Pakistan says talks between the United States and Iran, which were postponed on Friday, will begin in Switzerland on Sunday, as Tehran announced it was again closing the Strait of Hormuz because of continued Israeli attacks in Lebanon.<\/p>\n
Iran\u2019s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman, Esmaeil Baghaei, confirmed on Saturday<\/a> that an Iranian delegation, including Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, and other senior officials, was heading to Switzerland. Iran\u2019s state broadcaster reported late on Saturday night that the country\u2019s negotiating team had arrived in the Swiss city of Zurich.<\/p>\n Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list<\/p>\n In Washington, JD Vance\u2019s press secretary said the US vice president had also departed for Switzerland on Saturday. In comments cited by the Reuters news agency, Vance said he would only be able to stay in the country for a day or two, but expressed hope that progress could be made on both the Lebanon ceasefire and the issue of Iran\u2019s nuclear programme.<\/p>\n The planned meeting on Sunday will start technical-level negotiations towards a final US-Iran deal. That is after both sides signed a memorandum of understanding<\/a> (MoU) earlier in the week declaring a permanent end to \u201cmilitary operations on all fronts\u201d, including in Lebanon.<\/p>\n The MoU stipulates<\/a> that a final deal should be reached within 60 days, \u201cextendable with mutual consent\u201d.<\/p>\n But even getting to the negotiating table following the MoU proved difficult. A round of talks originally planned for Friday was pushed back after Iran failed to send its delegation<\/a>, as deadly Israeli strikes persisted in Lebanon.<\/p>\n