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U.S. Vice President JD Vance arrived in Switzerland early Sunday for what he has said would likely be a day or two of talks with Iranian officials, aimed at building out the fragile interim deal ending the war between the United States, Israel, and Iran.
Vance and his wife, second lady Usha Vance, landed at Emmen Air Base near Lucerne shortly before 6 a.m. local time (0359 GMT), according to a vice presidential spokesperson.
The talks, expected to begin Sunday at the Burgenstock resort near Lucerne, mark the first round of direct negotiations between the United States and Iran since the April summit in Islamabad and are intended to launch 60 days of nuclear negotiations under the framework signed last week.
"I think we're going to hopefully make progress on the nuclear issue, make progress on the Lebanon ceasefire issue. Those are the two big things that I think we're going to be focused on," Vance told reporters Saturday before departing Washington.
He added: "Looking forward to starting the technical talks with the Iranians, the Pakistanis, and the Qataris."
The Iranian negotiating team arrived in Zurich on Saturday, according to state broadcaster IRIB.
The delegation is led by Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the speaker of Iran's Parliament. Also, it includes Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, Deputy Secretary of the National Security Council Ali Bagheri, and Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei.
White House envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner arrived in Switzerland on Saturday morning, ahead of Vance.
The prime ministers of Pakistan and Qatar, along with Pakistan's army chief, are also in Switzerland to serve as mediators. Pakistan's foreign ministry confirmed early Sunday that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and army chief Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir had departed for Switzerland, joined by a Qatari delegation.
The director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is also expected to participate.
The negotiations are moving forward despite Iran's announcement Saturday that it was closing the Strait of Hormuz in response to what it called Israeli ceasefire violations in Lebanon, as well as heavy fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in the days leading up to the talks.
Vance had originally been scheduled to arrive in Switzerland on Friday, but his departure was delayed after fighting escalated in Lebanon and Iranian officials initially canceled plans to attend.
Speaking before his departure, Vance characterized the Lebanon situation as "improving."
"Despite the headlines, things are actually getting better there, and things are slowing down a little bit," he said.
"It's going to be something we're just going to have to continuously manage to ensure that Israel and Lebanon are both safe and secure," he added, noting that Secretary of State Marco Rubio is leading de-escalation efforts on that front.
Israel and Hezbollah announced Saturday, ahead of the talks, that they had recommitted to the ceasefire, a development Vance acknowledged could still unravel, noting that a similar ceasefire had collapsed within hours on Friday.
Vance said the first round of talks is intended to focus on "getting the actual structure and negotiation in place," with working-level talks among technical experts expected to continue in Switzerland after the high-level session concludes.
He said he personally will remain in the country for "a day or two," while technical teams will stay on afterward.
According to two regional sources speaking to Axios with direct knowledge of the matter, the United States would like the first round to conclude with an Iranian invitation for United Nations inspectors to visit nuclear sites bombed by the U.S. and Israel; the last such inspection took place before the previous war, in June 2025.
"In exchange, the U.S. is willing to give Iran access to some of its frozen funds, starting with a $6 billion account held in Qatar, which Iran could use to purchase humanitarian goods," the sources said.
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