US–Iran Talks Scheduled in Switzerland for June 21, Says Mediator Pakistan

U.S. and Iranian delegations are scheduled to meet in Switzerland for a set of technical-level negotiations on June 21, according to the Pakistani Foreign Ministry.

The technical-level discussions are meant to play out within the framework of a memorandum of understanding reached between Washington and Tehran in the past week. This memorandum of understanding has allowed for easing of the recent armed standoff between the two parties, to allow for further negotiations on the long-term disposition of Iran’s nuclear program, sanctions relief for Tehran, and other obstacles toward a lasting peace between the parties.

These technical talks are set to begin at the Bürgenstock resort area.

In a statement on June 20, the Pakistani Foreign Ministry said Pakistan would continue its role as a mediator during the talks in Switzerland, and that Qatar would also serve in a mediator role.

During an interview with Fox News on Saturday morning, U.S. Vice President JD Vance said U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, were already in Switzerland, in preparation for the upcoming technical talks. Vance indicated he would join the U.S. delegation in Switzerland.

The vice president departed for Switzerland on Saturday afternoon.

“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 as he departed from Joint Base Andrews, Maryland.

Talks were scheduled to take place in Bürgenstock earlier in the week. It was later postponed amid intensified fighting in Lebanon between Israeli forces and the designated terrorist group Hezbollah. Iran’s Shia Muslim leadership has insisted that a long-term peace for the region include Lebanon and Hezbollah.

The first point of the peace memorandum Washington and Tehran enacted this week states that both countries and their allies “declare the immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon.”

Four Israeli soldiers were killed overnight on June 19 while conducting operations in the Beaufort and Ali a-Tayr Ridge areas to uproot underground Hezbollah weapons caches and fighting positions. Israeli forces subsequently carried out dozens of retaliatory strikes throughout southern Lebanon.

In an X post on Saturday, Israeli Ambassador to the United States Yechiel Leiter said Hezbollah broke the ceasefire, not Israel.

“Terrorists lie. Hezbollah is a terrorist organization. Hezbollah lies. Iran is using its proxy to extract concessions. That is the modus operandi of the murderous regime in Tehran,” Leiter wrote.

Hezbollah’s media relations wing denied the assertions of the Israeli side and said responsibility for continued violent clashes in southern Lebanon lies with Israel, which continues to maintain a force presence within Lebanese territory.

In a televised address on Saturday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said an Iranian diplomatic delegation had departed for the talks in Switzerland. Baghaei said the Iranian delegation’s focus would be on constraining Israel’s military actions inside Lebanon.

Baghaei warned that a failure to implement the Lebanon-related portions of the memorandum of understanding could hinder the implementation of the rest of the peace framework.

“The other side must take necessary steps as soon as possible. Otherwise the entire understanding is in trouble,” he said.