Vance delays Switzerland visit amid Iran negotiations

U.S. Vice President JD Vance will not travel to Switzerland as planned for Friday’s talks related to follow-up discussions on the agreement aimed at ending the war with Iran, the White House said.

The signing of the accord this week was intended to end the conflict in Iran, reopen the Strait of Hormuz and begin a 60-day period for talks on wider issues, including Tehran's nuclear programme, News.Az reports, citing Hurriyet Daily News.

At the same time, the deal was to end the fighting in Lebanon, but new clashes have flared between Israeli forces and Iran-backed Hezbollah militants.

It has also appeared increasingly unlikely that a signing ceremony between the United States and Iran, originally slated for Switzerland on Friday, will take place as planned.

"The logistics of these negotiations have never been simple or predictable. As of now the Vice President is not departing tonight," a White House spokesperson said of Vance late Thursday.

"We look forward to beginning technical talks as soon as possible."

In Iran, the Tasnim agency said "nothing has been confirmed" about the Iranian delegation's trip to Switzerland.

The agreement has been signed separately by U.S. President Donald Trump and his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian.

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei said Thursday that he had approved the agreement, despite reservations, even as the United States lifted a blockade of Iranian ports.

Mojtaba Khamenei, who took over after his father and longstanding ruler Ali Khamenei was killed in an airstrike on the first day of the war on February 28, said in a written statement that he held a "different view" on the deal, without elaborating.

"But I issued my permission due to the commitment" made by officials including Pezeshkian to "protect the rights of the Iranian nation".

"Face-to-face negotiations" with the United States will be held in the future, but that does not "mean accepting the enemy's point of view", he added.

On Friday, Iran's chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf warned that Tehran would give a "decisive" response if the agreement was breached.

News.Az 

By Ulviyya Salmanli