US-Iran talks continue in Switzerland despite Trump remarks

Obbuergen,UPDATED: Jun 22, 2026 10:38 IST

US and Iranian negotiators were set to continue talks in Switzerland on Monday for a second day, with the aim of securing a permanent end to the war between the two countries. The first day of the mediation process saw what Qatar and Pakistan described as "encouraging progress", even as the discussions were briefly disrupted by sharp remarks from US President Donald Trump.

The talks focused on several issues, including steps to keep the Strait of Hormuz open for global energy shipments and efforts to ensure that a ceasefire in southern Lebanon holds. Pakistan and Qatar said high-level talks had ended and that technical negotiations would continue in Switzerland for the rest of the week.

The first full day of talks between the US and Iran, with Qatari and Pakistani officials also present, was unsettled by comments Trump made from afar that offended the Iranian side. Iranian state media said the talks had paused after the "publication of an insulting message by the US president". It said the Iranian delegation then met Qatari mediators and left the negotiating site. However, a senior US diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said late on Sunday that the Iranian team had remained on site and that negotiations were still on.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian had said his country would "never back down from the right to enrich uranium", according to state media. Trump later told Fox News in a phone interview that Pezeshkian should watch what he says and also threatened to take over Iran, according to one of the channel's correspondents. As the negotiators were meeting, Trump also posted on social media: "Iran must immediately stop their highly paid PROXIES in Lebanon from causing trouble. If they don't, we'll hit Iran very hard again, just like we did last week, only harder!!!"

The US team is being led by Vice President JD Vance, special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law. Iran is represented by parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. It was not clear when Vance would leave Switzerland, though he told Fox News on Saturday that he expected to stay only a "day or two". Kushner and Witkoff are handling much of the technical work for the US side.

In a joint statement, Pakistan and Qatar said the two sides had agreed to create a "communication line" to ensure safe passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz. They also said a mechanism had been worked out to help end the fighting between Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon. The US did not comment immediately, while Iran praised the mediators. Araghchi wrote on X that the first "real test" of the talks would be whether the mechanism could stop the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.

The senior US diplomat said one of the issues discussed was Iran's messaging on the Strait of Hormuz, after Iran's military said on Saturday that it had closed the waterway in response to continued fighting in Lebanon. US Central Command has disputed that Iran closed the strait again. The interim agreement signed last week by the leaders of the US and Iran has given negotiators 60 days to decide the future of Tehran's nuclear programme, amid concerns that it could be used for military purposes, which Iran denies. The fate of frozen Iranian assets and other difficult issues is also on the agenda, though Iran wants the talks to focus first on the fighting in Lebanon.

For now, Saturday's renewed ceasefire in Lebanon appeared to be holding, and the Israeli military said it would lift movement restrictions for residents near the Israel-Lebanon border on Monday morning. Neither Israel nor Hezbollah is a signatory to the US-Iran deal, but the outcome in Lebanon has emerged as an early test of whether the wider negotiations can deliver on the issues already identified.

With PTI Inputs

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