US disputes Iran's claims on closing Hormuz
ZURICH/DUBAI/WASHINGTON, - Negotiators from the United States and Iran were set to start peace talks in Switzerland on Sunday, even as U.S. officials disputed Iranian
ZURICH/DUBAI/WASHINGTON, - Negotiators from the United States and Iran were set to start peace talks in Switzerland on Sunday, even as U.S. officials disputed Iranian claims about closing the key Strait of Hormuz.A high-level Iranian team arrived in Switzerland for peace talks with the U.S., Iranian state media reported, as U.S. Vice President JD Vance departed Washington for meetings that Pakistan said will begin on Sunday.Also read: US VP JD Vance departs Washington for Iran deal talks in SwitzerlandAlthough the U.S. and Iran had agreed to a 60-day ceasefire while negotiations take place, Tehran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on Saturday declared the Strait of Hormuz shut, though the U.S. military said commercial vessels had continued operating in the waterway.Those developments could complicate talks in which both sides seek to advance an interim deal brokered by Pakistan and signed on Wednesday by U.S. President Donald Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian to end their almost four-month war.Pointing to what it called Israeli "crimes" in Lebanon that violated U.S. commitments to a ceasefire, the IRGC warned ships would be at risk if they approached the Strait, a vital conduit for global oil and gas supplies. But U.S. Central Command said 55 merchant ships transited the strait on Saturday with more than 17 million barrels of oil for global markets.U.S. forces will ensure commercial traffic continues, Central Command added.Trump in a social media post on Saturday wrote that no toll will be charged for passage through the Strait during or after the 60-day ceasefire - unless the U.S. imposes one should peace talks fail.Trump left open the possibility of a Hormuz toll levied by the United States "for services rendered as the Guardian Angel to the countries of the Middle East" if a peace deal is not completed.Mohammad Mokhber, an adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, accused the U.S. on X of failing to implement the first clause of its 14-point interim deal with Iran, which includes a ceasefire "on all fronts," including Lebanon.He said that, as long as the agreement was only on paper, the flow of Middle East energy would remain halted.The Lebanon truce appeared fragile as Israeli forces and the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah attacked each other.Also read: Trump threatens to charge US tolls in Strait of Hormuz if final Iran deal not reached in 60 daysMOMENTUM BUILDS FOR U.S.-IRAN TALKS IN SWITZERLANDThe Iranian delegation was led by chief negotiator Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf and included Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi as well as senior security, central bank and oil officials, Iranian media said.
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