First relief for the world (without ringing the bells): the delegations of the United States and Iran have closed the technical negotiations of a nascent peace plan in the Swiss alpine resort of Bürgenstock. The meeting, which had serious problems in taking place, has finally ended with the creation of a 60-day roadmap towards a definitive agreement, which has led the US Treasury Department to decree a temporary exemption from sanctions. A step that will allow Tehran to export oil and immediately unfreeze $12 billion in funds abroad.
Despite the optimism expressed by the White House, its president, Donald Trump, has already warned that he will act firmly if the Islamic Republic fails to fulfill its commitments. “If Iran does not comply with its agreement, or if it does not behave, I will do what I have to do,” the US president declared to the media, after publishing on his Truth Social network that Tehran will agree to undergo inspections to guarantee “nuclear honesty.”
The Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister, Kazem Gharibabadi, was in charge of confirming early this Tuesday that the technical phase has formally ended with the division of the talks into four specialized working groups on this lifting of sanctions, the ayatollahs’ nuclear program, the reconstruction and economic development of his country after the attacks by the US and Israel (this year and last) and the monitoring and implementation of the agreement itself.
The next phase will be in the hands of a high-level political committee in which the US Vice President, JD Vance, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the President of the Iranian Consultative Assembly will participate, along with the Prime Ministers of Qatar and Pakistan, who act as mediators.
Financial relief in exchange for strategic concessions
To support the process, Washington has issued a special license valid for 60 days (until August 21, 2026) that authorizes the production, sale and transportation of Iranian crude oil and petrochemical products, a sector suffocated since April, when the White House imposed a naval blockade that plummeted Iranian exports from 1.5 million barrels a day to just 260,000 in May.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Vice President Vance noted that in exchange for this economic relief, Iran has committed to reopening its borders to inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) – visits completely suspended since the armed clashes in February – and to guarantee free commercial transit through the strategic Strait of Hormuz.
In fact, tanker traffic along the route has already begun to be reactivated after the opening of a direct line of communication managed with the support of Oman.
Despite the optimistic tone of the US, public discrepancies persist between both capitals. While the spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Esmaeil Baghaei, denied that the nuclear program has been formally discussed or that new commitments have been made in this matter, Washington insists that inspections are a non-negotiable pillar.
Likewise, there is friction over the destination of the unfrozen funds. Vice President Vance suggested a mechanism designed by White House envoy Jared Kushner so that the money released would be jointly controlled with Qatar and used exclusively for the purchase of American agricultural products such as corn, soybeans and wheat.
“The money will go to our farmers,” Trump celebrated. However, the governor of the Central Bank of Iran, Abdolnaser Hemmati, denied that such an obligation exists, ensuring that the funds can be used for any type of non-sanctioned goods.
Lebanon, in the background
The negotiations take place in a context of truce in the region. Official sources informed Reuters of a sustained decline in hostilities in Lebanon, where the Hezbollah militia party (Shiite, aligned with Iran) and Israel agreed to a ceasefire last Friday, although the Israeli Government will maintain a security zone in southern Lebanon on a provisional basis.
The US has established a ceasefire “monitoring mechanism” to prevent violations from derailing negotiations with Israel. Today, representatives from Beirut and Tel Aviv meet in Washington to consolidate this cessation of fighting. It will be the fifth round of contacts between the parties and the climate is not the best. A senior US official told media outlets such as EFE that this mechanism was established after the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, spoke by telephone on Friday with the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and the Lebanese President, Joseph Aoun.
The monitoring is carried out by the Central Command of the United States Armed Forces (Centcom) with the objective of having “accurate and real-time information about the fighting in Lebanon,” this source declared.
Netanyahu’s statements in recent hours are not encouraging. Yesterday he said he has given the military “complete freedom of action to thwart any direct or imminent threat” from Lebanon, he said in a video statement issued by his office. “The order that Defense Minister (Israel Katz) and I have given to the Israeli Army is clear and has not changed: our fighters in southern Lebanon have complete freedom of action to thwart any direct or imminent threat against them or against the inhabitants of the north,” Netanyahu said.
The prime minister also assured that the Israeli Army, supported by himself and “all the people”, has “no restrictions” regarding its operations in the neighboring country, of which it occupies around 570 square kilometers. The Likud leader insisted that Israel will remain in the “security strip” – as the Israeli prime minister refers to the occupied Lebanese territory – “as long as necessary” in order to “protect the inhabitants of the north and all the citizens of the country.”
Hezbollah, until now, responds to its presence and its attacks but by attacking military positions and without firing projectiles into northern Israel.
