Iran hails ‘progress’ as first day of talks with US conclude after shaky start

Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi (L) shakes hands with Pakistani prime minister Shehbaz Sharif (front R) as JD Vance (back R) looks on next to Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner (2nd L). Photograph: Nathan Howard/Reuters View image in fullscreen Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi (L) shakes hands with Pakistani prime minister Shehbaz Sharif (front R) as JD Vance (back R) looks on next to Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner (2nd L). Photograph: Nathan Howard/Reuters Iran hails ‘progress’ as first day of talks with US conclude after shaky start Mediators Pakistan and Qatar issue statement saying talks will run for rest of the week, as fighting in Lebanon continues to threaten agreement Iran’s foreign minister has declared “progress” after the first day of talks between high-ranking officials from Washington and Tehran ended in Switzerland, despite a tense opening marked by Donald Trump threats to restart attacks. A joint statement from mediators Qatar and Pakistan said the ⁠US and Iran agreed to a roadmap towards⁠ a final deal within 60 days. Technical talks between lower-ranked officials ​will continue for the rest of the week, according to the statement, with fighting between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon at the top of the agenda. “Pakistani and Qatari mediation has delivered major progress to end Lebanon war,” said Abbas Araghchi, the Iranian foreign minister, after talks broke up just after 3am local time (1am GMT). Trump faces fresh bipartisan criticism on Iran deal as Vance hails peace talks Read more The joint statement said the US and Iran agreed to establish a “communication line” to avoid incidents in the strait of Hormuz, and to set up a “de-confliction cell” with Lebanon’s government to ensure the “adherence of the termination of military operations in Lebanon”. In his message, Araghchi said the first real test of the understandings reached would be this “deconfliction” method for Lebanon, which has emerged as the biggest threat to the agreement signed by the US and Iran last week. Over the weekend Iran said it had reinstated its blockade in the strait of Hormuz in protest at the continued Israeli strikes on Lebanon and that Trump was allowing Israel to breach the memorandum of understanding (MOU). The memorandum calls for a ceasefire on all fronts, but Israel killed more than 30 people in attacks on Saturday in central and southern Lebanon. View image in fullscreen (From left) JD Vance looks on as Pakistani prime minister Shehbaz Sharif speaks beside Qatari prime minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani in Switzerland. Photograph: Getty Images Despite the US military denying that the strait had been closed, Trump responded strongly to the threat on Sunday, saying: “You close it and you won’t have a country. You won’t even make it back to your fucking country.” The US president also weighed in on the situation in Lebanon, writing on social media: “Iran must immediately stop their hi