US-Iran war LIVE updates: ‘Failure of US’ to ensure Lebanon ceasefire in top focus during Switzerland talks, says Iran

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.

US-Iran war LIVE updates: Iran’s Fars news agency cited a military source as saying on Sunday that the Strait of Hormuz remains closed and the Revolutionary Guards Navy has not issued permission for any vessels to transit until further notice.

The United States and Iran had agreed to a 60-day ceasefire for peace deal negotiations, but Tehran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on Saturday declared the Strait of Hormuz shut in response to Israeli strikes in Lebanon, though the US military said commercial vessels were still operating.

US-Iran war LIVE updates: Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson said on Sunday that the US’ failure to secure a ceasefire in Lebanon would be a key issue during talks with American officials in Burgenstock, Switzerland.

Esmaeil Baghaei also said the one-day meeting was aimed at following up on the implementation of a memorandum of understanding with the US. He added that a joint afternoon session involving Iran, the United States, Qatar and Pakistan was also scheduled.

According to Baghaei, several other matters would be taken up during the discussions, including exemptions related to the sale of Iranian oil and the release of Tehran’s frozen assets.

US-Iran war LIVE: Peace negotiations led by US vice president JD Vance and Iran’s chief negotiator Mohammad Baqer Ghalibaf were scheduled to begin on Sunday morning (local time) at a resort in Switzerland.

However, differences remained over Iran’s claim that it had closed the Strait of Hormuz.

The talks, including mediators, were to start “during the course of the morning,” Switzerland’s federal department of foreign affairs said in a statement.

US-Iran war news LIVE: An Iranian delegation, headed by parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and also includes foreign minister Abbas Araghchi, landed in Switzerland late Saturday ahead of talks at the Burgenstock resort.

“We welcome the arrival of the Iranian delegation in Switzerland,” the Swiss foreign ministry said on X, adding that the talks were part of the implementation of the memorandum of understanding signed with the United States.

US-Iran war news LIVE: The agreement signed by US President Donald Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian allows Tehran to sell its oil without restrictions and opens the door for Iran to access billions of dollars in assets that are currently frozen.

It also requires Iran to dilute its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, which is believed to be stored beneath nuclear facilities targeted in US strikes last summer.

Under the agreement, commercial ships will be allowed to pass through the Strait of Hormuz without paying charges for 60 days, although it leaves room for Iran to introduce fees later.

On Saturday, Trump warned that the United States could impose its own tolls on vessels using the strait if no agreement with Iran is reached within 60 days. In a post on social media, he said the money would be used for “services rendered as the Guardian Angel to the countries of the Middle East.”

Iran war news LIVE: Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif reached Switzerland to take part in the US-Iran talks scheduled for later on Sunday, according to his office.

Sharif joins Pakistan’s army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, who had arrived earlier, Al Jazeera reported.

West Asia news LIVE: The Israeli military said on Sunday that it had “eliminated” Hussein Qadra and Mohammed Farra, who it identified as members of the armed wings of Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

According to a post by the Israeli military on X, Qadra led the network alongside Farra and operated under Hamas leadership.

The military claimed the pair helped transfer more than half a billion shekels to Hamas.

US-Iran war news LIVE: India’s crude oil imports from Russia surged in June, while shipments from the United Arab Emirates were near-record levels as refiners sought to secure supplies ahead of the full restoration of flows from Gulf producers following the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, analysts said.

India imported an average of 2.66 million barrels per day of crude oil from Russia in June, through June 19, compared to 1.91 million bpd in May, data from maritime and commodity intelligence firm Kpler showed, cementing Moscow’s position as the country’s largest oil supplier.

Imports from the United Arab Emirates stood at 6,36,000 barrels per day (bpd) in June, through June 19, marginally below the record 6,44,000 bpd imported in May, while Venezuela emerged as India’s fourth-largest crude supplier with shipments of 2,09,000 bpd, behind Saudi Arabia’s 384,000 bpd.

(Inputs from PTI)

US-Iran war news LIVE: Iran’s oil industry will be a key testing ground for any final peace agreement with the US if Western parties remain committed to its spirit, oil minister Mohsen Paknejad said on Sunday.

The ministry’s news outlet, Shana, quoted Paknejad as saying that in a post-agreement era, Iran’s oil sector would offer the global economy major investment opportunities and has hundreds of investment projects, as well as technical and operational partnership contracts ready to be signed.

US-Iran war news LIVE: Pakistan’s army chief Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, a key mediator in the process, has reached Switzerland, where he is set to take part in the technical talks between the United States and Iran being held under the ‘Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding’ framework, Al Jazeera reported.

US-Iran war news LIVE: An emergency meeting on Lebanon has been added to the talks taking place in Switzerland and will be taken up first, a diplomat familiar with the discussions told CNN on Sunday.

