What happened at the first round of U.S.-Iran negotiations
Mediator nations Qatar and Pakistan said in a statement just after 3 a.m. on Monday that the first round of negotiations had ended with “encouraging progress,” reports The New York Times. Technical discussions will continue this week, the mediators said.
The mediators’ joint statement said that a “communication line” had been formed “to avoid incidents and miscommunication with the aim of safe passage for commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz,” says the BBC.
And both sides agreed on the creation of a “de-confliction cell” among the United States, Iran and Lebanon, facilitated by the mediating countries, to end military operations in Lebanon, the statement said.
A new ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon had been declared on Friday, but continued clashes and air strikes prompted Iran on Saturday to announce it had shut the Strait of Hormuz. However, tracking data show vessels have continued to pass through the strait, the BBC says.
Israel has insisted that its conflict with Hezbollah is separate from the war with Iran.
The talks were “jolted by blistering statements” from President Trump, who from thousands of miles away from the Swiss negotiating site was firing off comments that offended the Iranians, says The Associated Press.
Iran state media said Trump’s comments violated the preliminary peace deal signed Wednesday, which bars the two sides from attacking or threatening each other.
The chief negotiators for the United States include Vice President Vance, special envoy Steve Witkoff, and Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner. Iran’s top negotiators are Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, Iran’s parliamentary speaker, and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
Araghchi wrote on X that the Pakistan and Qatar mediators delivered “major progress to end the Lebanon War.” He said the first “real test” of negotiations would be whether the mechanism succeeded in stopping the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.
Real estate developers Kushner and Witkoff are handling many of the “technical details” for the U.S. delegation, says The Wall Street Journal.
The interim deal signed last week by the leaders of the United States and Iran outlines a 60-day period for negotiators to settle the future of Tehran’s nuclear program amid concerns that it wants to use it for military purposes, a claim Iran denies. Frozen Iranian assets, among other issues, also are on the agenda.
Israel and Hezbollah aren’t parties to the talks.
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2026/06/22/world/iran-us-trump-lebanon
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwy0q41v1lzo
https://apnews.com/article/united-states-iran-war-nuclear-negotiations-4bbde727c7095c4ad9da0285ca79f1e1
https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/war-in-lebanon-casts-shadow-over-renewed-iran-u-s-nuclear-talks-f457c7e9?mod=hp_lead_pos3
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