U.S.-Iran talks on ending Middle East conflict postponed

Switzerland said U.S. talks with Iranian negotiators on a pact to end the Middle East conflict would not take place on Friday. Vice President JD Vance dropped plans to travel to the Swiss mountaintop resort of Burgenstock. A White House spokesperson said the logistics of these negotiations have never been simple or predictable.

A Swiss foreign ministry statement said the talks had been postponed but that Switzerland remains ready to facilitate them.

Background to the postponement Iran had said it was ready to begin technical talks after Wednesday's 14-point accord extended a ceasefire by at least 60 days. Iran's negotiators first needed to see signs of the U.S. implementing the interim deal, and there was no confirmation its delegation would travel to Switzerland.

U.S. officials had also said they would hold a formal signing ceremony for the deal in Switzerland, but Iran's foreign ministry had cast doubt on the plan, calling it unnecessary after both countries' presidents signed the pact. The war, which began on February 28 with U.S. and Israel air attacks on Iran, has killed at least 7,000 people.

It has sent energy prices soaring and shaken global markets.

Regional developments Israel has distanced itself from the U.S.-Iran accord and kept up fighting against the Iranian-allied Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon. In Washington, some of U.S. President Donald Trump's Republican allies in Congress questioned whether he had conceded too much.

The memorandum signed with Iran provides relief from economic sanctions, unfreezes assets worth tens of billions of dollars and immediate U.S. waivers for its exports of oil. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei said Trump had signed the deal out of desperation.