ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Iranian delegation on Sunday walked out of the Swiss venue hosting negotiations with the United States after President Donald Trump threatened military action against Tehran over its support for Hezbollah, though a diplomat familiar with the talks confirmed their continued engagement.
"The delegation of the Islamic Republic of Iran left the negotiation venue after a meeting with the Qatari delegation, which is serving as one of the mediating parties," noted Iran state media, after "simultaneously with the start of the talks in Switzerland, US President Donald Trump repeated his rhetoric and threats against Iran in a post on the social network X.”
A diplomat with knowledge of the negotiations disputed that Tehran had abandoned the talks.
"The Iranian delegation remains engaged in the talks and has not indicated to the mediators any intention to leave," the diplomat told AFP on condition of anonymity.
The negotiations come amid efforts to secure a final agreement to end the Iran-US war since the April 11 Pakistan-brokered ceasefire, which aims to halt the attacks between the US, Israel and Iran that erupted in late February.
US President Donad Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Sunday that Iran "must immediately stop their highly paid PROXIES in Lebanon from causing trouble," warning that if they don’t, the US would strike "harder" than before.
Tehran’s parliament speaker and chief negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, responded to Trump’s threatening message: "Do they not think to themselves that if their threats were effective, they would not have reached today’s state of desperation? We do not give any weight to American threats."
Iranian state television reported that the country's nuclear program was not discussed during the "80-minute first round of talks," claiming that discussions focused instead on implementing the memorandum of understanding reached this week between Tehran and Washington, as well as the situation in Lebanon.
