Iran and US hold Switzerland talks on memorandum to end war

Senior negotiators from Iran and the United States met in Switzerland on Sunday to advance a signed memorandum of understanding aimed at ending the war launched by the US and Israel in late February. The talks were led by Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, while Vice President JD Vance headed the US delegation. Pakistan and Qatar were reported to be mediating the discussions.

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The meeting was described as part of a 60-day roadmap linked to the memorandum. According to the material provided, the document has already been signed, and the current round of talks is intended to move it forward. The negotiations come after a ceasefire that started on 8 April, and the debate in Tehran has intensified over the terms of the deal and the role of Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei.

The political fallout inside Iran has become part of the story. A written statement attributed to Khamenei said he had held a different view in principle, but approved the memorandum after President Masoud Pezeshkian accepted responsibility. On Sunday, the director general of the Islamic Republic of Iran News Network resigned after the state television channel aired a live interview with Mahmoud Nabavian, a hardline cleric, legislator and member of Iran's negotiating team in an earlier round of talks in Pakistan in April.

That interview added to the public dispute over the memorandum. Nabavian used the broadcast to argue against the deal and read what he said was correspondence between Khamenei and unnamed senior officials in the Supreme National Security Council. He also claimed the supreme leader had opposed the ceasefire, wanted immediate enforcement of a tolling system for ships crossing the Strait of Hormuz, and sought exclusive management of the waterway for Iran.