BERN, JUN 21: A quadrilateral meeting between Iran, the United States, Qatar, and Pakistan will be held at the Buergenstock mountaintop resort in Switzerland on Sunday afternoon, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson told Iranian state media.
US Vice President JD Vance and Pakistani Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif met on the sidelines of Buergenstock as the meetings were set to start.
In the sideline meeting, Vance refused to answer a reporter’s question about Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
A reporter asked Vance what his message would be to Netanyahu at the start of the meeting, but he did not respond. Notably, Vance told Fox News on Saturday that the US and Iran had a “a divergence of how to accomplish” ending the war in Iran.
Esmaeil Baghaei said that Iran would hold meetings with intermediaries Qatar and Pakistan earlier in the day, adding that the gathering in Switzerland is a follow-up on the implementation of a memorandum of understanding signed with the US this week.
Emergency session on Israel-Hezbollah conflict reportedly added to Switzerland peace talks
An emergency session to address the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hezbollah has been added to the schedule of the first day of the Switzerland talks, CBS News reported on Saturday night, citing a diplomat attending the talks.
That issue will be raised during the first session of negotiations between the US and Iran, according to the diplomat.
Neither Israeli nor Hezbollah representatives will be attending the talks.
This comes as the Strait of Hormuz reportedly remains closed. According to regime-aligned outlet Fars, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Navy has not granted permission for any vessels to transit until further notice.
The US military had denied earlier reports of the closure and said commercial vessels were still operating.
U.S. officials have disputed the strait is closed and said 55 merchant ships crossed it on Saturday.
Vessel tracking data showing ships actively transmitting positions broadly backs Iran’s claim that the strait is closed, with no tanker crossings recorded since Tehran announced the move on Saturday afternoon.
Iran’s Tasnim news agency, citing a source close to the negotiating team, reported that the Strait would not be reopened until a ceasefire in Lebanon was respected.
US, Iranian delegations prepare for peace talks
On Saturday, Iran’s delegation arrived in Switzerland ahead of planned talks with the United States.
The delegation includes Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Iranian Parliment Speaker Mohammed-Bagher Ghalibaf.
Ghalibaf announced his arrival on X with a photo of himself standing in front of a plane bearing the hashtag “Minab 168” in English and Persian, beside the flag of the Iranian regime.
Vance later arrived in Switzerland on Sunday for what he has said would likely be a couple of days of peace talks with Iranian officials.
Vance and his wife arrived at Emmen Air Base in Switzerland at 5:59 a.m., a vice presidential spokesperson said.
US Special Envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff have reportedly already arrived in Switzerland for the talks.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif and Pakistan’s Chief of Staff arrived in Zurich on Sunday with their delegations, Pakistan’s Prime Minister’s Office announced on X.
The meeting, which had been originally meant to take place on Friday, follows the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the US and Iran by US President Donald Trump and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in France last week.
Vance and Ghalibaf digitally signed the agreement, with Trump witnessing the signing, according to the US official.
The White House published footage of the signing on an X post on Thursday.
