Just as US Vice President JD Vance was announcing that American negotiators Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff were already in Switzerland for talks on Iran’s nuclear programme, Tehran said it had closed the Strait of Hormuz again, blaming Israeli air strikes on southern Lebanon that have killed at least 32 people since dawn – despite Israel signing a new ceasefire with Hezbollah yesterday.
The dramatic move by Iran came hours before the start of the Lake Lucerne Summit, a high-level meeting between Washington and Tehran that marked the first such encounter since the war began in late February. By the time the talks concluded on Sunday, Qatari and Pakistani mediators declared that “encouraging progress has been made including the creation of a mechanism for further technical talks.”
“Iran closes Strait of Hormuz blaming Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon, even as US and Iran begin peace talks in Switzerland.”
According to a statement from Qatar and Pakistan on Monday, the two countries have agreed to form a “communication line” to ensure the safe passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz. The memorandum of understanding signed last week had already stipulated that during a 60-day window to negotiate a final deal, both sides would lift their blockades of the critical waterway without charging passage fees.
The negotiations, hosted at the luxury Bürgenstock resort on Lake Lucerne, also created a “de-confliction cell” between the US, Iran and Lebanon in an effort to end the ongoing fighting between Israeli forces and Iran-backed Hezbollah. Technical talks will continue this week at the same venue, covering Iran’s nuclear regime and US sanctions.
Vance led the American delegation alongside special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law. The Iranian team included chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, as well as senior oil, security and central bank officials.
“The Lake Lucerne Summit was conducted in a positive and constructive atmosphere,” the mediators’ statement said. Yet the closure of the Strait of Hormuz – a chokepoint for about a fifth of the world’s oil – underscored the fragility of the process, as Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon continued to inflame tensions despite the ceasefire with Hezbollah signed just a day earlier.