It agreed to allow the entry into the country of inspectors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), with what this entails for the discussions on Tehran, the Vice President of the USA revealed in his statements, as he was preparing to return to after the long negotiation with the Iranian delegation in Burgenstock.
As Vance said as technical discussions continued in Switzerland, “That’s probably what we’re most excited about as Americans. Because this is an important milestone for the American people and the first step in ending Iran’s nuclear weapons program for good.” He revealed that the inspectors are expected to return to Iran immediately, this week at the latest, after talks with them were expected to begin today.
“We laid the foundations for a final agreement”
Jay de Vance said the US and Iranian teams had made “great progress” in talks yesterday with the help of mediation by Qatar and Pakistan, adding that they: “They will continue to work at a technical level with the other teams here in Burgenstock. Technical negotiations will continue in the coming days and weeks.
We wanted to create a structure for this so that there is proper political oversight, but, of course, although this place is very beautiful, I cannot stay here for the next 60 days.
I am preparing to return to the United States. But the technical teams will continue to work under appropriate oversight to ensure we achieve the goals that matter to everyone.”
Vance argued that the talks with Iran created “a good foundation for a successful final agreement” aimed at ending the war.
As he typically said: “The final deal is the house. We laid the foundation. We haven’t built the house yet, but we’ve built a successful foundation to get to a good place for the American people.”
The vice president also hinted that the US could agree to unfreeze Iranian assets for purchases of US soybeans, corn and wheat.
What did he say about Lebanon?
Responding to a related question, the US Vice President asserted that “very good progress” has been made for Lebanon as well.
Vance said the US wants a regional ceasefire and Hezbollah to stop shooting at “our friends in Israel”. As he said: “We want Israelis to be able to live in peace. We also want to ensure that when events do occur they do not escalate into a wider conflict.
And so we have, I think, done a very good job of creating what we call a “decompression mechanism,” but really what it does is make sure that when events happen, the two sides will be able to talk to each other.
Sometimes there are “chicken-became-the-egg” or “the-egg-became” problems – where a junior officer launches a drone without approval from higher command.
Well, of course Israel has to respond to this, but sometimes that response could be more peaceful if it was given in the context of an ongoing communication between Hezbollah, Lebanon, Israel and other partners in the region.
There wasn’t really such a mechanism for these discussions until about 4 p.m. yesterday Burgenstock time when we created him.
So what we’re trying to do is say that first Israel and every other country in the region has a right to self-defense, but we want to make sure that everyone has that right within a communication process that will help de-escalate the conflict.”
Regarding the issue of Israeli forces staying inside Lebanon, Jay de Vance argued that Washington wants to protect “Israel’s security” and ensure Lebanese sovereignty and territorial integrity. “This will be an ongoing discussion,” he said in response to a related question.
Vance argued that Israel has made clear it has no “territorial ambitions” in southern Lebanon and added that Iran should “rein in” Hezbollah, the Lebanese armed group it has supported and funded for decades, so that it no longer poses a threat to northern Israel.
