High-level negotiations in Switzerland seeking a permanent end to the Iran war have ended, mediators said early on Monday, while technical talks will go on there for the rest of the week.
Pakistan and Qatar, the two mediators there, issued a statement making the announcement. The US did not immediately acknowledge it. Iran, through foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei speaking to the state-run IRNA news agency, said “good progress was made.”
The talks mark the start of diplomacy in a 60-day process seeking to reach a permanent deal over the Iran war. But fighting between Israel and the Iranian-back militia Hezbollah in Lebanon continues to threaten the diplomacy.
Meanwhile, Iran insisted it had again shut the Strait of Hormuz over the weekend, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf crucial to energy shipments. The US said traffic continued.
According to Fox News, US President Donald Trump earlier threatened Iranian officials if the straits were closed again.
“You won’t even make it back to your f—ing country,” Trump reportedly said. “We may take over the Strait, if we have to. I’ll blow the shit out of them.”
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