Tehran says talks in Switzerland to focus on the fulfilment of first MoU clause

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esamil Baghei, on the sidelines of the US-Iran talks in Switzerland, said that they have officially halted the broader negotiations for the final peace agreement until the first clause of their preliminary Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) is fully implemented, as reported by Iranian state media, Press TV.

“The start of negotiations for a final agreement is conditional on five specific clauses, including clause one of the MoU, which concerns the cessation of hostilities in all fronts, including Lebanon,” said Baghei. He continued, “We know that this clause has not been implemented and that the US has not been able to or has not wanted to. The Zionist regime keeps violating its commitment. This is the main topic of discussions in today's talks.”

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Iranian officials, including National Security Committee head Ebrahim Azizi, argue that Washington has failed to enforce its commitments and restrain its ally, Israel. Iran argues that the purpose of the meeting is that Iran wants to demonstrate its seriousness in following up on the other party's commitments. “We had no intention of signing a document while expecting that it would be automatically implemented by the other side,” he added. “We never forget previous experiences.”

Iranian Supreme Leader's Senior Advisor, Mohsen Rezaei, has also warned against optimism, considering America's past as a "promise-breaker.' "The United States was supposed to force Iran to surrender through its 'peace through strength' strategy," he said in a post on social media platform X. He claimed that the US has failed, and now it's insisting on negotiations. It is desperate and will “exploit” at any opportunity.

The Iranian delegation, led by Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, had described the nature of the meeting as clarification of the implementation of the first phase of the negotiations and would not initiate a new phase of talks.