Vice President JD Vance was expected to talk with Iranian negotiators. But the conflict in Lebanon threatens efforts to reach a broader peace and keep the Strait of Hormuz open. Share full articleImageAbbas Araghchi, Iran’s foreign minister, left, with his Swiss counterpart, Ignazio Cassis, at the Bürgenstock resort, Switzerland, on Sunday.Credit...Urs Flueeler/Keystone, via Associated Press See more of our coverage in your search results.Encuentra más de nuestra cobertura en los resultados de búsqueda. Add The New York Times on GoogleAgrega The New York Times en Google Latest PinnedUpdated June 21, 2026, 5:31 a.m. ETAurelien Breeden and Yan Zhuang Here’s the latest.American and Iranian delegations arrived at a lakeside resort in Switzerland on Sunday for a new round of talks, even as the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon threatened efforts to reach a broader peace deal and keep shipping flowing in the Strait of Hormuz. Vice President JD Vance is leading a negotiating team that includes President Trump’s special envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. Iran’s team includes Gen. Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, its lead negotiator in earlier talks and the speaker of its Parliament. Two of the most urgent issues are the passage of vessels through the Strait of Hormuz and the fighting in Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed militia. An initial U.S.-Iran agreement, signed last week, established a 60-day cease-fire during which the United States promised to end its blockade of Iranian ports, and Iran promised to let shipping flow freely through the strait, a vital waterway for transporting oil and gas. It also stipulated an end to military operations in Lebanon. But the status of the strait was thrown into confusion on Saturday after Iran claimed it was closing the waterway over fighting in Lebanon that had continued despite a new cease-fire there. The U.S. military said that marine traffic in the strait continued to flow and asserted that Iran “does not control” the strait. Hours after the Iranian military said it had shuttered the waterway, the Israeli military said late on Saturday that it had received “updated directives” from the country’s political leaders to cease its fire in Lebanon. The Israeli military said it would only operate “in a defensive manner within the security zone,” a stretch of territory its troops control in southern Lebanon that extends about six miles north of the Israeli border. The military said it reserved the right to respond if Hezbollah did not abide by the cease-fire and targeted Israeli troops or civilians. The most difficult issue in the U.S.-Iran negotiations — what to do about Iran’s nuclear program and stockpile of uranium — has been left for the next round of talks. So far, Iran has only reiterated its longstanding promise not to develop nuclear weapons, and promised at a minimum to dilute its stockpile of near-bomb grade uranium as part of a final deal. Before Mr. Vance boarded his plane, he told reporters that he hoped to make progress on the “nuclear issue” and the “Lebanon cease-fire issue.” Diplomacy: Esmaeil Baghaei, a spokesman for Iran’s foreign ministry, told Iranian state media that Iranian officials would meet with mediators from Pakistan and Qatar in the morning. The talks, at the Swiss resort of Bürgenstock, will continue in the afternoon with a U.S.-Iranian meeting attended by Pakistani and Qatari officials, he said. Nuclear program: Iran will “never back down” from its right to enrich uranium, and the United States “will ultimately have to accept this,” President Masoud Pezeshkian of Iran said at a conference in Tehran on Sunday, state-controlled Iranian media reported. Lebanon strikes: The Israeli military said it attacked southern Lebanon on Saturday after Hezbollah fired more than 50 projectiles overnight at Israeli troops there. Hezbollah maintained it was adhering to the cease-fire, but acknowledged its fighters had ambushed Israeli infantry attempting to advance overnight on a strategic ridge about 45 miles south of Beirut, the Lebanese capital. A glamorous Swiss getaway will be the setting of the U.S.-Iran negotiations.ImageThe Bürgenstock resort above Lake Lucerne in Switzerland has hosted some of the world’s wealthiest and most powerful people over nearly 150 years.Credit...Fabrice Coffrini/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesOfficials from Iran and the United States are expected to begin the next phase of talks to end the war in the Middle East on Sunday at a remote, high-altitude resort in Switzerland beloved by Hollywood stars of yore. Bürgenstock is a mountain and home to the Bürgenstock Resort Lake Lucerne, overlooking the waters below. The resort has hosted some of the world’s wealthiest and most powerful people over nearly 150 years. The property had traded hands several times before Katara Hospitality, a global hotel developer owned by the Qatari sovereign wealth fund, acquired it in 2007 and undertook an almost decade-long redevelopment. “Switzerland provides a discreet and reliable