Trump threatens Iran as Vance cites progress in talks

President Donald Trump threatened new attacks on Iran on Sunday as Vice President JD Vance met Iranian officials in Switzerland for talks aimed at salvaging a fragile understanding over Lebanon, the Strait of Hormuz and Iran’s nuclear program.

“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!!!” Trump wrote in a social media post, an apparent reference to Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militant group in Lebanon.

The warning came as Vance attended negotiations in Bürgenstock, Switzerland, with an Iranian team, mediators from Qatar, Pakistani officials and International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi. Vance arrived early Sunday and also met with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir, whose government has been brokering the talks.

The discussions center on a memorandum of understanding signed last week by the United States and Iran, but not by Israel or Lebanon. The agreement calls for respect for Lebanese sovereignty and a halt to military operations in Lebanon, provisions Iran says Washington must enforce.

The talks were under strain after Iran’s military announced Saturday it had closed the Strait of Hormuz because of continued Israeli strikes in Lebanon against Hezbollah. Iran said the U.S. failure to rein in Israel violated the tentative agreement. U.S. Central Command has said shipping through the strait was proceeding normally.

The Guardian reported that Trump also told Fox News, in reference to the strait, “You close it and you won’t have a country. You won’t even make it back to your fucking country.” The newspaper reported that Trump’s comments prompted the Iranian negotiators to walk out in protest. NPR reported that Iranian state media had said earlier Sunday that the talks had broken down, but a senior U.S. diplomat engaged in the negotiations said Sunday night that discussions were still ongoing and could last through the night.

The senior diplomat, who was not authorized to speak publicly, said the agenda included “clarifying” Iran’s messaging on the Strait of Hormuz, “enforcing” the ceasefire in southern Lebanon and creating “deconfliction mechanisms” for both the strait and Lebanon.

Iran’s lead negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, said on X that Iran’s armed forces were prepared to respond to threats. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian also reiterated Tehran’s position on its nuclear program Sunday morning: “What is certain is that we will never back down from the right to enrich uranium, and the other side is also forced to accept it.” Iran has insisted its nuclear program is peaceful.

Despite Trump’s threats and renewed fighting over the weekend, Vance told reporters the talks were moving forward. “We’ve already made great progress over just the last few hours, and I expect that we’ll make additional progress in the hours to come,” he said. Asked whether he had a message for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Vance said there had been “great progress” in recent days and that “these things are always a little bit messy.”

“There, of course, are going to be sometimes disagreements about precisely how to get there, but I actually feel great about where we are in Lebanon. There’s still some additional wood to chop, but we’re going to keep on working,” Vance said. He added that the U.S. has “done more to stop the conflict in Lebanon than any government anywhere in the world.” According to The Guardian, Vance said Trump had asked him to use the talks to turn over a “new leaf” with Iran.

Israel and Hezbollah exchanged heavy fire Saturday despite a ceasefire announced Friday. At least 16 people, including civilians, were killed by Israeli strikes Saturday, according to Lebanon’s National News Agency. Israel said it struck in response to Hezbollah firing projectiles at its forces overnight; Hezbollah said it fired after Israel moved toward Lebanese territory.

On Sunday, however, the interim head of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon told NPR that the peacekeeping force recorded no attacks from either side for the first time since the Israel-Hezbollah war began on March 2.

Netanyahu said Sunday that Israel would keep a “security zone” in southern Lebanon under Israeli military control. “We don’t have a war with Lebanon. We have a war with Hezbollah, who terrorizes Lebanon and seeks our destruction,” he said at a policy summit in Jerusalem. “And when that proxy of Iran is no longer a threat, when it’s dismantled, when it’s disarmed, yes, we’ll have peace with Lebanon. And I look forward to signing it.”