US-Iran peace talks in Geneva called off, clouding prospects for lasting truce

[WASHINGTON/DUBAI] Switzerland said US talks with Iranian negotiators on a pact to end the Middle East conflict would not take place on Friday (Jun 19), as US Vice-President JD Vance dropped plans to travel to Geneva, adding to uncertainty whether a lasting truce can be found.

“The logistics of these negotiations have never been simple or predictable,” the White House spokesperson said in a statement on Thursday night. Vance and the US delegation had been ready to depart as soon as plans were finalised.

The talks, set for the mountain-top resort of Burgenstock, would not take place, Switzerland’s foreign ministry confirmed, but gave no details.

There was no immediate response from Iran, which had earlier 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 Geneva, the semi-official Tasnim news agency said before Vance’s Thursday announcement.

US officials had also said they would hold a formal signing ceremony for the US-Iran agreement 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 Feb 28 with US and Israel air attacks on Iran, has killed at least 7,000 people, sent energy prices soaring and shaken global markets.

Israel continues fight

Israel, left out of the peace talks, has distanced itself from the US-Iran accord and kept up fighting against the Iranian-allied Hizbollah militant group in Lebanon, also raising questions about whether the agreement would hold.

In Washington, some of US President Donald Trump’s Republican allies in Congress questioned whether he had conceded too much in order to end the conflict, unpopular with most Americans in the run-up to mid-term elections in November.

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Trump had sworn to end the war only with Iran’s “UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER.”

But the memorandum signed with Iran instead provides relief from economic sanctions, unfreezes assets worth tens of billions of dollars and immediate US waivers for its exports of oil.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei said Trump had signed the deal “out of desperation” and signalled that upcoming talks over Iran’s nuclear programme, among Trump’s stated reasons for starting the war, would not be easy.

“If the American side wants to be too demanding, we will not accept it,” he said in a message.

The deal gives negotiators 60 days to reach agreement on the status of Iran’s nuclear programme unless both sides agree to an extension, and set up a US$300 billion reconstruction fund for Iran and other financial incentives.

Vance said Washington would also seek to limit Iran’s long-range missiles.

The growing cost of the war also drew the spotlight, as the US defence department told lawmakers it needed US$80 billion to cover the costs and some unrelated bills, the Wall Street Journal said.

When the US and Israel launched the war nearly four months ago, Trump said he aimed to destroy Iran’s nuclear capabilities to ensure it could never develop such weapons. He also sought to end Teheran’s ability to strike its neighbours, prevent it from backing allied anti-Israel militants in the region and make it possible for Iranians to topple their theocratic government.

None of those objectives had been met when Trump signed the agreement, in which Iran restated its decades-long assertion not get or develop nuclear weapons, a position doubted by a succession of US presidents.

It also agreed to the onsite “down blending” of its highly enriched uranium stockpile and inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency as a Non-Proliferation Treaty member, rejecting Trump’s wish to remove the material from the country.

US officials say the negotiations could still yield a strong agreement on Iran’s nuclear programme, aiming to exceed one from 2015 between Iran and the US and other countries that Trump tore up in his first term.

But critics say Iran is in a stronger position now, having withstood a superpower attack, exerted control of the Strait of Hormuz and gained valuable waivers to financial sanctions.

Iran has said it will still exert control over Hormuz in partnership with its neighbour Oman across the strait and intends to charge ships fees for services that did not exist before the war, although it says no fees will be charged during the 60-day talks.

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

In Lebanon, where more than a million people have been displaced by the fighting, fresh Israeli strikes on Friday killed at least 15, the state news agency NNA said, in attacks Israel said were directed at Hizbollah targets.

That raised doubt about how far Trump will go to force his wartime ally to halt an offensive he has now pledged to end.

The deal calls for the “permanent termination” of the war in Lebanon and for the country’s “territorial integrity and sovereignty” to be ensured.

Trump has become openly critical of Israel’s operations in Lebanon, leading to one of the biggest rifts between the two countries in decades. REUTERS