Vice President J.D. Vance told Fox News on Saturday morning that he expects to travel to Switzerland within days to meet with Iran’s negotiating team, a day after talks were cancelled by Iran over Israel’s ongoing attacks on Lebanon, as the Iran War entered its 113th day.
“I expect that I will leave sometime in the next couple of days, but you know it’s always a delicate coordination dance and the diplomatic protocols,” Vance said. Axios reported Friday that U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi were traveling to Switzerland for negotiations.
Iran’s Fars News, citing Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei, reported that Iran’s delegation will insist the U.S. honors the terms of the memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed this week, focusing on the obligation to ensure Israel’s military campaign in Lebanon. The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah launched strikes on Israel after the U.S. and Israel stated the war against Iran in late February, and Israel has occupied southern Lebanon and launched massive airstrikes in the country, including the capital Beirut. President Donald Trump has criticized the Israeli government for civilian casualties.
Iran’s central military command released a statement on Saturday morning announcing the reclosure of the Strait of Hormuz, citing Israel’s continued bombing of Lebanon as violations of U.S. ceasefire commitments. “In view of the United States’ bad faith and its clear breach of its commitments by failing to implement the first article of the memorandum ending the war, and in response to the continuous and ongoing violation of the ceasefire by the Zionist regime in southern Lebanon… the Strait of Hormuz will be closed to the passage of vessels,” the statement said.
The first article of the MOU, signed Wednesday by Trump and Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian, conditions an end to the conflict on the “immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon” and “ensuring the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Lebanon.” The agreement is meant to kick off 60 days of negotiations toward a final agreement.
Drop Site News reported on Saturday, citing a senior Iranian official, that Iran has told mediators it is prepared to suspend the MOU signed this week and launch retaliatory strikes against Israel unless Trump forces Israel to halt its attacks on Lebanon and withdraw. Fighting has intensified after a Hezbollah strike killed four Israeli soldiers in southern Lebanon this week.
Trump declared a truce in Lebanon on Friday that broke down within an hour. Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir posted to X on Friday morning that “for every tear of an Israeli mother, a thousand Lebanese mothers must weep. All of Lebanon must burn!”
Israel killed at least 29 people in Lebanon on Saturday, following airstrikes on Friday which killed at least 83 people, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry. The death toll from Israeli attacks since March 2 reached at least 4,057 people on Saturday morning.
The Iran War has created an energy shock that sent oil and gasoline prices upward, but prices have fallen amid hopes of a resolution to the conflict. The price of Brent Crude oil has fallen below $80 per barrel since the MOU was signed, while AAA reported the national average price of regular gas Saturday at $3.95.
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