Scheduled talks between the United States (US) and Iran at the Burgenstock mountaintop resort in Switzerland will not take place on Friday, the Swiss Foreign Ministry has confirmed after an announcement from Washington DC that US Vice President JD Vance postponed travel to the European country.
Vance was slated to fly out on Thursday night to meet Iranian negotiators to begin discussions on implementing the 14-point Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), an agreement aimed at ending the conflict.
“The logistics of these negotiations have never been simple or predictable. As of now the Vice President is not departing tonight,” a White House spokesperson said in a statement on Thursday night.
The spokesperson added that the US looks “forward to beginning technical talks as soon as possible”.
The development adds uncertainty to the implementation of the truce. The agreement, which took effect on Wednesday, extended a ceasefire by at least 60 days.
According to Vance, the formal 60-day negotiating window has officially commenced. “I would say the 60-day period officially started today,” Vance told reporters, adding that “the deal started yesterday”.
Prior to the cancellation, Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reported that Iranian negotiators required signs of the US officials implementing the interim deal before traveling, noting that there was no confirmation that Iran’s delegation would go to Switzerland.
US officials had intended to hold a formal signing ceremony for the pact in Switzerland, but Iran’s Foreign Ministry called a second ceremony unnecessary since the presidents of both nations had already signed the document.
The diplomatic friction follows a statement from Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei regarding the Islamabad MoU. Writing on X, Khamenei stated that US President Donald Trump, “out of desperation, used all kinds of leverage to bring this about.”
Khamenei noted his own reservations regarding the diplomacy. “I, as a matter of principle, held a different view; however, out of the commitment that the esteemed president as the head of the Supreme National Security Council gave to me on his own behalf and on behalf of the other members regarding the safeguarding of the rights of the Iranian nation and the Resistance Front, and his explicit acceptance of that responsibility, I granted my permission,” Khamenei wrote.
The conflict, which began on February 28 with US and Israeli air attacks on Iran, has resulted in the deaths of at least 7,000 people, impacted global energy prices, and disrupted international markets.
