US-Iran talks planned for Switzerland 'postponed'

Updated / Friday, Security measures are in place in the Swiss town of Burgenstock where the formal signing ceremony was to be held Switzerland has announced that planned talks on implementing a US-Iran memorandum of understanding to end the Middle East war had been postponed, hours after US Vice President JD Vance's trip was cancelled. "The planned talks between the US, Iran, Qatar and Pakistan have been postponed," the Swiss foreign ministry said. "Switzerland remains ready to facilitate these talks. The relevant preparatory work at Burgenstock is continuing," it added, without providing a new date for the talks. The White House said that Mr Vance pulled out of the planned trip to meet Iranian negotiators in Switzerland, to begin complex talks on implementing the 14-point agreement struck between Tehran and Washington to end the. US officials said this week they would hold a formal signing ceremony in Geneva, but Iran's foreign ministry cast doubt on that, saying it was unnecessary after both countries' presidents signed the agreement on Wednesday. Iran had said it was ready to begin technical talks after a tenuous ceasefire was extended 60 days with the accord. Mr Vance and the US delegation had been ready to depart as soon as plans for the talks had been finalised, the White House spokesperson said in a statement. "But the logistics of these negotiations have never been simple or predictable," the statement said. JD Vance had been set to travel to Switzerland The diplomatic back-and-forth over the planned ceremony and photo-op adds to the uncertainty over whether a lasting truce can be found to a regional war that has killed at least 7,000 people, sent energy prices soaring and shaken global ‌markets. Israel continues strikes against Hezbollah Israel, which was not included in the peace talks ⁠and has distanced itself from the US-Iran accord, continued its fighting against the Iranian-allied Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon, also raising questions about whether the agreement would hold. In Washington, some of Mr Trump's Republican allies in Congress questioned whether he had given up too much in order to end the conflict, which is unpopular with most Americans. Mr Trump previously wrote he would only end the war with Iran's "UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER," but the memorandum he signed with Iran instead provides relief from economic sanctions, unfreezes assets worth tens of billions of dollars and immediately provides US waivers for Iran to export its oil. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei said Mr Trump had signed the deal "out of desperation" and signalled that upcoming talks over Iran's nuclear programme, among Mr 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 written message.