US Vice President JD Vance arrives in Switzerland to launch talks with Iran on its nuclear program

Vance and Iranian officials arrive in Switzerland to launch talks on Tehran’s nuclear program 0 seconds of 31 secondsVolume 0% Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts Keyboard ShortcutsEnabledDisabled Shortcuts Open/Close/ or ? Play/PauseSPACE Increase Volume↑ Decrease Volume↓ Seek Forward→ Seek Backward← Captions On/Offc Fullscreen/Exit Fullscreenf Mute/Unmutem Decrease Caption Size- Increase Caption Size+ or = Seek %0-9 00:00 00:31 00:31 More Videos 01:02 Vance defends unwritten ‘gentlemen’s agreements’ with Iran 01:25 Trump says Iran deal will 'fully open' Strait of Hormuz 'toll-free' by Friday 01:23 Expert says a finalized US-Iran deal to open Strait of Hormuz could lower gas prices 01:50 Vance touts Trump's Iran deal as a 'win' that's 'already bearing real fruits' 00:48 Iranians in Tehran react to signing of initial agreement with US 01:32 Trump unveils new Air Force One, says ships are 'pouring out' Strait of Hormuz 00:54 Trump says he 'might' stay in Europe for Iran deal signing, quips Vance gets the blame if it fails 00:32 'This was not easy I can tell you': Trump signs Iran agreement during dinner in Versailles Close 1 of 8 | U.S. and Iranian negotiators headed to a Swiss venue Saturday for talks on adding key details to their interim agreement to halt the war, hours after Tehran said it closed the Strait of Hormuz because of Israel’s attacks in Lebanon and warned that little might be achieved if the fighting doesn’t stop. More Videos 0 seconds of 12 secondsVolume 90% Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts Keyboard ShortcutsEnabledDisabled Shortcuts Open/Close/ or ? Play/PauseSPACE Increase Volume↑ Decrease Volume↓ Seek Forward→ Seek Backward← Captions On/Offc Fullscreen/Exit Fullscreenf Mute/Unmutem Decrease Caption Size- Increase Caption Size+ or = Seek %0-9 Next Up Pakistan's delegation arrives in Obbuergen for high-level talks between the United States and Iran 00:24 00:00 00:12 00:12 More Videos Close 2 of 8 | Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir left Islamabad and arrived in Zurich on early Sunday morning to participate in high-level talks between the United States and Iran on the implementation of the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding being held in Switzerland. More Videos 0 seconds of 24 secondsVolume 90% Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts Keyboard ShortcutsEnabledDisabled Shortcuts Open/Close/ or ? Play/PauseSPACE Increase Volume↑ Decrease Volume↓ Seek Forward→ Seek Backward← Captions On/Offc Fullscreen/Exit Fullscreenf Mute/Unmutem Decrease Caption Size- Increase Caption Size+ or = Seek %0-9 Next Up Trump arrives at G7 summit after announcing US-Iran deal 01:12 Auto1080p720p540p360p270p180p 00:00 00:24 00:24 More Videos Close 3 of 8 | Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his delegation arrived in Switzerland on Sunday to participate in high-level talks between the United States and Iran on the implementation of the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding being held in Switzerland. 4 of 8 | U.S. Vice President JD Vance, right, meets with Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, during high-level talks aimed at advancing a deal to end the Middle East conflict, at the Bürgenstock Resort in Obbuergen, near Lucerne, in Switzerland, Sunday, June 21, 2026. (Nathan Howard/Pool Photo via AP) 5 of 8 | A convoy with U.S. Vice President JD Vance arrives at the Bürgenstock Resort in Obbuergen, near Lucerne, in Switzerland Sunday, June 21, 2026. (Urs Flueeler/Keystone, Pool Photo via AP) 6 of 8 | Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, left, and Switzerland’s Foreign Minister Federal councillor Ignazio Cassis, right, shake hands at bilateral discussions at the Buergenstock resort in Obbuergen, near Lucerne, Switzerland, Sunday, June 21, 2026. (Urs Flueeler/Keystone via AP) 7 of 8 | A convoy with U.S. Vice President JD Vance arrives at the Bürgenstock Resort in Obbuergen, near Lucerne, in Switzerland Sunday, June 21, 2026. (Urs Flueeler/Keystone, Pool Photo via AP) 8 of 8 | U.S. Vice President JD Vance, left, reacts next to U.S. President Donald Trump’s envoys Steve