Iran Suspends Switzerland Nuclear Talks Over Israeli Strikes in Lebanon

Iran has suspended plans to send its negotiating delegation to Switzerland for the first round of talks under a new 60-day negotiation process, citing ongoing Israeli military operations in southern Lebanon.

According to Hezbollah-affiliated Al Mayadeen, which cited an informed source, Iranian officials halted the trip after concluding that continued Israeli attacks had undermined the conditions necessary for negotiations.

The source said the delegation had been preparing to travel to Switzerland before deciding to postpone the visit.

Tehran reportedly informed the United States and international mediators that developments in Lebanon remained central to the negotiations and would influence whether talks moved forward.

“The Lebanon file was central to the negotiations and to whether they would continue or be suspended,” the source said.

Iran also warned that Israel’s continued military operations inside Lebanese territory violated the terms of the recently agreed memorandum of understanding and negotiation framework.

According to the source, Tehran argued that Israeli attacks conducted “10 kilometers inside Lebanese territory” constituted “a flagrant violation of the first clause of the memorandum of understanding and framework agreement.”

The suspension comes just hours after Washington outlined its expectations for a final agreement with Tehran.

Speaking at the White House, US Vice President JD Vance said a permanent deal would require Iran to end uranium enrichment, destroy its stockpile of enriched uranium and accept restrictions on its missile program.

“This is not the Obama deal,” Vance said. “The Obama deal allowed the Iranians to enrich uranium. This deal will not allow the Iranians to enrich uranium.”

He added: “The enriched uranium stockpile has to be destroyed.”

Vance also said the United States expected limits on Iran’s missile capabilities.

“We do expect that as part of the final deal they are not going to be able to build the kind of missiles that can broadly threaten the entire world,” he said.

The vice president stressed that Iran would receive no financial benefits unless it fully complied with the agreement.

“The simple fact is that the only way the Iranians get any of those resources—not a single penny, by the way, from the United States of America under any circumstances—is if they comply fully and change their behavior,” Vance said.

He argued that the agreement leaves Washington in a strong position regardless of Tehran’s decision.

“If the Iranians don’t change their behavior, their military and their nuclear program is still destroyed,” he said. “If they do change their behavior, then they are going to have a transformative relationship with the Middle East.”

Vance also claimed that more pragmatic voices within Iran’s political establishment were gaining influence.

“What we’ve seen over the last couple of months is that the pragmatists within the Iranian system, the people who really do want to transform their relationship with the Middle East and within the world, those people are winning the argument,” he said.

Meanwhile, maritime traffic through the strategic Strait of Hormuz has begun to recover. Vance said Iran had complied with early commitments under the agreement.

“Last night, 12.5 million barrels of oil were through the Strait of Hormuz,” he said, describing it as the highest level since the conflict began.

“The Iranians, for the second night in a row, did not shoot at any ships in the Strait of Hormuz. So far they are honoring their end of the commitment.”

The United States also lifted its naval blockade of Iranian ports. In a statement posted on X, United States Central Command said: “American forces are not impeding the transit of vessels to or from Iranian ports on the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman.”

“All U.S. military blockade enforcement efforts have ceased,” the command added.

US President Donald Trump expressed optimism that diplomacy would prevail and called for calm across the region.

“The United States is committed to PEACE, and we encourage everyone in the Middle East Region to maintain their commitment to allowing our negotiations to beautifully unfold,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

“We expect a complete Ceasefire on all fronts, including Lebanon, Hezbollah, and Israel,” he added.

Iran’s decision to suspend the Switzerland talks highlights the fragility of the emerging diplomatic process and underscores how closely negotiations remain tied to security developments beyond Iran’s nuclear programme. As fighting continues in Lebanon, the future of the US-Iran talks now appears uncertain.