US-Iran peace talks postponed, clouding prospects for lasting truce

WASHINGTON: Switzerland said US talks with Iranian negotiators on a pact to end the Middle East conflict would not take place on Friday, while Vice President JD Vance dropped plans to travel there, fuelling uncertainty whether a lasting truce can be found.

“The logistics of these negotiations have never been simple or predictable,” a White House spokesperson said in a statement on Thursday.

Vance and the US delegation had been ready to depart for the talks, set for the Swiss mountaintop resort of Burgenstock, as soon as plans were finalised.

A Swiss foreign ministry statement said the talks had been postponed. Switzerland remains ready to facilitate these talks and the relevant preparatory work at Burgenstock is continuing, the statement added.

There was no immediate response from Iran, which had said it was ready to begin technical talks after Wednesday’s 14-point accord extended a tenuous ceasefire by at least 60 days.

Iran’s negotiators first needed to see signs of the US implementing the interim deal, and there was no confirmation its delegation would travel to Switzerland, the semi-official Tasnim news agency said before Thursday’s US announcement.

US officials had also said they would hold a formal signing ceremony for the deal in Switzerland, but Iran’s foreign ministry had cast doubt on the plan, calling it unnecessary after both countries’ presidents signed the pact.

The war, which began on February 28 with US and Israel air attacks on Iran, has killed at least 7,000 people, sent energy prices soaring and shaken global markets.

Meanwhile, oil prices dipped on Friday as prospects brightened for more supply after tankers began moving through the reopening Strait of Hormuz, which had carried nearly a fifth of global crude oil and liquefied natural gas supplies before the war.