Witkoff, second right, and Jared Kushner, right, while waiting to meet with Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for high-level talks aimed at advancing a deal to end the Middle East conflict, at the Bürgenstock Resort in Obbuergen, near Lucerne, in Switzerland, Sunday, June 21, 2026. (Nathan Howard/Pool Photo via AP) By AAMER MADHANI, SEUNG MIN KIM, JAMEY KEATEN and AMIR VAHDAT Updated 12:09 PM MESZ, June 21, 2026 Leer en español Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit OBBUERGEN, Switzerland (AP) — U.S. Vice President JD Vance and senior Iranian officials arrived in Switzerland on Sunday to formally launch negotiations over Tehran’s nuclear program and build out the fragile interim deal to end the war in Iran. The framework was signed last week, and now top U.S. and Iranian negotiators are in a 60-day sprint to reach an agreement on the technical details that hold massive implications for the world economy and global security. Iran dealt two quick blows to the interim agreement with the United States on Saturday, angered by Israel’s continued attacks in Lebanon, saying it had closed the Strait of Hormuz and announcing that while its negotiators were going to Switzerland for talks, not much is likely to happen there. Yet only days after signing the agreement, it’s being stress-tested after fighting escalated in Lebanon between Israel and the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah — and by the subsequent announcement by Iran’s military that it had closed the Strait of Hormuz, the vital waterway that transits a fifth of the world’s traded oil and natural gas. Separate meetings kick off first A convoy with U.S. Vice President JD Vance arrives at the Bürgenstock Resort in Obbuergen, near Lucerne, in Switzerland Sunday, June 21, 2026. (Urs Flueeler/Keystone, Pool Photo via AP) Iranian Foreign Minister Seyyed Abbas Araghchi, center, arrives at the Buergenstock resort in Obbuergen, near Lucerne, Switzerland, early Sunday, June 21, 2026. (Urs Flueeler/Keystone, Pool via AP) Vance first sat down for talks with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Staff Field Marshall Asim Munir, who has served as a key intermediary between the United States and Iran throughout the conflict. The Latest: Vance and Iranian negotiators are in Switzerland to work on details of deal 3 MIN READ Trump deepens the dustup with Italy’s Meloni, who says his ‘unprovoked attacks are senseless’ 3 MIN READ 459 Congress wonders as the Iran war draws to a close: Was it worth it? 4 MIN READ 249 “What’s up man! Good to see you,” Vance said to Munir, who serves as his country’s Army chief, after delegations from the U.S. and Iran, as well as mediators Pakistan and Qatar, arrived at the picturesque mountainside resort near Lake Lucerne on Sunday morning. Iran’s main focus during negotiations on Sunday will be the ongoing war between Israel and Lebanon, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei told Iran’s state news agency on Sunday. Air Force Two, with Vice President JD Vance and second lady Usha Vance on board, departs Joint Base Andrews, Md., Saturday, June 20, 2026, en route to Switzerland. (Elizabeth Frantz/Pool Photo via AP) A convoy with U.S. Vice President JD Vance arrives at the Bürgenstock Resort in Obbuergen, near Lucerne, in Switzerland Sunday, June 21, 2026. (Urs Flueeler/Keystone, Pool Photo via AP) Iran is insisting that the deal’s implementation start with the part of the deal that calls for a cessation of all wars, including between Israel and Hezbollah. Baghaei said the U.S. “has been unable or unwilling” to hold Israel to the ceasefire. Iranian officials were to hold their own meetings with Pakistani and Qatari mediators before a planned four-way meeting including the U.S. negotiating team. Iran is cautiously approaching the negotiations given its previous experience with the U.S. negotiations on the nuclear issue, which twice in the past year have been interrupted by massive strikes against the country. “The implementation of any document is more important than its signing,” Baghaei said Sunday. But Iran’s president added that Iran will maintain its right to a nuclear program. “What is certain is that we will never back down from the right to enrich uranium, and the other side is