Lebanon reports deaths in IDF strikes as Iran threatens US; Kushner and Qatar’s PM are already in Switzerland, and Araghchi may joinU.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff is traveling to Switzerland, where negotiations with Iran over a final nuclear agreement are expected to begin as part of the memorandum of understandings signed this week to end the war, Axios reported overnight between Friday and Saturday.According to the report, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner is already in Switzerland. A source familiar with the matter said Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi also plans to arrive Saturday, though the source stressed that the trip is not final and could still change.4 View gallery US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi (Photo: REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/Pool, Amer HILABI AFP, CameraObscura82 shutterstock, Smolkov Vladislav shutterstock)It remains unclear whether the talks will take place Saturday or whether a specific time has been set. The negotiations had been expected to begin Friday, with Vice President JD Vance also planning to travel to Switzerland and lead the U.S. delegation, but his flight was reportedly canceled at the last moment, after the plane had already been fueled for takeoff.The delay followed the escalation on the Lebanon front overnight between Thursday and Friday, when four IDF soldiers were killed in a tank incident, including Lt. Col. Dor Ben Simhon, commander of the 52nd Armored Battalion. The circumstances of the incident are still under investigation.Following the deadly incident, the IDF struck about 150 targets in Lebanon on Friday. Lebanese reports said 47 people were killed and 97 wounded. Iran, which has linked the Lebanon front to the broader understandings, accused the United States of failing to uphold the memorandum’s ceasefire provisions.The Trump administration, which has been pressing Israel to moderate its strikes in Lebanon in an effort to enable progress with Iran, announced Friday that Israel and Hezbollah had reached a ceasefire that it said went into effect at 4 p.m. The announcement came hours after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would exact a heavy price from Hezbollah.4 View gallery Reported IDF strikes in southern Lebanon A senior Israeli official said after the U.S. announcement that there was no change in the ceasefire and that it still allowed the IDF to continue destroying infrastructure and act against emerging threats.On Saturday morning, Lebanon reported continued IDF strikes in the south. Al-Mayadeen, a network affiliated with Hezbollah, reported strikes in Nabatieh al-Fawqa and villages in the Tyre area, as well as artillery fire toward Roumine and Jbaa. Lebanese media reported 14 strikes between 5:40 a.m. and 7 a.m., most of them in the Nabatieh area. Lebanon’s national news agency reported three people killed in overnight strikes.Against the backdrop of the continued fighting, Iran kept up its threats. Ebrahim Azizi, head of the Iranian parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, accused Washington of failing to adhere to the first clause of the memorandum, which calls for a full ceasefire in Lebanon. He said the situation could carry a heavy cost and warned of what he described as an Iranian response to violations of the understandings.Despite the threats, the Swiss talks may still move forward, Axios reported, though not necessarily Saturday. A source from one of the mediating countries said Araghchi told regional counterparts Friday that Lebanon is a critical issue that will determine the fate of negotiations with the United States. Another source from a mediating country said Iran wants to see the Lebanon ceasefire enforced before joining talks in Switzerland.The talks are expected to take place at the luxury Bürgenstock resort, located on a mountain overlooking Lake Lucerne. Qatar’s prime minister, Mohammed Al Thani, who is expected to serve as a central mediator, arrived there Friday. According to Axios, Kushner is already in Switzerland.4 View gallery The Bürgenstock resort (Photo: Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP)The Wall Street Journal reported that Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, is also in Switzerland and is expected to assist with technical aspects of the nuclear talks. Under the memorandum of understandings, the IAEA is expected to play a central role in renewed oversight of Iran’s nuclear program and the dilution of its enriched uranium. Trump has effectively dropped the demand that the uranium be removed from Iranian territory.At the same time, sources quoted by Saudi channel Al-Hadath said Pakistani Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi was traveling to Tehran to meet senior Iranian officials. The purpose of the visit, according to the report, is to follow developments in the negotiations with the United States.Alongside the nuclear track, the talks are expected to focus on Iran’s demands for economic relief. Under the understandings, the United States has already lifted the blockade on Iranian ports and pledged to grant Tehran an immediate sanctions waiver on oil sales.The memorandum also states that the United States and Iran will discuss how to release Iran’s frozen assets, estimated at about $100 billion. U.S. officials have said any release will depend on progress in the nuclear talks.4 View gallery Qatar's Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani (Photo: Karim JAAFAR / AFP)The Wall Street Journal reported overnight that the sides are already discussing a plan to release an initial $6 billion currently frozen in Qatar, in what the newspaper described as another early economic benefit for Tehran.Officials familiar with the details said the plan has not yet been finalized and that the funds would be restricted to purchases of food, medicine and humanitarian equipment ordered by Iran’s central bank.Most of the money frozen in Qatar comes from Iranian oil revenues. According to The Wall Street Journal, the $6 billion would be the first portion of a total of $24 billion Iran wants released as quickly as possible under the understandings, though that amount does not appear in the memorandum. Iran has not yet approved the plan.Sanam Vakil, director of the Middle East program at Chatham House, told The Wall Street Journal that even a limited release of funds could provide both economic relief and a political signal of de-escalation for Tehran.