US-Iran talks laid 'very good foundation for a successful final deal' - Vance
JD Vance stated that the recent talks with Iran established a “good foundation for a successful final deal” aimed at ending the ongoing conflict.
“The final deal is the house,” the US vice president told reporters. “We set the foundation. We haven’t built the house, but we’ve laid a successful foundation to get to a good place for the American people.”
Vance also indicated that the United States might agree to unfreeze Iranian assets to facilitate purchases of American agricultural products such as soy, corn, and wheat.
However, Tehran did not engage in negotiations regarding its nuclear program nor accept any new commitments during Sunday’s talks with the US in Switzerland, according to foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei, who spoke to the official IRNA news agency on Monday.
Baghaei added that Iran’s cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will continue under existing procedures, contingent upon approval by Iran’s parliament and decisions made by the Supreme National Security Council.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is scheduled to begin a trip to three Gulf countries on Tuesday amid ongoing negotiations with Iran to end the Middle East conflict, a spokesperson confirmed.
During visits to the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Bahrain, Rubio will discuss the memorandum of understanding with Iran, efforts to ensure safe and free passage through the Strait of Hormuz, and the importance of regional peace and stability, according to State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott.
Direct damage to buildings in southern Lebanon from the latest Israel-Iran conflict is estimated at approximately $1.38 billion, reported a UN agency and Lebanese research center on Monday.
“In total, 11,095 buildings were completely destroyed, impacting 17,891 housing units, while 2,242 buildings sustained partial damage... and 9,311 buildings incurred minor damage,” stated the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Lebanon’s National Council for Scientific Research (CNRS).
The assessment compared satellite imagery from late April, nearly two months into the conflict, with images from October 2025.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian is set to visit Pakistan on Tuesday, the Pakistani foreign ministry announced.
He described the visit as an “important opportunity” to discuss ongoing diplomatic engagements following the Iran-US peace agreement.
The US Treasury Department announced a temporary lifting of sanctions on Iran to permit the Islamic Republic to produce, sell, and deliver crude oil and related products until 21 August.
“All transactions” previously prohibited involving the production, sale, and transport of Iranian-origin crude oil “are authorized through 12:01 am eastern daylight time, 21 August, 2026,” according to a license published by the Treasury Department.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent cited Tehran’s commitment in ongoing negotiations to ensure “free and open transit” in the Strait of Hormuz and to allow IAEA inspectors access as reasons for the sanctions pause.
The Israeli military lifted safety restrictions in eight communities near the Lebanese border starting at 6am (0300 GMT) on Monday.
A senior Lebanese security official told that adherence to the ceasefire has been “almost total” since Saturday evening, though an Israeli tank fired shells toward a village near the coastal city of Tyre and Israeli forces deployed sound grenades in two other locations earlier on Monday.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian will conduct a one-day visit to Pakistan on Tuesday, according to reports.
Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, a vocal critic of the US-Iran deal, addressed his Otzma Yehudit party’s meeting in the Knesset, Israel’s parliament.
“If Lebanon allows its territory to be turned into a terror base against the state of Israel, Beirut needs to understand that it cannot continue to conduct business as usual.
Whoever chooses war against Israel must bear the consequences. My position is that we cannot tolerate a single tear from an Israeli mother, even if there are tears from a thousand Lebanese mothers, and we need to keep going.
“I appreciate the vice president, but I am more committed to our soldiers and our residents. They are the ones we are committed to. I want to say thank you to the Americans, but our red line is harming soldiers and harming civilians,” he added.
Ben-Gvir said: “Netanyahu needs to go to President Trump, embrace him, and say to him: ‘President Trump, thank you, but what can we do, we cannot fulfil this agreement. You wouldn’t tolerate having Nazis on your border. You wouldn’t tolerate your soldiers being attacked and being limited in terms of the response. Our response must be 100 percent.’”
This rhetoric is consistent with Ben-Gvir’s history; he holds authority over Israel’s regular and militarized police forces and was appointed security minister by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu despite prior convictions, including for incitement to racism and support for a proscribed Jewish terrorist organization.
When asked whether Iran is expected to be a “lynchpin” in the conflict, Vance responded that there has been “very good progress.”
The US vice president expressed a desire for a “regional ceasefire.”
“We also want to make sure that when things happen, they don’t spiral into a broader escalation.
We’ve been very good at setting up what we’re calling a de-confliction mechanism but what it really is is to say that when things happen the sides are actually talking to one another.
He added that Iran has the right to self-defense but emphasized the importance of having a process to avoid escalation. He noted that the last 24 hours have been among the most peaceful seen in Lebanon recently.
Vance insisted that if Iranian funds are ever unfrozen under a deal to end the Middle East war, the US can ensure that the money does not finance terrorism.
“If we ever unfreeze Iranian assets, we can ensure that... Iranian money goes to help the people of Iran and not to fund terrorism,” Vance told reporters at Bürgenstock, stating that talks at the Swiss resort ensured that “if Iranian assets are ever unfrozen, they’re going to go to make American farmers richer and to feed the Iranian people.”
When asked if the US wants Israel to withdraw its forces from southern Lebanon, JD Vance said Washington wants Israel’s “security to be protected” and Lebanese sovereignty and integrity “to be protected.”
“This is going to be an ongoing conversation,” he told the reporter who asked the question.
