WASHINGTON\/GENEVA: Iranian claims regarding the situation in Lebanon, was one of the reasons US \u200cVice \u200cPresident JD \u200bVance had pulled \u200cout of a planned trip to meet Iranian negotiators \u200cin Switzerland on Friday to begin talks \u2060on \u2060implementing an agreement struck between Tehran and Washington to end the war, an Axios reporter posted on social media.<\/p>\n
\u201cA senior American official told me that one of the reasons for postponing the trip might be Iranian claims regarding the situation in Lebanon,\u201d Barak Ravid posted on social media.<\/p>\n
Talks that had been planned for \u200bFriday between the United States and Iran at the Burgenstock mountaintop resort in Switzerland \u200cwill not \u200ctake \u200bplace, \u200caccording to \u2060a \u200bSwiss foreign \u2060ministry statement.<\/p>\n
The signing of the deal on Wednesday by Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian set in motion a 60-day period for talks on wider issues between the two foes, including the Iranian nuclear program.<\/p>\n
But there was uncertainty over the next steps, and it appeared unlikely that the two sides, who have had no diplomatic relations since soon after the 1979 Islamic revolution, would hold a signing ceremony and talks in Switzerland on Friday as previously announced.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe logistics of these negotiations have never been simple or predictable. As of now the Vice President is not departing tonight,\u201d a White House spokesperson said late Thursday. \u201cWe look forward to beginning technical talks as soon as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
In Iran, the Tasnim agency said \u201cnothing has been confirmed\u201d about the Iranian delegation\u2019s trip to Switzerland.<\/p>\n
Mojtaba Khamenei, who became supreme leader after his father and longstanding Iran ruler Ali Khamenei was killed in an airstrike on the first day of the war on February 28, said in a written statement that he had approved the deal despite having a \u201cdifferent view,\u201d without elaborating.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I issued my permission due to the commitment\u201d made by officials including Pezheshkian to \u201cprotect the rights of the Iranian nation.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFace-to-face negotiations\u201d with the US will be held in the future, but that does not \u201cmean accepting the enemy\u2019s point of view,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
On Friday, Iran\u2019s chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, warned against any breach of the agreement on X: \u201cIn case of misconduct, breach of treaty and excess of the other side, We have no doubt that decisive respond will be given to the enemy.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018Maybe they start fighting again\u2019<\/p>\n
American forces on Thursday lifted their naval blockade of Iranian ports that had prevented ships from sailing to or from the Islamic republic, the US military said, noting that American warships \u201cwill remain in the general area.\u201d<\/p>\n
Activity was still muted in the Strait of Hormuz, the strategic bottleneck for energy shipments that Iran blockaded during the conflict.<\/p>\n
Three Saudi oil tankers left the Gulf through the strait on Thursday, maritime trackers said, as did a French vessel loaded with liquified natural gas.<\/p>\n
Iranian state TV, citing a statement from the country\u2019s Supreme National Security Council, said that ships \u201cseeking passage through the Strait of Hormuz must submit their request\u201d to a new government body tasked with overseeing the waterway.<\/p>\n
In keeping with the terms of the deal, it added, \u201cno fees whatsoever will be collected from applicants for a period of sixty days.\u201d<\/p>\n
The deal should bring an end to the current US-Israeli conflict with Iran, which saw five weeks of all-out war until a ceasefire was struck in early April.<\/p>\n
But some in Tehran were downbeat at the prospects for peace.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have no hope that this is a lasting agreement. Maybe after the 60 days they start fighting again,\u201d said Mina, 54, a psychologist from Tehran.<\/p>\n
Her sentiment was shared by French President Emmanuel Macron, who presided over the signing at the Palace of Versailles in what he described as a \u201cspontaneous\u201d move by Trump.<\/p>\n
Macron said \u201che did not believe\u201d that the war was \u201ctotally finished.\u201d<\/p>\n
Under the text, Washington commits to immediately waive oil sanctions crippling Iran\u2019s economy.<\/p>\n
And once a final agreement is reached on Iran\u2019s nuclear program, the United States will facilitate the release of a $300 billion reconstruction fund supported by regional nations, the deal says.<\/p>\n
\u2018What does that get us?\u2019<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s decision to end the war, in which 13 US service members were killed and a vast proportion of US ammunition stockpiles was used, has unsettled some of his allies at home.<\/p>\n
US Senator Bill Cassidy from Trump\u2019s Republican Party described it as the \u201cworst foreign policy blunder in decades.\u201d<\/p>\n
In an interview with Axios, Trump argued that using military force to wring more concessions out of Tehran would have been counterproductive.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe only way I can get tougher is if I go in there for another two or three weeks and continue to bomb the hell out of \u2018em. Right? But what does that get us? The Strait of Hormuz will not be open,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe wouldn\u2019t have oil for months,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is the kind of thing that could cause a worldwide depression.\u201d<\/p>\n
There has also been some criticism from hard-liners within Iran, where the conflict was described as an \u201cimposed war\u201d and compared to the 1980-1988 conflict with Saddam Hussein\u2019s Iraq.<\/p>\n
But parliament speaker and top negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf insisted the deal represented a US \u201cfailure,\u201d while Pezeshkian called it \u201chistoric.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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