Iran walks out of peace talks after Trump outburst

Iranian negotiators walked out of peace talks with the US after Donald Trump said he would “blow the s--- out of them” and take over their country.

As JD Vance, his vice president, began negotiations in Switzerland, Mr Trump threatened to restart his bombing campaign on Iran, in expletive-laden phone calls and posts on social media.

Iran immediately lodged a formal complaint with Pakistani and Qatari mediators and left the talks.

Chief negotiator Mohammed Ghalibaf said the US should be careful with its statements and that “our armed forces are ready to respond”.

Earlier, Mr Vance said the US hoped to “turn over a new leaf” with the Islamic Republic, and said that they had made “great progress”, but on Sunday night, his efforts appeared to be quickly unravelling.

The talks in the scenic Qatari-owned Swiss mountain resort of Bürgenstock were the first to be held after a memorandum of understanding was signed between Washington and Tehran last week.

Under the terms of that deal, the Strait of Hormuz would be reopened and there would be a ceasefire “on all fronts” including Lebanon.

However, Hezbollah and Israel continued attacking each other and Tehran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps declared the Strait of Hormuz shut.

On Sunday, Mr Trump revealed that he told Iranian officials: “You close the strait and you won’t have a country.

“You won’t even make it back to your f---ing country ... we’ll take over the rest of the country,” he added, according to Fox News.

“We may take over the Strait, if we have to. I’ll blow the s--- out of them.”

He then said on Truth Social: “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!!!”

The Iranian delegation to the talks was led by chief negotiator Mohammad Ghalibaf and included Abbas Aragchi, the foreign minister, as well as senior security, central bank and oil officials.

They refused to pose for photographs with their US counterparts and then left the talks after Mr Trump’s comments. Later, Iran said talks had “paused” but not ended. 

“We do not take American threats into account,” said Mr Ghalibaf, after Mr Trump’s outburst.

“They would do better to be careful with their statements; our armed forces are ready to respond to them in a different manner. No matter what they say, we are the ones who act.”

Talks are expected to continue through the night, a US diplomat told reporters early on Monday.

In addition to Mr Vance, the US negotiating team included envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Mr Trump’s son-in-law.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the army chief, Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, were also in Switzerland to participate in this weekend’s sessions as mediators, alongside a Qatari delegation.

“The question is, can we turn over a new leaf? Can we change relations in the Middle East permanently, or do we go back to doing things the old way, which is not our preference but is certainly something that can happen,” Mr Vance said.

It is understood that talks never even reached the stage of discussing Iran’s nuclear program. Instead, Iran insisted on ensuring the Memorandum of Understanding was implemented properly.

The fighting between Israel and Hezbollah has repeatedly threatened to derail peace efforts.

On Saturday, Israeli strikes on Lebanon killed at least 20 people.

Israel said the attack was in response to projectiles fired by the Iran-backed militia at Israeli troops in southern Lebanon.

Hezbollah has said it will stop attacking northern Israel under a last-minute ceasefire agreed on Friday, but reserved the right to fight IDF soldiers occupying Lebanon.

On Sunday, Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to remain in southern Lebanon for “as long as we need to protect our people”.

The Israeli military said it will respect the ceasefire but would react against any threats to soldiers. It also said it is not party to the wider US-Iran deal.

Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem said Israeli troops “remaining on Lebanese land is impossible. There are no security zones for Israel. Israel is an aggressor and must leave.”

Lebanon’s health ministry says Israeli attacks have killed 4,057 people since March 2, including medics, women and children. It did not say how many were Hezbollah fighters.

Israeli authorities say at least 32 soldiers and four civilians have been killed in fighting with Hezbollah.

A poll by Israel’s Hebrew University, provided to Reuters, showed about 92 per cent of Israelis believe Iran benefited more than Israel from the joint Israeli-US military campaign, while just 8 per cent see Israel as having emerged victorious.

Almost 90 per cent of Israelis said war goals had not been met and fewer than 30 per cent believe Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s claims of major achievements.

He faces an election in the autumn.

On Sunday night, there was paralysis in the Strait of Hormuz once again.

Only a single small tanker crossed the waterway with its location-signalling transponders on after Iran’s announcement, compared with dozens of ships in recent days when traffic had begun returning to pre-war levels.

US Central Command said 55 merchant ships transited the strait on Saturday, carrying more than 17 million barrels of oil bound for global markets.

Iran’s Fars news agency cited a military source as saying on Sunday that no new permits were being issued for ships to cross until further notice. Throughout the war, ‌shipping firms have said it is too dangerous to traverse without Iran’s permission.

Iran said there could be no start to the next phase of talks, including over its nuclear programme, until the fighting in Lebanon ends.

[Source: Daily Telegraph]