Bürgenstock (Somalia Today) — Iran said Sunday it had paused high-level talks with the United States in Switzerland after President Donald Trump threatened fresh strikes if Tehran failed to rein in Hezbollah in Lebanon, casting doubt over a fragile interim peace deal.
US and Iranian officials had planned to use the talks at the luxury Bürgenstock resort above Lake Lucerne to launch a 60-day process aimed at resolving the toughest parts of last week’s US-Iran memorandum, including Iran’s nuclear programme, sanctions relief, frozen assets and the future of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
But diplomacy was quickly overshadowed after Trump shifted his anger from Israel, which Washington criticised last week over heavy strikes in Lebanon, back towards Tehran.
“Iran must immediately stop their highly paid PROXIES in Lebanon from causing trouble,” Trump wrote on social media.
“If they don’t, we’ll hit Iran very hard again, just like we did last week, only harder!!!”
Iranian media said the delegation left the negotiating venue after the remarks. Nour News, which is linked to Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said the talks had been suspended, while state media said it was unclear when they would resume.
Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Tehran’s chief negotiator, warned Washington against escalating its rhetoric.
“They better be careful with their statements; our armed forces are ready to respond in a different way,” he said on X.
“Whatever they say, we are the ones who will act.”
Lebanon takes centre stage
US Vice President JD Vance, who led the American delegation, had struck a more upbeat tone before Iran suspended its participation.
“We’ve already made great progress over just the last few hours, and I expect that we will make additional progress in the hours to come,” Vance told reporters at the site of the talks.
He said conditions were improving in Lebanon and added that, if Iran stopped what he called destabilising activities, Washington was ready to “turn over a new leaf” in its relationship with the Iranian people.
The two sides began direct talks after meeting separately with mediators from Qatar and Pakistan, according to Iranian state media.
But Tehran arrived in Switzerland insisting that the first issue on the table was not uranium enrichment, but Lebanon, where Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah have continued to clash despite a ceasefire designed to support the wider US-Iran understanding.
“The Israeli regime continues to violate its commitments,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said before the talks.
He accused Washington of being unable or unwilling to restrain its ally.
“This issue is the main subject of today’s talks,” he said.
Israel is not a party to the US-Iran memorandum and has said it will continue military operations as long as Hezbollah remains a threat.
Hezbollah has also said it will not allow Israel freedom of movement in Lebanon, where fighting has repeatedly tested earlier ceasefire arrangements.
Hormuz dispute deepens
The flare-up in Lebanon has also revived fears over the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway between Iran and Oman through which a major share of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas passes.
Iranian officials said Saturday they had closed the strait after accusing Washington of failing to honour commitments under the memorandum.
The United States disputed the claim, saying commercial traffic was continuing and that it would monitor the waterway to prevent any disruption.
Shipping tracker Lloyd’s List said some transits continued, though at a limited rate.
Iran’s military-affiliated Fars news agency said the strait remained shut Sunday, while Tasnim News Agency warned that Hormuz would not reopen unless the Lebanon ceasefire held and Iran was allowed to export its oil.
Hormuz is one of the world’s most sensitive energy chokepoints. Any prolonged closure could unsettle oil markets and raise pressure on Washington, Tehran and Gulf states that depend on the route.
The interim memorandum signed Wednesday was meant to defuse that risk. Under the deal, Washington agreed to lift its blockade of Iranian ports, while Tehran pledged to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
The agreement also called for an end to fighting in Lebanon and opened the way for talks on Iran’s nuclear programme.
Nuclear file still unresolved
The nuclear issue remains the hardest part of the negotiations.
Washington wants Tehran to destroy or hand over its stockpile of enriched uranium and suspend future enrichment.
Iran has signalled openness to reducing enrichment levels inside the country and limiting activity for about a decade, but it has rejected demands to abandon enrichment altogether.
“What is certain is that we will never back down from the right to enrich uranium,” Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Sunday, according to state media.
In exchange for concessions, Washington has offered sanctions relief, including steps to allow Iranian oil sales and release billions of dollars in frozen Iranian funds.
Tehran had planned to raise the issue of blocked assets and oil sanctions in Switzerland, Baghaei said.
But Trump’s latest threat has thrown the process into uncertainty.
The immediate question is now whether Iran will return to the table — or whether the Lebanon crisis and the Hormuz dispute will derail a deal that both sides signed only days ago.
