Vance: We laid a good foundation for a "successful final agreement" with Iran
US Vice President JD Vance said they laid a good foundation for a "successful final agreement" with the Iranian side.
Vance made assessments before leaving Bürgenstock, Switzerland, where talks involving mediators Pakistan and Qatar were held regarding the implementation of the memorandum of understanding signed between the US and Iran.
Stating that they made quite good progress in the negotiations held with Iran over the weekend, Vance expressed that they laid a good foundation for a "successful final agreement".
Vance argued that the Strait of Hormuz is open, and said he would return to the US, but technical teams would continue to work under the necessary supervision to "achieve important goals".
Noting that gas and oil prices are falling and millions of barrels of crude oil and natural gas have started flowing through the Strait of Hormuz, Vance stated that they want to establish a coordination center for demining the Strait of Hormuz.
Vance said, "We wanted to establish a coordination mechanism so that when conflicts inevitably arise, we can solve them together instead of allowing them to escalate, and we did exactly that yesterday."
Stating that they wanted and established a "conflict prevention mechanism" in the region, Vance said:
"If fire is opened, if Hezbollah fires at Israel or Israel retaliates, if other conflicts arise in the region, we can talk to each other and find out how to stop the firing, how to make the region safer, how to protect our allies and everyone else."
IAEA delegation again
Vance stated that the Iranian side agreed to re-invite International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors, describing this as "the most exciting thing for Americans and a major turning point".
Vance argued that this is "the first step towards the permanent end of the nuclear weapons program in Iran", saying, "That's exactly what we wanted to do."
"Yes, (the Iranian side) threatened to withdraw"
Noting that they are aware of the threats in the international public that the Iranian side would withdraw from the negotiations, Vance said, "Yes, (the Iranian side) threatened to withdraw."
Stating that the discussions lasted until after 01:00 at night (early morning), Vance said, "(The Iranian side) did not withdraw from the negotiations and their technical teams are currently working with our technical team."
Lebanon
Emphasizing that Lebanon's territorial integrity and sovereignty will be preserved, Vance stated that they believe reaching a point where Israel's security is ensured "will require a lot of work."
Underlining that they want to make sure they have "the right coordination" on Lebanon, Vance said, "It will require coordination with the Lebanese Armed Forces and also Iran will need to rein in Hezbollah. These are the kind of things we talked about yesterday, and again, I think we are much further along than we were 24 hours ago."
Frozen assets
Noting that the US and Qatar have approved the release of Iran's frozen assets, Vance said, "The money will be used to purchase American soybeans, American corn, and American wheat for the benefit of the Iranian people."
Vance said:
"If Iran's assets are released one day, they will enrich American farmers and feed the Iranian people. This is a very good and classic Trump deal. It is great for our people, great for the Iranian people. It will contribute to the regional security architecture."
