Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Army Chief Asim Munir left for Switzerland early Sunday to participate in the first round of talks between the United States and Iran during the 60-day negotiation period.
The Prime Minister’s Office said that the talks would be held in Burgenstock, Switzerland, on Sunday.
“The Prime Minister, along with a high-level delegation, has departed from Islamabad for Switzerland,” the office released a statement shortly after midnight.
The talks will focus on adding key points to the memorandum of understanding that was signed earlier this week by the United States and Iran to put a halt to hostilities in all fronts, including Lebanon.
Pakistan, who had been a key mediator in negotiations, first broke the news of the electronic signing of the ‘Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding’ through Sharif’s X account.
Top U.S and Iranian officials, including U.S Vice President JD Vance, were set to begin the negotiations on Friday before Tehran withdraw due to military aggression in Lebanon by Israeli forces.
Associated Press news agency then reported that negotiators for the United States and Qatar, with assistance from Iran, managed to form an interim agreement between Israel and the Tehran-backed militant group Hezbollah to ease tensions. Iranian media later confirmed that its delegation would travel to Switzerland.
Currently, delegations of both the United States and Iran have arrived in Switzerland. The American delegation will be led by Vance while the Iranian delegation comprises of Parliament Speaker and top negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, and senior central bank and oil officials.
The United States would be hoping for a final agreement on Iran’s nuclear programme, with the MoU stating that Washington would unfreeze billions of dollars in Iranian assets in return for Tehran diluting its stockpile of enriched uranium.
Another point of discussion would be the transit through the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran said it closed on Saturday following Israel’s onslaught on Lebanon. U.S President Donald Trump, on the other hand, posted on his Truth Social that there would be no tolls on vessels passing through the strait after the 60-day period unless it was imposed by the United States if both nations failed to reach an agreement.
