US envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi are both travelling to Switzerland for talks aimed at converting last week’s 14-point interim agreement into a permanent regional settlement, according to Axios. The meetings come as fresh Israeli strikes in Lebanon threaten the ceasefire that underpins the entire negotiation.
Lebanon’s National News Agency reported that Israeli airstrikes and drone attacks killed at least five people in the south on Saturday, hours after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah came into force around 4pm local time on Friday. Israeli warplanes and drones also struck residential buildings in the Nabatieh area overnight, and artillery shelled the city before dawn. Israel had not commented on the reports at the time of writing.
Witkoff is travelling to join Jared Kushner, who is already in Switzerland. Araghchi is also en route, though Iran has not formally confirmed his plans. The White House did not respond to questions about Witkoff’s trip. Switzerland’s foreign ministry said the country is ready to facilitate the talks and that preparatory work is ongoing. Vice President JD Vance had cancelled plans to attend the Bürgenstock mountain resort earlier this week as fighting between Israel and Hezbollah escalated.
A halt to fighting in Lebanon is a stated precondition for a 60-day negotiating window between Washington and Tehran covering Iran’s nuclear programme and other unresolved issues. Reopening the Strait of Hormuz and stabilising global oil supply depend on reaching a more durable deal. Iran’s Strait authority said Friday it would waive transit fees for vessels using the waterway during the 60-day negotiating period.
The interim agreement, signed Wednesday, calls for an immediate and permanent halt to military operations on all fronts. Israel, which did not participate in the talks, says it is not party to the deal. Iranian Foreign Minister Araghchi told his Pakistani counterpart Friday that the United States would be held responsible for any breach of its commitments under the agreement.
The economic terms in the interim deal are substantial. It includes sanctions relief, the release of frozen Iranian assets worth tens of billions of dollars, immediate US waivers on Iranian oil exports, and a $300 billion reconstruction fund for Iran. Brent crude fell roughly 8 per cent last week after the deal was signed, and oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz increased. Before Iran closed the strait during the conflict, roughly one fifth of global crude oil and liquefied natural gas passed through it.
The war, which the US and Israel launched on 28 February, has killed at least 7,000 people, the majority in Iran and Lebanon, and contributed to rising energy prices and inflation globally.
Trump defended the agreement Friday against criticism from Republican allies in Congress who questioned whether he had conceded too much ahead of November’s midterm elections. “The war weakened Iran!” he wrote on social media. “We didn’t meet out of desperation, Iran did. They are done! We will take the 60 days. They won’t be getting any money, not even 10 cents!”
