Iran plans to meet with US officials in coming days
· RTE.ieA planned meeting between Iranian and US officials in Switzerland has been postponed, with arrangements under way for talks in the coming days, Iran's Foreign Ministry has said.
The ministry said the meeting was no longer urgent because a memorandum of understanding on ending the war had already been signed digitally between the two sides.
The ministry spokesperson, Esmaeil Baghaei, added that negotiations on a final agreement would depend on the start and continued implementation of specified terms outlined in the memorandum.
"Given that the signing of the text of the MoU was done digitally on June 18, there is no urgency to hold the said meeting in Switzerland, but we are planning to hold a meeting in the coming days," Mr Baghaei said.
Preparations for technical talks to start in the Swiss mountaintop resort of Burgenstock were far advanced when US Vice President JD Vance said yesterday he had dropped plans to attend, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters.
Earlier yesterday, a source familiar with Tehran's thinking said Iran's lead negotiator Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf was not planning to attend.
Not only do some of the toughest issues remain unresolved, but efforts to secure a lasting agreement could also be complicated by Israel's conflict in Lebanon with Hezbollah.
The interim deal requires the United States, Iran and their allies to declare an immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including Lebanon.
Israel, left out of the talks, says it is not party to the deal. Violence abated in Lebanon earlier this week, but picked up again.
However, this afternoon Israel and Hezbollah agreed to a ceasefire, a senior US official said.
The war, which began on 28 February with US and Israeli air attacks on Iran, has killed at least 7,000 people, mostly in Iran and Lebanon. It also pushed up energy prices and shook global markets but oil prices have dipped this week.
Prospects have brightened for more oil supplies since tankers began moving through the Strait of Hormuz, which carried nearly a fifth of global crude oil and liquefied natural gas supplies before it was blockaded by Iran during the war.
Iran said it was ready to begin technical talks after this week's accord extended a tenuous ceasefire by at least 60 days.
A Swiss foreign ministry statement said the talks had been postponed and that Switzerland remained ready to facilitate the talks and the relevant preparatory work was continuing.
In Washington, some of US President Donald Trump's Republican allies in Congress questioned whether he had conceded too much in order to end the conflict, unpopular with most Americans in the run-up to midterm elections in November.
In March, Mr Trump had sworn to end the war only with Iran's "unconditional surrender".
But the memorandum signed with Iran instead provides relief from economic sanctions, unfreezes assets worth tens of billions of dollars and immediate US waivers for its exports of oil.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei said Mr Trump had signed the deal "out of desperation" and signalled that approaching talks over Iran's nuclear programme, among Mr Trump's stated reasons for starting the war, would not be easy.
"If the American side wants to be too demanding, we will not accept it," he said in a message.
Iran's Supreme National Security Council vowed a reciprocal response to any violation by the "untrustworthy" American side, saying it would show "no leniency" until the nation's full rights were secured.
The deal gives negotiators 60 days to agree on the status of Iran's nuclear programme, unless an extension is agreed, and to set up a $300bn reconstruction fund for Iran and other financial incentives.
Mr Vance said Washington would also seek to limit Iran's long-range missiles.
The growing cost of the war also drew the spotlight, as the US defence department told politicians it needed $80bn to cover the costs and some unrelated bills, the Wall Street Journal said.
US officials say the negotiations could still yield a strong agreement on Iran's nuclear programme, aiming to better one dating from 2015 between Iran, the US and other countries that Mr Trump tore up in his first term.
But critics say Iran is in a stronger position now, having withstood a superpower attack, demonstrated its control of the Strait of Hormuz and gained valuable waivers to financial sanctions.