Washington/Islamabad: US Vice President JD Vance said Saturday the peace talks with Iran were on and negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner were already in Switzerland, adding that he also planned to join in the next few days.
Pakistan which is the key mediator in the negotiations aimed at restoring peace in West Asia – also said the technical-level talks would begin in the Burgenstock Alpine ridge Sunday.
Mediators from Qatar will also join, Islamabad’s Foreign Office said.
Earlier this week, US President Donald Trump and Iran President Masoud Pezeshkian signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which marked the beginning of a 60-day negotiation window.
The technical aspects of the negotiations were supposed to begin on Friday, but were delayed, primarily due to fresh rounds of firing between Israel and Lebanon.
“We’ll plan the talks when the principals from the Iranian government, also the Qatari and the Pakistani governments arrive. That may happen as soon as tomorrow, but these things are always a little bit in flux,” Vance said on Saturday.
“Jared and Steve have been on the ground now for a few hours, dealing with some of the technical elements of this negotiation,” the vice president said.
“My understanding, talking to Jared and Steve this (Saturday) morning, is things are going well,” Vance said.
“What a lot of the criticisms of the deal have really underappreciated is that the United States has all the cards. The straits are now open. The Iranian military is now destroyed. The Iranians have committed to, of course, destroying that stockpile of enriched material,” Vance said.
“But we have a lot of economic pressure applied to the Iranians that we would be willing to relieve if they do what we need them to do. If they don’t do that, of course, there’s no skin off our back. They’re still in a much weakened position,” Vance said.
Iranian state TV also said the country’s negotiation team is going to Switzerland.
Pakistan, meanwhile, issued a statement through its Foreign Office that said: “As a follow-up to the signing of the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding, technical-level talks will be held in Burgenstock, Switzerland, on June 21, 2026.”
It also said that Islamabad will continue to facilitate the process in its role as mediator.
Earlier on Saturday, Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi reached Iran unannounced. According to the state-owned IRNA news agency, Naqvi, during his visit, will “monitor the ongoing negotiations” between Iran and the US.
The signing of the MoU this week led to the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. The waterway through which roughly one-fifth of the world’s energy supplies pass in normal times has been blocked since February 28, when the US and Israel launched joint attacks on Iran, triggering retaliatory strikes.
However, the current status of the Gulf chokepoint is unclear. While Iran is reported to have closed the waterway again on Saturday citing Israeli attack in Lebanon, Vance said it is open.
PTI