also forced to accept it,” Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Sunday, according to Iran’s state media. Vance had originally been slated to be on the ground at the picturesque Bürgenstock resort near Lucerne on Friday, but his departure from the United States was delayed after fighting escalated in Lebanon and Iranian officials canceled plans to attend the talks. U.S. Central Command disputed Iran’s claim that it had once again shuttered the strait and said U.S. forces continued to monitor the situation to ensure traffic continues to flow through the waterway. Vance has said that millions of barrels of oil have moved through the strait in recent days. Vance departed the U.S. just after Iranian state TV said Iran’s negotiators had arrived in Switzerland. Tehran’s negotiators include parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, along with central bank and oil officials. The vice president by special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, for Sunday’s talks. Witkoff and Kushner were the ground in Switzerland ahead of Vance to begin sifting through the technical details of the nuclear talks. Vance and his wife, second lady Usha Vance, arrived at Emmen Air Base outside Lucerne just before 6 a.m. local time, according to his office. While Vance said he planned to be in Switzerland for just “a day or two,” leaving much of the detailed negotiations to be spearheaded by Witkoff and Kushner, his role in the talks has heightened scrutiny of the vice president at a time when he’s actively considering a 2028 presidential campaign. Trump and Vance have come under searing criticism from parts of their own party for the deal, with Republican hard-liners unfavorably likening it to a nuclear agreement signed by the Obama administration that Trump and the GOP have insisted did nothing to actually terminate Iran’s nuclear program. The agreement signed by Trump and Iranian President Pezeshkian immediately allows Tehran to sell its oil freely and paves the way for Iran to tap into billions of dollars in assets that are currently frozen. It also calls for Iran to dilute its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, believed to be buried under nuclear sites that were targeted in U.S. strikes last summer. The agreement says commercial vessels can pass through the Strait of Hormuz for 60 days without a charge, but does not preclude future fees imposed by Iran. Trump made his own threat on Saturday to levy U.S. tolls on the strait if there is no deal with Iran in 60 days, insisting in a social media post that the money would be for “services rendered as the Guardian Angel to the countries of the Middle East.” The Trump administration has been working to reassure global markets that the Iran war has been merely a blip on oil prices, as Americans have complained the conflict resulted in hiking gasoline prices ahead of peak summer travel months. After the White House announced the deal a week ago, oil futures dropped almost 8% — and markets are expected to closely track the progress of talks when they open for trading on Sunday evening. Further complicating matters, neither Israel nor Hezbollah is a signatory to the deal between the U.S. and Iran, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to keep his forces in southern Lebanon until any threat to Israel is eliminated. Hezbollah has refused to halt its attacks unless Israel commits to withdrawing from Lebanon. Fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in the initial days after the agreement between the U.S. and Iran killed 47 people in Lebanon, as well as four Israeli soldiers. Kim reported from Washington. Associated Press Munir Ahmed in Islamabad contributed to this report. AAMER MADHANI Madhani is a White House reporter for the Associated Press whose reporting focuses on U.S. foreign policy. Contact him securely on Signal at aamermadhani.39 twitter mailto SEUNG MIN KIM Kim covers the White House for The Associated Press. She joined the AP in 2022 and is based in Washington. Kim is also a political analyst for CNN. twitter mailto JAMEY KEATEN Keaten is the chief Associated Press reporter in Geneva. He previously was posted in Paris and has reported from Afghanistan, the Middle East, North Africa and across Europe. twitter