US-Iran talks in Switzerland to get under way as strait of Hormuz remains closed

Talks between Iran and the US aimed at building out the fragile interim deal to end the war are due to get under way in Switzerland, beset by difficulties including an Iranian decision to keep the strait of Hormuz closed in protest at Donald Trump’s inability to force Israel to end the fighting in Lebanon. The US vice-president, JD Vance , leading the US delegation, said he was adding Lebanon to the agenda, which had originally been conceived to focus on the opening of the strait, the lifting of US sanctions on Iranian oil exports and the unfreezing of Iranian assets held overseas. Vance arrived at a Qatari-owned Swiss mountainside resort in Bürgenstock early on Sunday to meet Iranian negotiators for the second time since the months-long conflict began. He has already held direct talks with the Iranians in Islamabad. The Iranian delegation is led by the speaker of the parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, but the presence of the deputy oil minister and the governor of Iran’s central bank shows how Iran had wanted to focus on the terms for lifting sanctions. The first clause of the memorandum of understanding published last week requires a ceasefire on all fronts including Lebanon , where fighting has escalated between Israel and the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah. Vance said: “I think we’re going to hopefully make progress on the nuclear issue, make progress on the Lebanon ceasefire issue. …