Iran and the United States’ peace negotiations entered a second day on Monday in a bid to secure a permanent end to the war between the two countries, after the first day of mediation got off to a shaky start.
Mediators Pakistan and Qatar hailed what they described as “encouraging progress” during the talks.
A senior US official also claimed progress on several fronts, including the establishment of a mechanism to ensure that the Strait of Hormuz remains open and a ceasefire in Lebanon. However, the first full day of talks was jolted by back-to-back explosive statements from US President Donald Trump and counter-statements from Iranian officials.
Iranian state media said the talks had paused after the “publication of an insulting message by the US president”. The Iranian delegation then met with Qatari mediators and left the negotiating site, while the US team, led by Vice President JD Vance, kept the deliberations table open.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian had vowed to “never back down from the right to enrich uranium”, according to reports. Trump later told reporters that Pezeshkian should watch what he says and threatened to take strong action against Iran.
Trump also said 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!!!”
The US delegation is being led by Vice President JD Vance, special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, while Iran is represented by Parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
In a joint statement, Pakistan and Qatar said the high-level talks had concluded for the day and that technical negotiations would continue in Switzerland for the rest of the week.
The US offered no immediate comment, while Iran praised the mediators’ efforts. Araghchi wrote on X that the first “real test” of the negotiations would be whether the mechanism succeeded in halting the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.
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