After a week of international agonizing, it looks as if the first round of the latest peace talks between America and Iran will not begin today – at least, not formally.
The Memorandum of Understanding has been signed – electronically by Iran and by Donald Trump’s hand in Versailles on Wednesday. But J.D. Vance’s big Switzerland trip, originally planned to kick off the talks, has been put on hold as the Lebanon issue reared its troublesome head overnight.
Late yesterday afternoon, Hezbollah fired several salvoes of rockets at IDF targets, killing four soldiers. Israel responded with a wave of airstrikes in Southern Lebanon, killing 18 and wounding 33, according to the Lebanese ministry of health.
Insiders remain optimistic that Vance will still attend the talks this weekend. The Vice President’s staff and a gaggle of reporters were already at the Joint Base Andrews last night when the decision not to fly was made. The White House offered no clear explanation for the delay. But the cause is undoubtedly the ongoing violence in Lebanon – which is supposed to have stopped, according to the first clause of the MoU.
That said, sources at the mountaintop venue remain confident that the discussion has not been derailed and should begin in earnest this weekend. Mediation teams are already there, doing talks about the talks. Vance is still expected to fly, perhaps later today, and his planned handshake with Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, speaker of the Iranian parliament – a moment that is certain to infuriate Israel and its loudest supporters in America – may still happen tomorrow or on Sunday.
