US Vice President JD Vance said on Sunday that President Donald Trump has asked to turn over “a new leaf” in relations with Iran, as technical talks get underway in Switzerland aimed at resolving decades-long issues.
Vance also added that “great progress” has already been made in recent hours in Iran talks, expressing hope that further advances will follow as negotiations continue.
"We've already made great progress over just the last few hours, and I expect we will make additional progress" in the coming hours, Vance said in remarks before the opening of talks in Burgenstock.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, together with his Qatari counterpart Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, opened the talks aimed at implementing the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding signed on 17 June.
‘Transforming’ the Middle East
The Vice President also stressed that the objective of talks with Iran is to "transform" the Middle East.
"What we're trying to accomplish here is very simple, through diplomacy, through working together to transform the Middle East," he said.
"Now we see a future where everybody can work together to promote peace and prosperity for everyone."
He added that if Iran is willing to give up its ambitions for nuclear weapons for the "long term", then the US is willing to fundamentally transform its relationship with Tehran. "That is certainly our goal."
"This is a historic meeting. Never before outside of Islamabad, and indeed outside the last few months, have the Iranian and American leadership met at such a high level," he further said.
Lebanon a bit ‘messy’
He said that US President Donald Trump "has committed us to seeing a full regional ceasefire".
"We found great partners in working with the Qataris, the Pakistanis, our friends in Israel. We're all working towards regional peace."
Asked about continued Israeli ceasefire violations in Lebanon, he said: "We've seen great progress over the last couple of days in ensuring that the ceasefire holds in Lebanon."
"These things are always a little bit messy. If you go back to how much was happening three months ago and compare it to three weeks ago," he added.
For his part, Sharif expressed hope that the talks would lead to "productive results".
"I think here we will have wonderful discussions which will lead to, hopefully, very productive results in times to come," he said.
