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US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump\u2019s son-in-law, were expected in Switzerland, US media reported on Friday, after the negotiations were postponed earlier in the week. After Israel\u2019s attacks in Lebanon, it remains unclear when the Iranians will attend.<\/p>\n list of 4 items<\/span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n Witkoff was on his way to the Alpine nation on Friday, Axios said, quoting an unnamed US official, while CNN reported his trip comes as Washington and Iran work to get technical talks that follow up on the US-Iran memorandum of understanding (MoU) \u201cback on track\u201d.<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s envoy Kushner was also expected to be in Switzerland for talks, CNN said, quoting a US official. Axios said he was already there.<\/p>\n Vice President JD Vance had initially been expected to travel but postponed his trip, the White House announced late on Thursday.<\/p>\n Axios said Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was expected to travel to Switzerland on Saturday, but other sources said his trip may be delayed. A source from one of the mediating countries said Araghchi told several counterparts that Iran views a ceasefire in Lebanon as essential to the diplomatic process and that it could \u201cmake or break\u201d the US-Iran talks. Another source said Iranian officials want to see a ceasefire take hold before heading to Switzerland.<\/p>\n The Iranian Students\u2019 News Agency said Araghchi will meet Pakistan\u2019s visiting Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi in Tehran on Saturday.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the Swiss foreign ministry said on Saturday that it continues to provide a \u201cdiscreet and reliable \u2060setting\u201d at Buergenstoc to facilitate discussions on implementing the MoU.<\/p>\n It added in \u2060a statement that no further \u2060details would be disclosed \u2060about \u2060participants and the content of the \u200ctalks, citing confidentiality.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve got one big conflict, two wars\u2026 the US is focusing on one war, but the ceasefire in the other war is the key to bringing the parties together\u201d, James Bays, Al Jazeera\u2019s diplomatic editor, said from Buergenstoc.<\/p>\n \u201cIt seems pretty clear Iran is not coming here while that bombardment continues in Lebanon, and they\u2019ve got reason\u2026because in the agreement signed by the US and Iran\u2026. it says there has to be a ceasefire, and there is clearly not a ceasefire in place.\u201d<\/p>\n Israeli \u2060air strikes and drone attacks in southern Lebanon, just hours after a ceasefire between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah group took effect, have complicated the planned US-Iran talks.<\/p>\n Lebanon\u2019s civil defence agency said ongoing Israeli strikes on the Nabatieh district in the country\u2019s south on Saturday had killed 16 people and wounded 12.<\/p>\n A Lebanese soldier was killed in an Israeli attack on the village of Kfar Reman, Lebanon\u2019s National News Agency (NNA) said.<\/p>\n NNA also reported Israeli attacks in the Tyre District, with an Israeli strike on the village of Barish killing four members of the same family \u2013 a father, a mother and their two children.<\/p>\n A separate Israeli raid hit a house in Sohmor in the western Bekaa while a family was inside, killing four people and injuring one, NNA said.<\/p>\n An Israeli strike on Qanarit, in the Sidon district, also killed at least seven people and wounded 13, Lebanon\u2019s Health Emergency Operations Centre said.<\/p>\n The attacks come after Israel and Hezbollah announced a renewed ceasefire in Lebanon.<\/p>\n \u201cIt does point to the shaky nature of this ceasefire, and also how the whole negotiating process does seem to be reliant upon Lebanon and what happens here in the coming days and weeks\u201d, said Al Jazeera\u2019s Rob McBride, reporting from Beirut.<\/p>\n Article 1 of the MoU explicitly states that ending the war in Lebanon is an integral part of the broader ceasefire arrangement across all fronts.<\/p>\n The Lebanese army said in a statement on Saturday that the continuation of Israeli attacks on Lebanon aimed to obstruct efforts to restore stability in the country.<\/p>\n Following a ceasefire agreement reached in November 2024, the government in Lebanon has been seeking to disarm Hezbollah as part of a US-backed roadmap. The Lebanese government has also pushed for Israel\u2019s withdrawal from southern Lebanon.<\/p>\n The text of an agreement earlier this month called for Hezbollah\u2019s withdrawal to the north of the Litani River in southern Lebanon but did not call for Israel\u2019s full withdrawal.<\/p>\n Hezbollah \u2060said on Saturday that it had targeted Israeli troops \u2060that had \u2060advanced towards \u2060an area near Nabatieh \u200covernight.<\/p>\n The Israeli military published a statement shortly after, stating Hezbollah had launched more than 50 projectiles towards its soldiers operating in southern Lebanon overnight, claiming it was the armed group that was violating the ceasefire.<\/p>\n The US State Department has said that a new round of talks between Israel and Lebanon will be held in Washington, DC, on June 23 and 25, and will aim to \u201cmake progress toward a lasting peace\u201d.<\/p>\n US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on Friday that \u201cLebanon\u2019s bilateral negotiations with Israel represent the only feasible path to reconstruction, economic recovery, and ending recurrent cycles of violence\u201d, according to the State Department.<\/p>\n However, the talks have not included Hezbollah, hampering any meaningful progress.<\/p>\n On Saturday, Ali Fayyad, a representative of the Hezbollah faction in the Lebanese parliament, said in remarks carried by Iran\u2019s Tasnim news agency that the armed group ruled out a ceasefire with Israel while Israeli forces remain on Lebanese territory, warning that any further aggression would be met with a response.<\/p>\n \u201cThe position of the resistance is clear, unambiguous, non-negotiable and without retreat,\u201d Fayyad said, adding: \u201cA ceasefire while the enemy continues its targeting and assassinations is meaningless. The right to self-defence is established for us and is not subject to bargaining or negotiation.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\nRecommended Stories <\/h2>\n
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