US-Iran war highlights: Top-level negotiations come to an end in Switzerland, technical talks to continue

Iran's chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf warned the United States on Sunday against making threats at the Islamic republic, vowing that "our armed forces are ready to respond".

"Don't they think that if their threats had any effect, they would not have reached today's state of desperation? We do not take American threats into account," said Ghalibaf, after US President Donald Trump threatened to strike Iran over its support for Hezbollah.

"They would do better to be careful with their statements; our armed forces are ready to respond to them in a different manner. No matter what they say, we are the ones who act."

Earlier Sunday, Trump had posted on his Truth Social platform: "Iran must immediately stop their highly paid PROXIES in Lebanon from causing trouble."

"If they don't, we'll hit Iran very hard again, just like we did last week, only harder!!!" he added.

US Republican Senator Lindsey Graham says that Trump plans to seize control of the Strait of Hormuz and impose tolls if diplomatic efforts with Iran fail.

In an interview on CBS, he said he had spent four and a half hours with Trump on Friday and outlined what he described as the administration’s fallback strategy.

“If this deal fails, President Trump is going to take the Strait of Hormuz over by force,” Graham said. “The United States will control the Strait of Hormuz, we’ll charge a fee for all those who go through to pay for the operation.”

US-Iran war LIVE updates: French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot will meet Qatar's Prime Minister on Monday in Switzerland, where the United States and Iran are currently engaged in negotiations, the French Foreign Ministry said on Sunday.

The meeting comes as diplomatic efforts intensify around the ongoing US-Iran talks being held in the European country.

US-Iran war LIVE updates: More than 25 million barrels of Iranian oil have crossed the "virtual blockade line" since Monday, Hamid Bovard, head of the Iranian National Oil Company (NIOC), told state television on Sunday.

Bovard said the volume of crude had passed through the virtual blockade line over the past week, according to Iranian state TV.

US-Iran war LIVE updates: Iran's delegation has lodged a protest with the US side and is weighing its options following threats made by US President Donald Trump, Iran's Press TV reported on Sunday.

According to the state-affiliated broadcaster, the Iranian negotiating team formally conveyed its protest to the American side and is now considering its next course of action in response to Trump's remarks.

US-Iran war LIVE updates: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday said Israeli forces would remain in southern Lebanon "for as long as necessary" to safeguard communities in northern Israel, while reiterating that he would not allow Iran to acquire nuclear weapons.

"We will remain in the security zone in southern Lebanon for as long as necessary to protect the cherished residents of the north and all the citizens of Israel," Netanyahu said, adding that nothing would alter that commitment.

Addressing Iran, Netanyahu said that regardless of any political developments, he would prevent Tehran from obtaining nuclear weapons.

"Whatever political developments may unfold, I will not allow Iran to acquire nuclear weapons. As long as I serve as prime minister of Israel, that will not happen," he said.

US-Iran war LIVE updates: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said troops would remain deployed in southern Lebanon for "as long as necessary", signalling that Israel has no immediate plans to withdraw its forces from the area.

US-Iran war LIVE updates: The first round of talks between the United States and Iran in Switzerland concluded on Sunday.

US-Iran war LIVE updates: US and Iranian negotiators met in Switzerland on Sunday for technical-level talks on implementing their interim agreement aimed at ending the Iran war. Pakistani and Qatari mediators were also present for the discussions on resolving the conflict that the US and Israel launched in late February.

The US delegation is led by Vice President JD Vance and includes Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff. They are holding talks with Iranian negotiators headed by Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.

US-Iran war LIVE updates: “I will say that since field marshal Munir welcomed us with the prime minister in Islamabad, I have joked that I have two very very important people in my life, an Indian and a Pakistani. The Indian is my wife and the Pakistani is field marshall Munir and I've probably talked to Munir more than I've talked to anybody else over the last three months,” US Vice President JD Vance said while speaking to reporters.

US-Iran war LIVE updates: Shehbaz Sharif hopes for 'productive results' as US-Iran technical talks begin in Switzerland.

