Iran and Qatar Open Bilateral Talks in Switzerland After Four-Party Negotiations

Iranian and Qatari delegations opened bilateral talks in Switzerland after four-party negotiations on implementing a provisional peace agreement between Washington and Tehran. U.S. and Iranian technical teams arrived in the country on Sunday. The Swiss foreign ministry said the groups are heading to Bürgenstock in the canton of Nidwalden.

Negotiations Representatives from Pakistan, which has mediated between the sides, also reached the country and are scheduled to take part in the technical discussions. The meeting had been scheduled for Friday but was postponed after tensions rose over clashes in Lebanon.

Israel's military said the strikes targeted rocket launch positions, weapons storage facilities, and command centers after reporting more than 50 Hezbollah rockets fired overnight. Strikes on Nabatieh in southern Lebanon killed 16 people and injured 12 others, according to the Lebanese civil defence agency.

Iran's military announced on Saturday that it had closed the Strait of Hormuz in response to Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon and what it called a breach of a war-ending memorandum. U.S. Central Command stated that the waterway remained open, with 55 merchant ships transiting and moving more than 17 million barrels of oil.

Israel and the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah agreed to a renewed ceasefire on Friday, but Israel launched new strikes on Saturday morning.