Reports ARE that Israel and Hezbollah HAVE stop shooting at each other despite BOTH parties sniping at each other….
Iran IS using the memorandum of understanding to get America to stop Israel from attacking Hezbollah in Lebanon….
Iran says the Strait has been closed to boats traffic….
The US military says ships ARE moving thru the Strait….
Iran is pressing also for money the US has impounded….
The Trump plan for going forward with Iran has been met with universal condemnation by American lawmakers and members of BOTH parties….
Iran has signalled it will NOT give up its uranium , but will pause it’s efforts to develop a nuclear weapon…
Most outside observer’s feel Iran IS stringing Trump along trying to get what IT WANTS, during the 60 days of talks…
Trump does NOT help things by continual mentioning of mass bombing of Iran , which simply has NOT worked against Iran and hardens their negotiating stance…
Negotiators for Iran and the United States met in Switzerland on Sunday as they sought to turn a 60-day cease-fire into a lasting peace, but it was quickly apparent how far apart the two sides are.
The talks were expected to continue into the night, according to a U.S. official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to detail the negotiations.
Iranian negotiators insisted on an end to the war between Israel, a U.S. ally, and Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed militant group in Lebanon, as a condition for further talks, according to Iranian state media. The negotiations were also strained by President Trump’s renewal of threats against Iran, just as Vice President JD Vance was saying the president wanted the talks to “turn over a new leaf” with Iran.
Mr. Trump said in a Fox News interview that he could do “whatever I want” after the 60-day period and said Iran’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, who has insisted that Tehran maintain its right to enrich uranium, “better watch his mouth.”
Iran’s lead negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said on social media that the United States should be careful about issuing threats, adding that Iranian armed forced were prepared to respond.
“No matter how much they talk, it is we who act,” he wrote.
The official who said the talks were expected to continue through the night said the topics of discussion included ensuring that the Strait of Hormuz remains open and enforcing the cease-fire in Lebanon.
Sunday’s talks, held at a Swiss lakeside resort and mediated by Pakistani and Qatari officials, were the first of the negotiations that are intended to end in a lasting peace deal.
According to Iranian state media, the talks focused mostly on Lebanon and did not touch on the future of Iran’s nuclear program. The managing director of Iran’s national oil company, Hamid Bovard, told state media that the lifting of sanctions on the country’s oil and related industries were also discussed.
Even getting to the first day had been a challenge. The talks had been set to begin on Friday, but were delayed after Iranian officials refused to attend because of the fighting in Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah. That conflict appeared to ease on Sunday after the Israeli government directed the military to restrict itself to defensive actions, a day after it flared up despite a new cease-fire.
Mr. Vance sought on Sunday to emphasize the improved conditions in Lebanon. “We’ve seen great progress over the last couple of days in ensuring that the cease-fire holds in Lebanon,” Mr. Vance said. “These things are always a little bit messy.”
But Lebanon is all but certain to remain a thorny matter. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, which was not a party to the preliminary agreement, reiterated on Sunday that his country would keep its military inside southern Lebanon “for as long as it takes” to protect Israelis.
Mr. Trump, meanwhile, threatened to resume bombing Iran if it didn’t constrain Hezbollah.
Here’s what else we are covering:
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Strait of Hormuz: Another key issue is the passage of vessels through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway for oil and gas shipments which would be open for 60 days under the terms of the preliminary agreement. The status of the strait was thrown into confusion on Saturday after Iran claimed it was closing the waterway over the fighting in Lebanon. The U.S. military said that marine traffic continued to flow and asserted that Iran “does not control” the strait.
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Nuclear program: The most difficult issue in the U.S.-Iran talks — what to do about Iran’s nuclear program and stockpile of uranium — has been left for later. So far, Iran has only reiterated its longstanding promise not to develop nuclear weapons, and the country’s president, Mr. Pezeshkian, said on Sunday that Iran would “never back down” from its right to enrich uranium.
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Lebanon strikes: There were no reports of Israeli attacks on Lebanon or Hezbollah strikes on Israelis as of 10 p.m. local time on Sunday. Still, it was not clear whether the new Israeli directive announced late Saturday would resolve the friction that led to deadly clashes on Friday and Saturday and threatened to derail the preliminary U.S.-Iran deal….
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Talks between the US and Iran began in Switzerland today, following the memorandum of understanding that was signed days ago. Vice president JD Vance arrived at the Swiss mountainside resort of Burgenstock early on Sunday to lead the US delegation. Mediators from Pakistan and Qatar are also in attendance.
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Iran said that it planned to close the strait of Hormuz after waves of Israeli strikes in Lebanon in a move that threatens to derail the fragile interim peace deal with the US. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps warned ships not to approach the waterway, citing what it called Israeli crimes in Lebanon and a US violation of commitments to establish a ceasefire there.
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JD Vance said “great progress” had been made during the talks, but did not go into detail about what steps forward had been taken. He said the technical negotiations may not solve every disagreement but “allow us to sit together as teams for the first time in history.”
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Donald Trump issued further threats to Iran, posting to Truth Social: “Iran must immediately stop their highly paid PROXIES in Lebanon from causing trouble. If they don’t, we’ll hit Iran very hard again, just like we did last week, only harder!!!” He also told Fox News that he warned Iran against closing the strait of Hormuz, telling Iranian officials “You close it and you won’t have a country.”
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Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian reiterated that Tehran was willing to provide assurances that the country was not seeking a nuclear weapon, while insisting that Iran would not relinquish its right to enrich uranium.
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Israeli defense minister Israel Katz said in a statement that there was and is “no restriction” on Israeli soldiers to act to eliminate threats in Lebanon, and that troops would not withdraw from the security zone. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israeli forces would remain in southern Lebanon “as long as necessary.”
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Rafael Grossi, the chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said he has met Swiss foreign minister Ignazio Cassis in Burgenstock “to take stock of recent developments regarding Iran, the path ahead and the important role of the IAEA”….
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ISW….Iran Update Special Report, June 21, 2026
- Iran is attempting to use the sequencing of the US-Iran memorandum of understanding’s (MoU) clauses to make the United States meet Iranian demands regarding Lebanon and economic relief before Iran agrees to discuss nuclear issues.
- Iran and the United States held quadrilateral talks with Qatari and Pakistani mediators in Burgenstock, Switzerland, on June 21. Iranian officials and media emphasized that the June 21 talks only focused on pushing the United States to implement MoU clauses that the MoU states must be implemented before nuclear negotiations can begin.
- Iran is using the first clause of the MoU, which calls for a ceasefire on all fronts, to try to compel the United States to pressure Israel to cease operations against Hezbollah in Lebanon and withdraw its forces from Lebanese territory. Iran’s interpretation of this clause is part of its broader effort to preserve Hezbollah as a central element of Iran’s deterrence strategy against Israel.
- Israeli and Hezbollah attacks have largely paused since June 20, but Israeli forces continue clearing operations within the Israel Defense Forces’ (IDF) “security zone” in southern Lebanon.
- Iran is also attempting to frontload economic benefits from the MoU before addressing its nuclear file in negotiations. Iran likely seeks to acquire funds up front in case negotiations collapse and likely also seeks to reduce US leverage in later nuclear talks in order to make it more difficult for the United States to extract concessions from Iran.
- Iran is using its announced closure of the Strait of Hormuz to increase economic pressure on the United States as part of its effort to push the United States to compel Israel to halt operations against Hezbollah and withdraw from Lebanon.
- Iran’s involvement in negotiations in Switzerland has exposed fissures among some Iranian factions over how Iran should advance its objectives.
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