Vance said Israel has made clear it does not have “territorial intentions” in southern Lebanon and stated that Iran will have to “rein” in Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant group it has funded and supported for decades, so it no longer poses a threat to northern Israel.
JD Vance was asked if he expected Iran to tie its talks with the US to Lebanon as closely as they have done and for his view on developments in Lebanon. He replied that “very good progress” has been made on Lebanon, agreeing with comments from the Iranian foreign minister.
Vance reiterated the US desire for a regional ceasefire and for Iran to cease firing at America’s “friends in Israel.”
“We want Israelis to be able to live in peace.”
“We also want to make sure that when things happen they don’t spiral into a broader escalation.
And so we’ve been I think very good at setting up what we are calling a ‘deconfliction mechanism’ but what it really is is to say that when things happen the sides are actually talking to one another.
Sometimes you have got a little bit of a chicken and egg problem – that you have got a junior guy who fires a drone that didn’t have approval from the high command.
Okay, of course Israel has to respond to that but then sometimes that response we could actually have a better and more peaceful situation if Israel responds in the context of a conversation that is ongoing between Hezbollah, Lebanon, Israel and other partners in the region.
There really hasn’t been a mechanism to have those discussions until basically around 4pm yesterday Bürgenstock time when we set that up.
So, what we are trying to do is to say first of all Israel and every other nation in the region has the right of self-defense but we want to make sure that everybody has that right of self-defense in the background where we are talking about how to de-escalate these conflicts.
Vance claimed the last 24 hours have been “probably” the “most peaceful” Lebanon has seen recently. He did not mention Israel’s ongoing occupation of parts of southern Lebanon, which Hezbollah demands be fully withdrawn.
When asked how soon IAEA inspectors could enter Iran, JD Vance said nuclear inspectors called at 2am the previous night but no one answered.
“As you can expect, not many people are answering their phone at two in the morning,” the vice president said. “I expect that will happen at the minimum this week, but we think even some of those conversations with the inspectors and with the IAEA could happen as soon as today.”
Vance said 'great progress' has been made so far in US-Iran talks
JD Vance reported that the US and Iranian teams made “great progress” in talks the previous day, facilitated by mediation from Qatar and Pakistan.
“They will continue to work at the technical level with the teams here in Bürgenstock.
And then those technical negotiations are going to continue over the weeks and days to come.
We wanted to set up a structure for that so you could have proper political oversight but, obviously, as much as this place is very beautiful I can’t stay here for the next 60 days.
I am about to go back home to the United States. But the technical teams are going to be working with proper oversight to make sure that we are accomplishing the objectives that matter for everybody.”
Iran has agreed to invite IAEA inspectors back to their country, JD Vance says
JD Vance confirmed that Iran has agreed to invite International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors back into the country.
“This is probably what we are most excited about as Americans,” Vance told reporters in Bürgenstock, confirming that he will return to the US while technical negotiations continue.
He described the return of IAEA inspectors as “a major milestone for the American people and the first step in permanently ending a nuclear weapons programme in Iran.”
China welcomed the initiation of follow-up talks on a memorandum of understanding between Iran and the US, according to Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi during a meeting on Monday with Iran’s senior security official in India.
“Maintaining and implementing the Memorandum of Understanding will help consolidate the hard-won ceasefire, open new prospects for Iran-US relations,” Wang told Ghadir Nezami, according to a statement from the Chinese foreign ministry.
Wang expressed China’s support for Iran in safeguarding its sovereignty and dignity and improving relations with Gulf and regional countries, adding that Beijing is willing to assist in restoring regional peace.
Analysts note that China has benefited significantly from the US-Israel conflict involving Iran, which exposed limitations of American power abroad. Beijing’s diplomatic influence grew after positioning itself as a proponent of peace during the conflict, while rising oil prices adversely affected the US more than China, which maintains fossil fuel reserves and a diversified energy mix, partly due to the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
My colleagues and filed on 28 May that the casualty figure of 900 is outdated but provides useful context regarding the Hamas-Israel ceasefire:
Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered the Israeli army to seize control of 70% of the Gaza Strip, a move that threatens to undermine an already fragile ceasefire and could create catastrophic humanitarian conditions in the devastated territory.
Under the ceasefire agreement in October, the Israeli army withdrew to a demarcation line that gave Israel direct control of 53% of the occupied territory. Since then, Israeli forces have steadily advanced into the Hamas-controlled half of the strip and declared an expanding no-man’s land west of that, within which they claim the right to control entry and open fire on perceived threats.
Throughout the eight months of the ceasefire, Israeli forces have continued to fire on Palestinians within range of the “yellow line” dividing the strip and have conducted airstrikes deeper inside western Gaza, resulting in over 900 Palestinian deaths since the truce began.
A law passed in November delegated monitoring of the ceasefire to a Trump-appointed Board of Peace, which named Bulgarian UN veteran diplomat Nickolay Mladenov as “high representative in Gaza.”
Mladenov faced criticism last week for a report that primarily blamed Hamas for ceasefire failures, accusing it of refusing to disarm, while not holding Israel accountable for violations. Hamas has indicated willingness to discuss disarmament once Israel fulfills its obligations under the first phase of the ceasefire, particularly ceasing bombardment of Gaza and withdrawing to the original yellow line.
