The discussions followed the signing of a 14-point memorandum of understanding (MoU) on June 17 that established a framework for de-escalation between Washington and Tehran and laid the groundwork for further negotiations.<\/p>\n list of 4 items<\/span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n The breakthrough came after a marathon 18-hour meeting at Lake Lucerne attended by senior officials from both countries.<\/p>\n The joint statement also announced the creation of a \u201cde-confliction cell\u201d aimed at ending Israel\u2019s military operations in Lebanon, alongside a high-level committee and direct communication channels designed to support further negotiations.<\/p>\n US Vice President JD Vance led Washington\u2019s delegation, alongside President Donald Trump\u2019s son-in-law Jared Kushner and special envoy Steve Witkoff. Iran\u2019s delegation was led by Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and included Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.<\/p>\n \u201cYesterday was a very, very good day. We made a lot of good progress. We did exactly what we wanted to do,\u201d Vance told reporters on Monday.<\/p>\n So what are the key takeaways from the talks?<\/p>\n A high-level committee has been established to \u201cprovide political oversight on the mediation\u201d, according to a joint statement issued by Qatar and Pakistan, which acted as mediators in the negotiations. The statement said the committee had \u201cagreed upon a roadmap towards reaching a final deal within 60 days\u201d, with further technical talks expected to continue over the next two months.<\/p>\n \u201cChief negotiators will report regularly to the High Level Committee and lead working groups focused on nuclear, sanctions, and a monitoring and dispute resolution group to ensure the effective implementation of the MoU, and on other matters,\u201d it added.<\/p>\n Thomas Warrick, a non-resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, told Al Jazeera the next phase of technical negotiations could prove far more challenging than the political agreement itself, and may ultimately take longer than the 60-day timeline outlined in the interim deal.<\/p>\n The agreement comes as major questions remain unresolved, including whether Iran will be permitted to continue enriching uranium, the fate of its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, the scope of international inspections and the timeline for sanctions relief.<\/p>\n On the nuclear issue, Warrick said \u201cthe biggest problem is that removing or downgrading the enriched uranium is going to take several thousand people, probably 1,000 Americans, going into some of Iran\u2019s most sensitive nuclear sites\u201d, referring to Washington\u2019s demand for a role in diluting Iran\u2019s enriched uranium stockpile.<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t imagine Iran being very happy with that idea,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n The parties have also established \u201ca communication line\u201d focused on the Strait of Hormuz to \u201cavoid incidents and miscommunication with the aim of safe passage for commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz\u201d.<\/p>\n The announcement comes amid continued disruption to maritime traffic through the strategic waterway, through which a fifth of global oil and gas passes. An analysis by maritime intelligence company Windward showed that 12 vessels crossed the strait on Sunday, down from 35 transits the previous day.<\/p>\n Iran\u2019s de facto blockade of the strait triggered a global energy crisis, which affected economies around the world.<\/p>\n On Monday, Vance said the two parties will establish \u201ccoordination mechanisms\u201d, one to oversee the ceasefire in Lebanon and one to de-mine the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n Vance said technical negotiations will follow, and will continue over the \u201cweeks and days to come\u201d. The technical teams from the US and Iran will continue to negotiate terms of peace with \u201cproper oversight\u201d, he added.<\/p>\n \u201cThe final deal is the house,\u201d Vance said. \u201cWe set the foundation. We haven\u2019t built the house, but we\u2019ve laid a successful foundation to get to a good place for the American people,\u201d he added, saying there was still a lot to do.<\/p>\n The agreement also includes the creation of a \u201cde-confliction cell\u201d intended to support efforts to \u201censure the adherence of the termination of military operations in Lebanon\u201d.<\/p>\n Araghchi also declared \u201cmajor progress\u201d towards ending the war in Lebanon, but he cautioned that the first real test of the agreement would be the effectiveness of the \u201cLebanon de-confliction cell\u201d.<\/p>\n It comes as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel will remain in a security zone in southern Lebanon for as long as it deems necessary. The Israeli-established buffer zone covers roughly 602 square kilometres (230 square miles), or about 6 percent of Lebanon\u2019s territory.