“An emergency session to address the conflict” between Israel and Iranian proxy terrorist group Hezbollah has been scheduled for the first day of peace talks between the United States and Iran on Sunday in Switzerland, according to a report released Saturday night.
Vice President JD Vance left Joint Base Andrews Saturday afternoon to join U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner as part of the delegation set to negotiate with Iranian officials. The timing of his departure had been “in flux” earlier in the day after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced it had closed the Strait of Hormuz following an exchange of fire between Israel and Hezbollah, one day after the nations renewed a ceasefire.
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This “issue will be the first session when the U.S. and Iranian delegations begin their negotiations,” CBS News’s Margaret Brennan later reported Saturday night, offering a glimpse into what the opening round of negotiations may look like.
“A diplomat attending the talks in Switzerland tells me that an emergency session on a Hezbollah-Israel ceasefire has been added to the schedule for the first session,” Brennan said on X.
Vance said Iran’s nuclear program and the Israel-Hezbollah conflict were the two negotiating points he was most focused on before boarding the flight to Switzerland.
Iranian officials have said halting the fighting in Lebanon is key to successful peace talks, though the Iran-backed Hezbollah has committed “repeated & blatant ceasefire violations,” Israel Defense Forces said Friday.
VANCE: IRAN’S NUCLEAR PROGRAM AND HEZBOLLAH CEASEFIRE MAIN FOCUS OF SWITZERLAND TRIP
Neither Israel, Lebanon, nor Hezbollah are party to the peace talks beginning Sunday.
Qatari and Pakistani mediators have arrived in Switzerland, as has the Iranian delegation.