Before leaving for Switzerland, JD Vance said one of the key goals was to secure progress towards a ceasefire in Lebanon, which has once again faced missile attacks from Israel.

Bringing an end to the fighting in Lebanon is “the most important item on the Iranian delegation’s agenda,” an Iranian official told CNN on Saturday.

US-Iran war news LIVE: Iran coach Amir Ghalenoei said that although his team is still being treated unfairly by the host US at the World Cup through travel restrictions and visa refusals, he is optimistic FIFA will persuade the Americans to lessen some of those strictures next week.

“I am very glad that the Iranian nation is behind us,” Ghalenoei said through an interpreter.

“Our martyrs in Iran, we play for them. But I know that this kind of behavior has hurt our people. Even if we spent billions of dollars, we would not be able to have justice for our people. It just shows we are an oppressed country. But nevertheless, I hope we achieve peace, and I hope this kind of behavior does not become institutionalized in the World Cup.”

US-Iran war news LIVE: Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir are on the way to Switzerland to participate in the US-Iran talks, the government said on Saturday.

Pakistan had earlier said that the talks in Burgenstock, aimed at securing a lasting end to a conflict that has destabilised West Asia, were scheduled to start on Sunday.

US-Iran war news LIVE: US vice president JD Vance has arrived in Switzerland on Sunday to lead talks with Tehran on its nuclear programme, AP reported.

US-Iran war news LIVE: The Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah said on Saturday that Israel bore “full responsibility” for violating a ceasefire announced a day earlier, as Israeli strikes pounded Lebanon’s south and east.

Ongoing Israeli attacks “are no longer just ceasefire agreement violations but represent clear aggression and a continuation of the war in every sense. Accordingly, full responsibility lies with the Israeli occupation”, it said in a statement, adding that Israel “has never adhered to ceasefire provisions” including the recent US-Iran deal and Friday’s announcement.

US-Iran war news LIVE: Iran has resumed loading crude from its Kharg island export terminal after a break of about six weeks, following the lifting of a US Navy blockade of its ports.

Three very large crude carriers, each capable of hauling about 2 million barrels of crude, are moored at the Sea Island terminal to the west of Kharg, according to ship tracking data compiled by Bloomberg.

It’s the latest sign Iran is pushing ahead with loading and exporting millions of barrels of its crude as an interim deal with the US opens up supply lines.

US-Iran war LIVE: Israeli attacks in southern Lebanon on Saturday left at least 16 people dead, among them two children.

Lebanon’s National News Agency reported that seven people were trapped beneath the debris after strikes targeted the city of Nabatiyeh and surrounding villages.

Meanwhile, Israel said five of its soldiers had been killed in southern Lebanon over the previous 48 hours.

Lebanon’s health ministry later said that the number of people killed since the latest war between Israel and Hezbollah began had risen above 4,000.

US-Iran war LIVE: Johnny Olszewski, a Democratic lawmaker from Maryland, described US President Donald Trump’s “war of choice” as a “disaster” and said the agreement with Iran was already showing signs of unravelling.

“The dressed up ceasefire masquerading as a ‘deal’ is already falling apart,” he wrote in a post on X. “Americans deserve better.”

Another Democratic member of Congress, Pramila Jayapal, accused Republicans of reducing funding for Medicare, a US healthcare programme, in order to pay for the war with Iran.

“They are not confused about what we want. They just work for someone else,” Jayapal said.

US-Iran war LIVE: A diplomat taking part in the talks told CBS News on Saturday that an emergency session on the Israel-Hezbollah conflict had been added to the opening day of the peace negotiations in Switzerland.

According to the report, the issue will be discussed in the first session when the United States and Iranian delegations begin their talks.

Notably, Israel, Hezbollah and the Lebanese government are not participants in the negotiations. The report said that the decision to let Iran bring the Israel-Hezbollah conflict onto the agenda represents a change in the US approach.

US-Iran war news LIVE: The US military on Saturday denied Iran’s claims that it had closed the Strait of Hormuz, saying the critical waterway remained open and that US forces were monitoring the situation to ensure that continued.

“Iran does not control the Strait of Hormuz,” US Central Command spokesperson Navy Captain Tim Hawkins told Reuters. “Traffic continues to flow, and US forces are monitoring the situation to ensure this remains the case.”

US-Iran war LIVE: Iran’s foreign ministry said on Saturday that the agreement signed between Iran and the United States to halt the West Asia war will be “in trouble” unless its provisions are implemented soon.

“The other side must take the necessary measures as soon as possible. Otherwise, the entire understanding will be in trouble,” ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said, according to the official news agency IRNA.