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US-Iran talks begin in Switzerland as Tehran says it closed Strait of Hormuz
Direct talks between the US and Iran have started in Switzerland, following the Iranian military's announcement that it has closed the Strait of Hormuz again over Israel's attacks on southern Lebanon.
Iran also cited a breach of its agreement with the US to end the war as a reason for the closure. However, the US military has said "traffic continues to flow" in the strait.
An Iranian delegation, including parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, arrived in Bürgenstock late on Saturday.
US Vice-President JD Vance arrived early on Sunday morning, and met Pakistan's PM Shehbaz Sharif and army chief Asim Munir, who will join the talks.
Pakistan has acted as a mediator throughout the war, and hosted a previous round of negotiations between the US and Iran.
"Pakistan will continue to support the implementation of the understandings between Iran and the United States," the Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement ahead of the talks.
Vance said he hoped to make progress "on the nuclear issue" and on the "Lebanon ceasefire issue".
Speaking to the press before he boarded his flight, Vance was asked about clashes between Israel and Hezbollah and Israeli air strikes in southern Lebanon and said: "Things are actually getting better there, and things are slowing down a little bit."
"It's going to be something we're just going to have to continuously manage to ensure that Israel and Lebanon are both safe and secure. That's fundamentally the goal of this, to make the whole region safe and secure," he said.
Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said his country would be "demanding that the other side fulfil its commitments".
Earlier this week the US and Iranian presidents signed an initial agreement aiming to end the war, including in Lebanon, with immediate effect. It includes a commitment to further talks to reach a final deal over the next 60 days.
Complicating matters are the ongoing clashes between Israel and Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militia based in the southern suburbs of Lebanon's capital Beirut.
On Saturday, at least 47 people were killed in Lebanon following a series of Israeli air strikes, the country's health ministry has said.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it had struck 80 targets linked to Hezbollah and killed "dozens" of its members.
The IDF says four of its soldiers were also killed.
Israel and Hezbollah have continued to exchange fire since the deal was announced between the US and Iran, but on Friday afternoon an immediate ceasefire between the two was confirmed.
Prior to the agreement, Israel had said it had no intention of withdrawing its forces from Lebanon and had insisted that its conflict with Hezbollah was separate from the war on Iran.
Hezbollah said Israeli attacks in Lebanon were an attempt to "sabotage" the broader US-Iran deal.
The US government has criticised Israel's ongoing operations in Lebanon, which was drawn into the war when Hezbollah launched rockets into Israel in retaliation for US-Israeli strikes that killed Iran's supreme leader.
Lebanon's health ministry said 4,057 people had been killed since the re-start of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah on 2 March.
Iran's Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) said Israeli strikes on Lebanon violated ceasefire commitments and the Strait of Hormuz, which had been reopened after the US and Iran reached a deal to end the war, had been closed.
Justifying its announcement that it was closing the strait, the Iranian military accused the US of violating the US-Iran deal by not implementing the first clause of their 14-point memorandum of understanding, which agrees to "the immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon".
However, after Iran's statement, US Central Command (Centcom) spokesperson Tim Hawkins said "traffic continues to flow". He said US forces were "monitoring the situation to ensure this remains the case", adding that "Iran does not control the Strait of Hormuz".
Centcom said 55 merchant ships transited the strait on Saturday with more than 17 million barrels of oil for global markets.
Tracking data monitored by BBC Verify suggested that at least five tankers passed through the strait on Saturday while several vessels appeared to have made U-turns in the area.
Iran effectively blocked the Strait of Hormuz after the US and Israel attacked the country on 28 February - sending shockwaves through global energy markets.
The strait is deep enough for the world's biggest crude oil tankers, and is used by major Middle Eastern oil and liquefied natural gas producers, as well as their customers.
In 2025, about 20 million barrels of oil and oil products passed through the strait per day, according to estimates from the US Energy Information Administration. That is nearly $600bn (£447bn) worth of energy trade per year.
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Iran closes Strait of Hormuz over ceasefire violations, state media reports
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Iran closes Strait of Hormuz over ceasefire violations, state media reports
01:08
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Iran said it has closed the Strait of Hormuz over ceasefire violations, citing Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon, according to state media. U.S. Central Command released a statement stating that 55 merchant ships transited the strait on Saturday. June 20, 2026
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Iran said Saturday that the Strait of Hormuz is closed, citing ceasefire violations after Israel continued deadly strikes in southern Lebanon overnight.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy warned ships not to approach the waterway, which Iran had committed to reopening under the interim peace deal signed this week. It said in a statement that vessels’ safety would be at risk if they did so.
