U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf are leading their respective delegations at a mountaintop resort in Bürgenstock, Switzerland, for what the Swiss foreign ministry describes as technical negotiations to flesh out a permanent peace agreement. The talks, originally scheduled as a signing ceremony, were recast after the two presidents digitally endorsed a memorandum of understanding on 18 June, mediated by Pakistan and Qatar. A Swiss statement confirmed that Pakistani and Qatari intermediaries are also present.

From the Iranian perspective, the delegation’s aircraft bearing the hashtag #minab168 serves as a reminder of the 168 schoolchildren killed in a U.S. airstrike on Minab at the war’s outset, an incident the Pentagon has not publicly acknowledged. Ghalibaf posted that the innocent children ‘see us and have expectations of us.’ Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei stressed that final negotiations remain conditional on U.S. implementation of five unspecified provisions in the MoU, and that the deal’s durability ‘depends entirely on the other side’s conduct.’ American officials have signalled that progress on Iran’s nuclear programme and a ceasefire in Lebanon are priority issues.

The Islamabad memorandum sets a 60-day window, extendable by mutual consent, to define a comprehensive settlement that would permanently end a war that, according to regional authorities, has killed thousands in Iran and Lebanon. It commits Iran to ensuring safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical chokepoint whose effective closure by Tehran sent global oil and gas prices soaring. Yet even as delegations convened, Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon reportedly killed at least 16 people, and Hezbollah accused Israel of ceasefire violations. Neither Israel nor Hezbollah is party to the U.S.-Iran framework, and a last-minute crisis session on Lebanon was added to the Bürgenstock agenda, according to a diplomat cited by CBS News.

Viewed from Washington, the memorandum has drawn bipartisan scepticism in Congress, where lawmakers have panned the agreement’s ambiguity. Analysts in European capitals note that the Swiss venue, a traditional channel for U.S.-Iran backchannels, underscores the tentative nature of the process. The talks are expected to conclude after a single day of two rounds: first with mediators, then a four-way meeting including American representatives. The results will be closely watched for any concrete mechanisms to halt violence on multiple fronts and stabilise energy markets.