THE MIND OF THE PEOPLE – Iran declared ‘progress’ after the first day of talks between top officials from Washington and Tehran in Switzerland, although the opening of talks was marred by tensions due to Donald Trump’s threat to restart attacks.
Quoting The Guardian, a joint statement from Qatar and Pakistan mediators said the US and Iran agreed on a road map towards a final agreement within 60 days.
Technical talks between lower-level officials will continue throughout the rest of the week, with fighting between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon at the top of the agenda.
“Pakistan and Qatar’s mediation has resulted in major progress towards ending the Lebanon war,” said Iraqi Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, after talks ended between Washington and Tehran.
The joint statement said the US and Iran agreed to establish a ‘communication line’ to avoid incidents in the Strait of Hormuz, as well as establishing a ‘de-conflict cell’ with the Lebanese government to ensure ‘compliance with the cessation of military operations in Lebanon’.
Araghchi said the first real test of the understanding reached would be de-conflict methods for Lebanon, which emerged as the biggest threat to the agreement the US and Iran signed last week.
Negotiations were disrupted on the first day. Over the weekend, Iran said it had renewed its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz in protest at Israel’s continued attacks on Lebanon, saying Trump was allowing Israel to violate the deal.
The Memorandum of Understanding or MoU called for a ceasefire on all fronts, but Israel killed more than 30 people in attacks on Saturday in central and southern Lebanon.
The US number one responded strongly to the threat of a blockade on Sunday by writing, “You close it and you won’t have a country. You won’t even be able to go back to your country.”
Trump also wrote on social media that Tehran must immediately stop its well-paid proxies in Lebanon from causing trouble, or Washington will hit Iran very hard again.
On the other hand, Iranian state media said the talks had been paused after ‘the publication of an insulting message from the US President’. The Tehran delegation then met with Qatari mediators and left the negotiation site.
However, a senior diplomat from Uncle Sam’s country is claimed to have told the Associated Press (AP) that the Persian Land party remains at the location and negotiations are still ongoing.***
