The expected Friday talks between the United States and Iran in Switzerland are being postponed for now. The White House announced Thursday night that US Vice President JD Vance will not travel for now, citing logistical difficulties as the official reason.
The White House announced Thursday night that US Vice President JD Vance will not travel to Switzerland for expected Friday talks with Iran on the next steps in a deal between Washington and Tehran to end the Middle East war. This happened allegedly due to logistical difficulties related to the discussions, reports TASR based on reports from the AP and AFP agencies.
- US Vice President JD Vance will not travel to negotiations with Iran on Friday.
- He cited unspecified logistical difficulties as the reason for canceling the trip.
- The Iranian side postponed negotiations for the ongoing Israeli military operation in Lebanon.
- Iran and the United States signed a memorandum of understanding.
Postponed negotiations
“The logistics of these negotiations have never been easy or predictable … and the vice president will not be traveling tonight,” a White House spokesman said. “We look forward to starting technical negotiations as soon as possible,” he added, while Vance’s team added that the delegation was ready to travel at the earliest possible opportunity.
The announcement followed a report by Lebanon’s pro-Iran al-Mayadeen TV, which is affiliated with the militant group Hezbollah, that Iran was delaying sending its delegation to Switzerland because of the ongoing Israeli military operation in Lebanon, the AP reported.
The US and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding
US officials initially told reporters that they would meet with Iranian negotiators in Switzerland on Friday, The Times of Israel (TOI) reports. However, the vice president later indicated that the negotiations have not yet been definitively agreed upon with the Iranian side. “We think these technical talks will start sometime this weekend. That’s the plan, but it can still change,” he said.
On Wednesday evening, Iran and the USA signed the so-called the memorandum of understanding that ends the war in the Middle East. On Thursday, the sixty-day period for negotiations between the two countries began.
