- US, Iran expected to hold technical talks Buergenstock.
- PM Shehbaz, CDF Munir part of Pakistani delegation.
- US VP Vance appreciates Pakistan’s mediation efforts.
Delegations from the United States and Iran met mediators from Pakistan in Switzerland ahead of Washington and Tehran’s much-awaited technical talks.
The US-Iran technical-level talks, made possible after both sides signed the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) mediated by Pakistan, have been dubbed the ‘Lake Lucerne Summit’ and will continue for four days.
First, the US delegations — led by Vice President JD Vance and including special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner — met Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, the chief of defence forces and the chief of army staff.
Right before their meeting, VP Vance told a reporter that he appreciates Pakistan’s mediation in the nearly four-month-long war, which the US and Israel started on February 28 against Iran, and said: “We love Pakistan.”
After this, the Iranian delegation — Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi — met the Pakistani side, which included PM Shehbaz, Field Marshal Munir and Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, who has paid several visits to Iran recently.
In an earlier statement, the Foreign Office said high-level delegations from Iran, Qatar and the US would also participate in the talks, describing them as the first formal engagement since the signing of the Islamabad MoU on June 17.
The FO said Pakistan would continue supporting the understandings reached between Tehran and Washington, adding that its facilitative role reflected a principled, balanced and constructive approach throughout the crisis.
Islamabad’s efforts included hosting earlier rounds of US-Iran talks and maintaining diplomatic contacts that ultimately led to the memorandum.
The Switzerland meeting comes days after the US and Iran electronically signed the Islamabad MoU aimed at ending the Middle East conflict.
US President Donald Trump had announced the agreement, saying it included provisions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz and lifting the US blockade on Iranian ports.
Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian signed the accord on behalf of their respective countries, while PM Shehbaz later signed the Islamabad MoU as mediator, formally sealing the agreement.
The scheduled talks follow renewed tensions that have complicated the fragile US-Iran agreement.
On Saturday, Iran announced it was again closing the Strait of Hormuz in response to Israeli strikes in Lebanon, a move that came as negotiators prepared to travel to Switzerland for discussions aimed at preserving momentum in the peace process.
The follow-up talks had originally been scheduled for Friday but were postponed after Israel launched deadly strikes in Lebanon, prompting fresh uncertainty over efforts to end the wider Middle East conflict.
