Vice President JD Vance declared significant progress Monday after intense negotiations with Iran in Switzerland, saying the two nations have constructed a workable foundation for a final agreement to end the conflict within two months.
Speaking as he prepared to leave the Bürgenstock resort, Vance compared the current status to early construction phases. "The final deal is the house. We set the foundation. We haven't built the house, but we've laid a successful foundation to get to a good place for the American people," he told reporters at a press briefing.
The talks produced a joint statement from mediators Qatar and Pakistan describing a "constructive atmosphere" between the delegations. Both sides agreed to establish several critical infrastructure elements: new communication channels to keep the Strait of Hormuz open, joint efforts to end fighting in Lebanon, and a pathway for international nuclear inspectors to return to Iran.
The centerpiece of the agreement is a newly formed High Level Committee that will oversee further negotiations. The committee approved a 60-day timeline for reaching a comprehensive final deal and authorized immediate continuation of technical talks focused on Iran's nuclear program, sanctions relief, and dispute resolution mechanisms.
Iran's Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf led the country's initial delegation and departed Switzerland after approximately 18 hours of intensive discussions. Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi remained to head the technical negotiating team as substantive work continues on the most contentious unresolved issues.
The Swiss government welcomed the momentum, with the foreign ministry calling the High Level Committee establishment "a positive step, which will help to structure the next phase of the political and technical process."
Yet the negotiations nearly derailed after President Trump issued fresh threats against Tehran. Trump warned on Truth Social that the U.S. would strike Iran "very hard again, just like we did last week, only harder" if Tehran failed to control Hezbollah proxies in Lebanon. In a separate Fox News interview, Trump threatened to "blow the s--- out of them" if Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz, citing alleged Israeli ceasefire violations as Tehran's justification for the blockade.
Iranian officials threatened to walk away from the talks in response to Trump's rhetoric. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei warned that Tehran will no longer engage in direct negotiations if such language persists, according to the hardline Student News Network.
Vance addressed the diplomatic turbulence head-on at the press briefing, defending the president's approach. "What we told the Iranians yesterday is when you guys engage in what us millennials might call 'trash talk,' you can't expect the President of the United States not to respond and not to correct the record," he said. The vice president confirmed that Iran's negotiators had indicated they might withdraw from the talks because of Trump's statements.
Despite the tensions, the process moved forward. A critical agreement emerged around establishing deconfliction mechanisms between the U.S., Iran, and Lebanon to prevent military incidents and miscommunication. Iran's Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi characterized this new deconfliction cell as the first "real test" of the newfound cooperation, while also highlighting progress on oil export resumption, the unfreezing of Iranian assets, and major reconstruction plans for the country.
The Strait of Hormuz has remained under partial blockade for months, creating global supply chain concerns. The new communication line is designed to ensure safe passage for commercial vessels through this critical oil route. Global crude prices fell Monday as markets reacted positively to the diplomatic developments and easing geopolitical tensions.
Fighting between Iranian-backed Hezbollah and Israel in southern Lebanon has continued even as negotiations accelerated in Switzerland, underscoring the fragile nature of the current pause in diplomatic hostilities.
Author Sarah Mitchell: "These talks work only if both sides genuinely want a deal more than they want to score points with their domestic audiences, and right now that calculus remains very much in doubt."
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