NewzVille Desk
Switzerland announced that planned talks following up on the deal to end the West Asia war had been postponed.
The major development came hours after U.S. Vice President JD Vance’s departure for the Alpine country was cancelled.
The signing of the accord this week was intended to end the conflict in Iran, reopen the Strait of Hormuz and begin a 60-day period for talks on wider issues, including Tehran’s nuclear programme.
Even as the agreement sought to end the fighting in Lebanon, Israel’s military announced fresh strikes on Hezbollah targets in Southern Lebanon on June 19.
The two sides were scheduled to begin complex talks on implementing the 14-point agreement struck between them to end their war.
However, sources say that the Iran’s negotiators have said that they needed to see signs of implementation of the interim agreement from the U.S. before the next rounds of peace talks could begin, and that there was no confirmation that its delegation would travel to Geneva.
Now, with Iranian Foreign Ministry casting doubt on the move, Vance has canceled his trip.
Meanwhile, in Lebanon, Israeli forces launched fresh airstrikes, raising doubt about how far Trump will go to force his wartime allies to halt an offensive he has now pledged to end.
Israel has said it has no intention of withdrawing from Lebanon and released a new map showing an expanded occupation zone.
On the other hand, Switzerland remains ready to facilitate these talks and relevant preparatory work at Bürgenstock is continuing.
