No handshake: US-Iran talks open in Switzerland
Shafaq News- Burgenstock
Iran and the United States opened high-level talks in Switzerland on Sunday in a tense start marked by Tehran’s refusal to take part in a joint handshake or group photo, semi-official Tasnim News reported.
Citing a source close to the Iranian negotiating team, the outlet noted that US officials had prepared for a brief public exchange, but the Iranian delegation stepped back, prompting the US side to proceed alongside the Pakistani delegation led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Army Chief Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, the mediators of the talks.
“Iran will keep the Strait of Hormuz closed unless Israel’s operations in Lebanon are curtailed,” the source added, linking the outcome of the talks to developments on the Lebanese front, which it placed at the top of the agenda.
Earlier today, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei stated that Tehran will use the talks to push for US implementation of the recently signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), stressing that “implementing any document is more important than simply signing it.”
The diplomatic effort follows an MoU reached last week that set out a 60-day cease-fire. Under the arrangement, Washington pledged to end its blockade on Iranian ports, ease sanctions on oil exports and release frozen Iranian assets, while Tehran committed to maintaining freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz.
The future of Iran’s nuclear programme and its stockpile of enriched uranium has been deferred to the next phase of negotiations. Tehran reiterates it does not seek nuclear weapons and has signalled readiness to dilute its stockpile of highly enriched uranium as part of a final deal.
