerland, on Monday, Vance said Iran’s negotiating team did not leave the talks early.
“No, they didn’t throw a wrench in the system,” Vance said. “The thing with the Iranians, yes, they did threaten to walk out, or at least there were social media threats that they would walk out, but we were negotiating well past 1 in the morning yesterday, so they didn’t walk out, and their technical team is still here in Bürgenstock, working with our technical team, actually, as we speak, though I imagine maybe some of them are taking a break to watch this news conference.”
A senior Pakistani official with knowledge of the negotiations told MS NOW on Sunday that Pakistani Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi met with the Iranian delegation in a last-ditch effort to keep them on site. A source also inside the room when the talks were taking place told MS NOW that the Iranians were “frustrated” by Trump’s comments and that the first round ended earlier than expected as a result.
A source inside the room when the talks were taking place told MS NOW that the Iranians were “frustrated” by Trump’s comments and that the first round ended earlier than expected as a result.
The senior Pakistani official said later that “the Iranians have come round” and that the talks would continue.
In a post on X late Sunday morning, Iran’s parliamentary speaker and chief negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, responded to Trump with a warning. “We don’t count on the threats of the Americans,” he said. “They better be careful with their statements; our armed forces are ready to respond in another way. Whatever they say, we are the ones who will act.”
The American delegation, led by Vance, and the Iranian delegation, led by Ghalibaf, as well as Pakistani and Qatari mediators, arrived earlier in the day at the Bürgenstock mountainside resort overlooking Lake Lucerne in Switzerland.
“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 Sunday, standing alongside Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.
Touting what he said were successful negotiations, Vance said Iran agreed to allow inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency, or IAEA, into the country, which he called “a major milestone for the American people, and the first step in permanently denuclearizing or permanently ending a nuclear weapons program in Iran.”
The two sides also focused on setting up the process for technical nuclear negotiations and building a mechanism for keeping the strait open to vital maritime traffic, Vance said.
The framework outlined in the memorandum of understanding creates a 60-day window to establish a final agreement, “extendable with mutual consent.”
Iran has deemed the cessation of hostilities in Lebanon a red line in any agreement.
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Trump, in recent days, has also publicly criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his military assault on Lebanon.
“I say, ‘You can do a little softer touch, Bibi,’” Trump said, referring to Netanyahu, at the Group of Seven summit in France last week. “You don’t have to knock down a building every time somebody walks into it that’s from Hezbollah.”
Vance, when asked Sunday if he had a message for Netanyahu, 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 the country’s health ministry. More than 3,600 have died in the war in Iran, according to the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency.
The Switzerland talks and the signing of the U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding came about 15 weeks after Trump and Netanyahu directed a joint attack on Iran on Feb. 28, launching a war that has spilled over to neighboring countries.
The war sent the price of oil and gas skyrocketing after Iran effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz.
The memorandum states that Iran will ensure the safe and free passage of commercial vessels through the strait for the duration of the 60 days, but will work with Oman “to define the future administration and maritime services” for the waterway, which had been open to all before the war. On Saturday, Iran declared the strait closed again, citing Israel’s strikes in Lebanon on Friday night. U.S. Central Command disputed that the waterway remained shut to commercial vessels, saying that traffic in the strait had increased Saturday.
Iran has also reaffirmed that it will not “procure or develop nuclear weapons,” a key reason Trump cited for starting the conflict but a promise Iran had long made publicly. The U.S. and Iran agreed to discuss how Tehran will dispose of its highly enriched uranium stockpile, with supervision from the U.S. and the IAEA.
Notably, the memorandum does not mention the destruction of Iran’s ballistic missile program, another chief concern for U.S. allies in the region and one the Trump administration had insisted was also a primary goal of the war.
In a win for Iran, the memorandum also says the U.S. agrees to work toward ending sanctions, which have long hampered the country’s economy.
This story has been updated to include Vance’s comments on Monday.
Erum Salam is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW, with a focus on how global events and foreign policy shape U.S. politics. She previously was a breaking news reporter for The Guardian.
Inzamam Rashid is a MS NOW contributor and Monocle’s Gulf Correspondent based in Dubai. He has previously reported for Sky News and the BBC
Sydney Carruth is a breaking news reporter covering national politics and policy for MS NOW. You can send her tips from a non-work device on Signal at SydneyCarruth.46 or follow her work on X and Bluesky.
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