Iran’s top joint military command said the closure was the “first step” in response to what were described as breaches of commitments by the U.S. and Israel, according to Iran’s semiofficial Mehr news agency.
In a statement on X that did not acknowledge the apparent closure, U.S. Central Command said that 55 merchant ships transited the strait on Saturday, “moving large amounts of cargo and more than 17 million barrels of oil to global markets.”
U.S. forces “remain present and vigilant to ensure all aspects of the agreement with Iran are adhered to, obeyed, and in full force and effect,” the statement said.
Iran and the U.S. have both shown frustration with Israel for continuing to strike Lebanon despite the deal signed this week, which specified that fighting must end on all fronts, including Lebanon. Though Israel was not a direct party to that deal, Iran has warned that it would consider Israeli strikes a violation of the terms.
Early Saturday, Israeli strikes killed at least 16 people, including two children, according to Lebanese civil defense and media, one day after the U.S. said Israel and Hezbollah had implemented a fresh ceasefire at President Donald Trump’s request.
Israel hit a series of towns across Lebanon’s south early Saturday, Lebanese news agency NNA reported. An airstrike on the town of Arabsalim reportedly killed three people, the agency reported, and a drone strike on the town of Deir al-Zahrani reportedly killed one person. At least seven people remain trapped under the rubble, it said. Lebanon’s army said a soldier was killed between Kfar Rumman and Nabatieh in southern Lebanon.
A previous wave of strikes on Friday killed 83 people, Lebanon’s Ministry of Health said.
A statement from the Israel Defense Forces said Hezbollah, an Iran-backed militant group, had breached the ceasefire and “launched more than 50 projectiles toward IDF soldiers operating in southern Lebanon” overnight, and that Israel had attacked what it described as Hezbollah targets in response. “The IDF remains committed to the ceasefire agreement,” the statement said.
Hezbollah said it had “adhered to the ceasefire since Friday evening,” accusing Israel of making false claims to justify its attacks in an effort to “sabotage the agreement” between Iran and the U.S.
The continued military bombardment has threatened to derail the fragile U.S. peace talks with Iran. Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner were in Switzerland on Saturday “dealing with some of the technical elements of this negotiation,” Vice President JD Vance told Fox News.
Speaking before Iran’s Hormuz announcement, Vance said he expected to join them “sometime the next couple of days,” adding that he spoke with Witkoff and Kushner and that it is his understanding that “things are going well.”
Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced “technical-level talks” will take place Sunday, with U.S. and Iranian representatives joined by mediators from Qatar and Pakistan.
Esmail Baghaei, a spokesman for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, told Iranian media the trip was a “mission to demand the fulfillment of the other side’s obligations,” adding that “negotiations for a final agreement” will begin when such obligations are implemented.
Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will lead the Iranian delegation, he said, according to Iranian state TV.
Officials from Tehran and Washington were originally set to meet in Switzerland on Friday to begin 60 days of negotiations on a “final” deal, but those talks were postponed. The negotiations are meant to resolve some of the thorniest issues in the deal that are yet to be agreed upon, including Iran’s nuclear program.
U.S. spy agencies believe that Israel will likely continue to launch attacks against the militant group in Lebanon, potentially jeopardizing the tentative peace deal, according to a source with knowledge of the intelligence assessments.
Israel’s continued strikes on Lebanon have worsened a widening rift between the Trump administration and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his far-right allies, who have criticized the Iran deal as not in Israel’s interest and agitated for more strikes on Lebanon. Netanyahu is also facing a crucial election in October and will likely need the support of the Israeli far right to stay in power.
“Netanyahu is in a challenging political spot,” Jonathan Panikoff, a former career intelligence officer now at the Atlantic Council think tank, told NBC News in an email. “When combined with the broad view that Iran has emerged strategically stronger, Netanyahu finds himself trapped.”
Netanyahu’s vow to occupy southern Lebanon and Israel’s decision to strike both Iran and Lebanon while an initial deal was being hammered out repeatedly delayed talks, fueling frustration among U.S. officials.
Vance hit out at Israeli officials on Thursday, saying that Israel does not appreciate American support.
U.S.-Iran talks postponed as Vance cancels Switzerland trip
Despite the rising tensions over Lebanon, there had been hope that ships trapped in the Persian Gulf will be able to transit through the Strait of Hormuz since the deal was signed. Industry experts have warned, however, that it could take weeks for the shipping traffic to fully normalize, given that the threat of mines still needs to be cleared.
IDF spokesperson Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin said Friday that Israeli forces will continue to operate in southern Lebanon and “do whatever is necessary to protect our civilians.”