setting to facilitate talks at Bürgenstock on the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding between the U.S. and Iran,” the Swiss foreign ministry said in a post on its website on Sunday, referring to an initial agreement signed last week. The mountain is at an elevation of nearly 3,700 feet. The resort, at nearly 3,000 feet, holds hotels, residences, a spa, an alpine golf course, tennis courts, a museum, an infinity pool with a lake view, restaurants — including one specializing in Persian food — and more, across nearly 150 acres of forest. The Grand Hotel Bürgenstock first opened in 1873. It was developed by the Swiss entrepreneurs Franz Josef Bucher and Josef Durrer. They bought the mountain property, leveled out a summit ridge, and built a getaway with a stunning view of Lake Lucerne and the Alps. The mountaintop hotel, though remote and hard to reach, was an immediate draw. The entrepreneurs soon expanded, building more hotels and a funicular railway, etching out a cliff path and establishing a lift for viewing vistas that now whisks visitors 500 feet up in about a minute. To get to the resort, visitors take a boat across the lake, misty with “sea smoke” created by the mountain ridge hovering above the water, to Switzerland’s oldest electrically operated funicular railway. Its allure has long endured, with Hollywood stars of the mid-20th century often making the trek. The actress Audrey Hepburn married the actor and director Mel Ferrer in the mountain chapel at the resort in 1954. Ms. Hepburn and the actress Sophia Loren, who has said she has spent her life in hotels, both had residences there and reportedly enjoyed hanging out at the golf club. In 1964, the resort was a setting in the James Bond movie “Goldfinger.” The resort has also been an escape for world leaders over the years, including former President Jimmy Carter; Jawaharlal Nehru and his daughter, Indira Gandhi, former prime ministers of India; David Ben-Gurion and Golda Meir, former Israeli prime ministers; and Konrad Adenauer, former chancellor of Germany. This will not be the first time that the resort has hosted diplomatic talks. Among the most recent such gatherings were the 2024 negotiations to end Russia’s war against Ukraine. The conference brought together about 1,000 people, including 57 heads of state. It was the largest diplomatic event in Switzerland’s history, according to resort representatives, and the Swiss authorities chose the location. The upcoming negotiations between Iran and the United States are a good platform for Iran to resolve its economic problems, President Masoud Pezeshkian of Iran said at a conference in Tehran today, state-controlled Iranian media reported. “The prospect of continuing to face inflation rates above 50 or 60 percent in the coming years is unacceptable to me,” he said. Iran’s primary condition ahead of talks with the United States today is “an end to the war on all fronts,” Iranian state media reported, referring to what it said was a lack of progress toward that objective in Lebanon. An issue looming over negotiations is the Strait of Hormuz, which the United States and Iran each committed to reopening last week. But on Sunday morning, its status was unclear. On Saturday, Iran’s military stated that it was again closing the waterway, arguing that fighting in Lebanon amounted to a breach of the preliminary deal. But the U.S. military later said that the waterway was open. As of Sunday morning, the U.K. maritime authority which monitors the strait had not updated its guidance since the previous day, when it advised that the strait’s southern route was navigable. Iran’s delegation in Switzerland has two meetings scheduled today, Esmaeil Baghaei, spokesman for Iran’s foreign ministry, told Iranian state news agency IRNA. Iranian officials will hold meetings with Pakistani and Qatari delegations, which are mediating the process, in the morning, he said. Then they will meet in the afternoon with the U.S. delegation, with Pakistani and Qatari officials attending as well, he said. Iran will “never back down” from its right to enrich uranium, and the United States “will ultimately have to accept this,” President Masoud Pezeshkian of Iran said at a conference in Tehran today, state-controlled Iranian media reported. The American negotiating team led by Vice President JD Vance, and its Iranian counterpart led by Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, speaker of Iran’s parliament, have arrived at the lakeside resort of Bürgenstock alongside mediators from Pakistan and Qatar, Switzerland’s foreign ministry said on Sunday. “Talks between the parties are set to begin during the course of the morning,” it said. The Pakistani delegation has arrived in Switzerland, the Swiss foreign ministry said on social media. Pakistan, an intermediary in the U.S.-Iran negotiations, said earlier that its delegation included Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the country’s army chief, Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir.
Original Source: NYTimes
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