Iran halts participation in Switzerland talks after US threats

Tehran, June 22 (IANS) Iran has halted its participation in a four-party talks involving the US, Qatar and Pakistan during ongoing negotiations in Switzerland after the US threats, Iranian Foreign Ministry has announced.

Iran Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei stated that a threatening US statement during the four-party meeting prompted Tehran to declare it would not continue to participate in the talks under such conditions, Tasnim News Agency reported on X.

Qatar and Pakistan tried to keep the talks going. However, Iran said it would not participate in the meeting. The Iranian delegation stressed the need to hold the other side accountable for fulfilling its commitments. Concerns were raised about the other party’s breach of trust, especially about Israel’s ongoing violations of the ceasefire, according to Tasnim News Agency.

On Sunday, US President Donald Trump warned Tehran to “immediately stop their highly paid proxies in Lebanon or the US will “hit Iran very hard gain” even as negotiations continued in Switzerland.

In a statement shared on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump wrote, “Iran must immediately stop their highly paid PROXIES in Lebanon from causing trouble. If they don’t, we’ll hit Iran very hard again, just like we did last week, only harder!!!”

Negotiations between the United States and Iran continued late into the night in Switzerland on Sunday, with US officials saying discussions remained active and expressing confidence that talks launched by Vice President JD Vance had produced early progress on Iran’s nuclear programme, the Strait of Hormuz and the fragile ceasefire in Lebanon.

“We still anticipate they will continue through the night,” a US official said shortly after 1:14 am local time, when reporters travelling with the Vice President were informed that negotiations remained underway.

The update came hours after Vance said negotiators had already made significant headway during the first day of talks at the Burgenstock resort overlooking Lake Lucerne.

“We’ve already made great progress over just the last few hours, and I expect that we’ll make additional progress in the hours to come,” Vance told reporters before entering the meeting.

According to a statement later provided by a senior US diplomat engaged in the negotiations, the American delegation was in continuous talks since Vance arrived in Switzerland.

The talks have also addressed the security situation in Lebanon, where renewed fighting between Israel and Hezbollah has threatened broader regional diplomacy.

“We have also worked through deconfliction mechanisms and enforcing the ceasefire in southern Lebanon,” the diplomat said.

–IANS

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