The White House and Israeli prime minister’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the Iranian declaration.
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Iran's chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said on Friday that talks with the United States would remain bound by Tehran's "red lines".
"As we have shown in the past path of negotiations, we are steadfast in fulfilling the conditions and red lines set, and in achieving the interests of the Iranian nation," Ghalibaf said in remarks published by the official IRNA news agency.
"If the enemy seeks to be excessive, we have proven that our fingers are on the trigger and we have no hesitation in giving a crushing response to the enemy."
Tehran and Washington signed a memorandum of understanding this week ending a regional war that erupted on February 28 with US-Israeli strikes on Iran.
Ghalibaf's remarks came after Iran's supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei said he had approved the US-Iran deal despite having a "different view" on the matter, without elaborating.
In a message read out on state television, Khamenei said that direct talks with the United States "will not mean accepting the enemy's point of view".
In response to Khamenei's message, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the country's foreign policy apparatus "will be used to secure the sublime interests of Iran" and "protect the rights of the noble Iranian nation".
President Masoud Pezeshkian, who signed the deal on behalf of his country, issued a similar statement promising to adhere to Iran's red lines and defend its "dignity, honor and authority".
The US-Iran deal, which US President Donald Trump also signed, lays the groundwork for detailed 60-day negotiations on Iran's nuclear program and sanctions relief.
It remains unclear when talks for a final settlement would start after a first meeting in Switzerland slated for Friday was postponed.
The agreement provides for an end to the Middle East war on all fronts, including Lebanon, the lifting of the two-month US naval blockade on Iranian ports, and Tehran's reopening of the Strait of Hormuz "with no charge for 60 days only".
It also includes an Iranian commitment not to procure or develop nuclear weapons -- an ambition Tehran has consistently denied pursuing.
Conservatives in Iran appeared deeply skeptical of the deal and US intentions, with some expressing concern that Tehran could be giving up key sources of leverage before securing compensation and sanctions relief.
"The Americans do not honor to any commitments, they have not been loyal to any agreements, and they will not be," said Hossein Shariatmadari, editor-in-chief of the ultraconservative Kayhan newspaper, in an interview with state television on Thursday.
He added: "The Strait of Hormuz is the way to get compensation."
Ebrahim Rezaei, spokesman for parliament's national security commission, took issue with reports of possible inspections of Iranian nuclear facilities by a UN watchdog.
"I hope the government denies this, but if this claim is true... the parliament will stand up to lawlessness and disobedience," he said in a post on X.
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Iran’s state television says Hormuz passage ‘still requires coordination’ with Tehran
Three Saudi-flagged supertankers carrying 6 million barrels of crude sails through
Iran’s state television said on Thursday the passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz still required coordination with Tehran.
According to the broadcaster, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) “continues to impose the condition of coordination with its naval forces on ships seeking to transit the waterway”.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and United States President Donald Trump signed a memorandum of understanding on Wednesday aimed at ending the war between Tehran and Washington that began in late February.
According to the terms of the deal published by Iran’s state news agency IRNA, Tehran “will make its utmost efforts to ensure the safe passage of commercial vessels, free of charge for 60 days, between the Gulf and the Gulf of Oman”.
“Commercial shipping will resume immediately and, subject to the removal of technical and military obstacles and mine-clearing operations by Iran, will be fully restored within 30 days. Iran will hold discussions with the Sultanate of Oman regarding the future administration and maritime services of the Strait of Hormuz in accordance with applicable international law and the sovereign rights of the littoral states, and will also consult with other Gulf littoral states,” the document reads.
The US, in return, will lift its naval blockade on Iranian ports.
Soon after the US and Israel started the war on February 28, Iran closed the Hormuz. On April 13, American forces imposed a blockade on Iranian ports, making the passage of commercial ships through the critical waterway nearly impossible.
Three Saudi-flagged supertankers carrying six million barrels of crude sailed through the Strait of Hormuz today, hours after US President Donald Trump signed a deal with Iran to end the war that has disrupted global energy supplies.
Though shippers say it will still take time for transit across the strait to reach pre-war levels, with a need yet to ensure safe access and clear mines, there were immediate signs of an impact.
Ships which once might have concealed their positions by switching off their transponders were now broadcasting their locations, poised to transit the strait.
Benchmark Brent crude futures prices fell by another 2% to below $78 a barrel, the lowest since the shooting began.
The US-Iranian memorandum starts the clock on a 60-day negotiation period to reach a final settlement to the war, which Trump launched in February alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
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