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An Iranian negotiating source said the first round of four-way talks in Switzerland, involving Iran, the United States, Qatar, and Pakistan, concluded after about 80 minutes and was temporarily suspended for internal consultations.

The talks, held at the Bürgenstock Hotel under the “Lake Lucerne Meeting,” brought together the participating delegations, with Qatar and Pakistan acting as mediators.

No further details were disclosed regarding the discussions.

US President Donald Trump on Sunday threatened to strike Iran if it did not stop Hezbollah from "causing trouble," as peace talks between senior US and Iranian officials began in Switzerland.

The negotiations opened against a backdrop of clashes in recent days between the Israeli army and Hezbollah -- a Tehran ally -- in southern Lebanon, threatening to derail the preliminary peace deal between Tehran and Washington.

"Iran must immediately stop their highly paid PROXIES in Lebanon from causing trouble," Trump posted on his Truth Social platform. "If they don't, we'll hit Iran very hard again, just like we did last week, only harder!!!"

Israeli airstrikes killed at least 30 people on Saturday in eastern and southern Lebanon, before a lull in the fighting that evening, when the Israeli army was ordered to halt clashes with Hezbollah.

The memorandum of understanding signed Wednesday between the United States and Iran stipulates a cessation of hostilities on all fronts, including in Lebanon.

At the outset of the talks in Switzerland on Sunday, US Vice President JD Vance said he had seen "great progress in the last just couple of days in ensuring that the ceasefire holds in Lebanon."

"We're all working towards regional peace," he said. "I actually feel great about where we are in Lebanon. There's still some additional wood to chop but we're going to keep on working at it."

Vance asserted that Trump and the United States had done more to stop the conflict in Lebanon than any other country in recent months.

Hezbollah flags (image from archive).

Hezbollah issued on Sunday a statement to highlight the fruitlessness of the direct negotiations between the Lebanese authorities and the Israeli enemy in Washington, condemning all the approach and its outcomes.

The statement stressed that the continued participation in direct negotiation sessions to be the implementation of the daily directives issued by the U.S. administration to the Lebanese authorities.

What follows is the text of the statement:

It has become clear and certain that the rounds of direct negotiations to which the Lebanese authority’s delegation was led in Washington amounted to nothing more than nodding in approval and endorsing the dictates drafted by the U.S. administration—dictates that undermine Lebanon’s sovereignty and shift its political position toward the camp of those reconciled with the Zionist occupation and its illegitimate entity.

No good whatsoever can be expected from these conciliatory negotiations, because their premise is flawed and suspicious, and their objective is submission and surrender.

We in Hezbollah once again condemn the approach of direct negotiations with the Zionist enemy, its successive rounds, and the outcomes resulting from them. We also condemn their obstructive role, which constitutes an obstacle to confronting the enemy’s project, the efforts of the resistance field, and the great sacrifices of our noble people—sacrifices that the authorities could instead utilize and leverage as sources of strength in order to achieve a complete and unconditional withdrawal from our Lebanese territory.

We consider the continued participation in direct negotiation sessions to be the implementation of the daily directives issued by the U.S. administration to the Lebanese authorities. Acting unilaterally and independently in their decision-making, in violation of the National Pact, the Constitution, and the laws, these authorities are responding to the agenda pursued by the United States and “Israel”, thereby increasing the dangers facing Lebanon, its stability, independence, and sovereignty.

Source: Al-Manar English Website