Vice President JD Vance held talks with Iranian officials Sunday in Switzerland, with the days-old peace deal at risk over Israel’s strikes on Lebanon and Iran’s threats to ships in the Strait of Hormuz.Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.Vance, joined at the negotiations by President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner, met with a senior Iranian delegation to discuss the technical details of a memorandum of understanding signed last week.The talks were also joined by mediators from Qatar and Pakistan.The deal has already been tested by fighting between Israel and the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon, which Iran signaled would be central to the talks.Tehran said Saturday that it has once again closed the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway through which 20% of the world’s oil passes, alleging ceasefire violations by Israel.
The U.S.military has denied Iran’s claim to control the strait.After initial talks Sunday, Vance told reporters that “great” progress had been made toward a future “where everyone can work together to promote peace and prosperity.”Shortly after those remarks, Trump posted on Truth Social that “we’ll hit Iran very hard again, just like we did last week, only harder!!!” unless the country stops “their highly paid PROXIES in Lebanon,” referring to Hezbollah.In a phone interview Sunday morning with Fox News, Trump said he spoke with the Iranians overnight, delivering a stark warning that if Iran closes the Strait of Hormuz, the U.S.
will “blow the s--- out of them.”Add NBC News to GoogleCory Booker says ‘we have capitulated to the enemy’ with Trump’s Iran deal: Full interview11:44Sen.Cory Booker, D-N.J., said Israel’s actions in Lebanon and Trump’s rhetoric should leave people “very worried” about peace in the region.“These are two failed world leaders,” Booker said of Trump and Isra...