US-Iran war LIVE updates: US President Donald Trump threatened military action against Iran, warning that Washington could launch strikes if Tehran failed to stop the activities of its "proxies in Lebanon".

US-Iran war LIVE updates: Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi briefly appeared in the same room as JD Vance before the US vice president offered his remarks in front of the media, Associated Press reported.

US-Iran war LIVE updates: US Vice President JD Vance and senior Iranian officials are set to formally launch negotiations over Tehran’s nuclear program. Speaking in brief comments as the talks began, Vance said, “The question before us now is how much more can we accomplish together? Can we turn over a new leaf?"

“Can we change relations in the Middle East permanently, or do we go back to doing things the old way, which is not our preference, but is certainly very much something that can happen.”

US-Iran war LIVE updates: US Vice President JD Vance said at US-Iran talks that Mideast is at turning point where it can 'turn over a new leaf' or go back to 'old way'

US-Iran war LIVE updates: US Vice President JD Vance said technical negotiations may not resolve every disagreement between the parties, but stressed that they would allow the teams to sit together for the first time in history.

"Technical negotiations may not solve every disagreement, but it will allow us to sit together as teams for the first time in history," Vance said.

US-Iran war LIVE updates: US Vice President JD Vance held talks with Iranian officials at a Swiss resort on Sunday, but the meeting was overshadowed by Tehran's insistence that it would not discuss nuclear issues, accusing Washington of failing to stop the fighting in Lebanon and announcing that it had shut the Strait of Hormuz.

The talks were the first to be held under the memorandum of understanding agreed a week ago, which calls for the reopening of the strategic waterway and an end to all hostilities, including in Lebanon, where US ally Israel launched an invasion in March.

US-Iran war LIVE updates: Iran held discussions with the United States and Qatar on Sunday focused on the conflict in Lebanon and the release of Tehran's frozen assets, according to Iranian state media.

"A tripartite meeting involving Iran, the United States and Qatar on the subjects of a comprehensive ceasefire in Lebanon and Iran's blocked assets is currently being held at the negotiation venue," state broadcaster IRIB said in a report.

However, Qatar's foreign ministry has said that Pakistan is also participating in the talks.

US-Iran war LIVE updates: US VP JD Vance and senior Iranian officials arrived in Switzerland on Sunday to formally kick off negotiations on Tehran's nuclear programme and flesh out a fragile interim deal aimed at ending the war in Iran.

The framework agreement was signed last week, with top negotiators from both sides now entering a 60-day push to iron out technical details that could have far-reaching implications for global security and the world economy.

US-Iran war LIVE updates: Iran said it cannot move to the final stage of negotiations with the United States unless the war in Lebanon comes to an end.

US-Iran war LIVE updates: Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Sunday reiterated that Tehran was willing to provide assurances that it was not seeking to develop nuclear weapons, but insisted that the country would not give up its right to enrich uranium.

"What the United States demands is that Iran not build an atomic bomb. This is nothing new, and we can also state in writing that we have no intention of building a bomb," Pezeshkian was quoted as saying on the president's website.

"However, we will not relinquish our right to enrichment, and the other side will have no choice but to accept this right," he added.

US-Iran war LIVE updates: Hojjatoleslam Abdollah Haji Sadeghi, the chief representative of Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), said negotiations with the United States were "not the primary option" for Tehran and stressed that Iran was not entering talks out of desperation.

"We will enter negotiations with power and caution, but we are not passive," Sadeghi said in a statement posted on Telegram. He added that Iran's "primary option is the field of jihad, whether on the battlefield or in the streets", and asserted that Tehran was not concerned about the possibility of the talks failing.

"We have not gone into negotiations out of desperation or helplessness," he said.

US-Iran war LIVE updates: A quadrilateral meeting between Iran, the United States, Qatar and Pakistan will be held at the Buergenstock mountaintop ​resort in Switzerland on Sunday afternoon, Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson to Iranian state media.

Esmaeil Baghaei said that Iran would hold meetings with intermediaries Qatar and Pakistan earlier in the day.