U.S.-Iran accord hits early snag after Swiss talks fail to proceed as planned

Livestream Menu Swiss-hosted follow-up talks were canceled, highlighting uncertainty around the accord. Analysts said the agreement was only the first step toward a broader settlement. "This is a really bad deal," according to David Roche, a strategist at Quantum Strategy. A newspaper featuring the headline story on indirect negotiations between Iran and the United States in Muscat, Oman, is displayed at a newsstand in Tehran, Iran, on April 12, 2025. Fatemeh Bahrami | Anadolu | News that the U. S. and Iran had reached an interim deal may have brought some initial relief to markets, but fresh uncertainty emerged on Friday after planned follow-up talks in Switzerland were called off, underscoring the challenges of turning the agreement into a lasting peace settlement. Switzerland's foreign ministry reportedly said U. S.-Iran talks scheduled to take place at Bürgenstock on Friday would not proceed as planned. The White House also said that Vice President JD Vance was no longer traveling to Switzerland, citing unresolved logistical issues surrounding the negotiations. "The plans for the upcoming technical talks have not been finalized, and the U. S. delegation has been prepared to depart at the first available opportunity," a White House spokesperson said. "But the logistics of these negotiations have never been simple or predictable." The developments came a day after President Donald Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at developing a permanent peace deal to end the months-long conflict. Analysts cautioned that the agreement represented only an initial step toward a broader settlement. "While an important breakthrough, this agreement marks really the beginning rather than the end of the process to try to end the war and address Iran's nuclear capabilities," UBS said in a report. Several "sticky points" still need to be resolved, such as Israel's campaign in Lebanon, Adel Abdel Ghafar, a senior fellow of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, told CNBC's "The China Connection." "Otherwise, there is a scenario we potentially may go back to a conflict, although both sides at this stage want to avoid that," he said. Despite lingering uncertainty, the agreement has helped ease disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz, where shipping had been affected both U. Navy's blockade of Iran's ports and coastal areas under Trump's direction. The easing of shipping disruptions could benefit economies that rely heavily on imported oil, as lower oil prices may help contain inflation and reduce pressure on central banks to raise interest rates, David Roche, a strategist at Quantum Strategy told CNBC's "Squawk Box Asia". "Beyond that, this is a really bad deal," Roche said, noting that it puts the Iranians in a stronger position in the Gulf and limits external interference in the country's domestic affairs. "Iran is going to make the Middle East very unstable, that's bad in the long term," Roche said.