<\/p>\n The head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps\u2019s Quds Force then warned Israel to leave southern Lebanon or risk a repeat of its withdrawal from the country in 2000.<\/p>\n Esmail Qaani wrote on social media that if Israel continued its \u201caggression and occupation\u201d, it would be forced out in \u201chumiliation and defeat\u201d, according to state-run Press TV. Meanwhile, Hezbollah has yet to publicly comment on the agreement.<\/p>\n Al Jazeera\u2019s Nour Odeh, reporting from Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, said that Israeli commentators described the outcome of the Switzerland talks as a strategic dilemma for Israel.<\/p>\n \u201cThe past ceasefire with Hezbollah was managed between the US and Israel. It gave Israel freedom of action,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cBut this time, there\u2019s a different dynamic\u2026 and Israel feels that it will be compelled to play along. Right now, the thinking, the planning, the manoeuvring in Israel centres around how much compromise can Israel do without completely losing the confidence of the Israeli public.\u201d<\/p>\n Some analysts have questioned how the mechanism will have any impact on the ground in Lebanon. Joey Hood, a former senior US diplomat, noted that neither the Lebanese nor Israeli governments were directly involved in the negotiations that produced the mechanism, despite now being expected to implement any ceasefire arrangements.<\/p>\n \u201cSo it\u2019s giving Iran that veto power over Lebanon \u2026 So the MoU seems to be saying, we accept Iran\u2019s regional leadership role, including over its proxies,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Mark Kimmitt, a former US State Department official and retired military general, added that the inclusion of Lebanon in the broader negotiations \u201ccomplicates it tremendously\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThe fact remains, it\u2019s not often the case that external powers can solve an internal problem in an internal conflict between two different countries,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n But early signs suggest the agreement has had some impact, with Al Jazeera\u2019s Heidi Pett reporting that \u201cthere has been a cautious calm here in Nabatieh as a ceasefire appears to be taking hold\u201d in southern Lebanon.<\/p>\n \u201cIt has followed a very brutal and bloody couple of days for this city and the surrounding towns and villages,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n Araghchi has also suggested that the agreement includes significant economic concessions from Washington, although the United States has yet to publicly confirm them.<\/p>\n In a post on X, he said sanctions on Iranian oil exports and petrochemical sales had been waived, the blockade had been lifted, some frozen Iranian assets had been released and a major reconstruction and development plan for Iran had been launched.<\/p>\n He described these measures as key Iranian conditions that had now been met.<\/p>\n However, Warrick cautioned that delivering sanctions relief may prove politically difficult in Washington, particularly where congressional approval is required.<\/p>\n \u201cCongress is very unhappy with this deal right now. And it is not at all clear that Congress would agree to lift some of those sanctions that Iran wants lifted,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n On Monday, Vance said that if Iranian assets are unfrozen, they will be used to buy American agricultural products. \u201cThey\u2019re going to go to make American farmers richer and feed the Iranian people.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe Iranians have agreed to invite IAEA inspectors back into their country. That is a major milestone for the American people. And the first step in permanently denuclearising- permanently ending a nuclear weapons program in Iran,\u201d Vance said. He added that some of the conversations with the inspectors and the IAEA could happen as soon as Monday.<\/p>\n He also said the US and Iran had made \u201ca lot of great progress\u201d on other nuclear talks, without providing additional details.<\/p>\n The IAEA, or the International Atomic Energy Agency, is the UN\u2019s nuclear watchdog. IAEA inspected Iran\u2019s nuclear programme under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), a 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, negotiated by former US President Barack Obama, but which Trump pulled the US out of in 2018.<\/p>\n Iran eventually barred inspectors from entering the country last year after the 12-day war with Israel, when Israel pounded nuclear and military sites. The US also joined the war, attacking three Iranian nuclear sites.<\/p>\nRecommended Stories <\/h2>\n
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