War returns to Iran with Israel, US strikes

Iran’s First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref has expressed his hope that the negotiations in Switzerland “will come to fruition”, adding that “we are entering a new space, a space where boycotting any country in the Arab region will no longer be an option and is out of the question,” Al Jazeera reports.

“This is because we had a strong tool that was stronger than the other side’s, and we had not used it at all, and now we are using it,” said the senior official speaking at a government meeting on Sunday, according to Iran’s ISNA news agency.

Aref also sounded a warning, saying that “the Strait of Hormuz belongs to Iran, and our ancestors have sacrificed many lives throughout history to protect the strait, and the strait should not be crossed simply”.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has reiterated that Tehran is willing to provide assurances that the country is not seeking a nuclear weapon, while insisting that Iran will not relinquish its right to enrich uranium, AFP reports.

“What the United States demands is that Iran not build an atomic bomb. This is nothing new, and we can also state in writing that we have no intention of building a bomb,” the president’s website quoted him as saying.

“However, we will not relinquish our right to enrichment, and the other side will have no choice but to accept this right,” he added, before Iranian and US negotiators are set to meet for talks in Switzerland.

The Iranian negotiating team is meeting with the team of Qatari mediators in Burgenstock, the Iranian government announced on X.

Separate consultations with the Pakistani side are also scheduled as part of ongoing efforts to advance implementation of the Islamabad MoU.

Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei has said that his country is “determined to meticulously and seriously pursue the process of implementing the other party’s commitments”.

Iran’s president says $6bn in frozen funds currently in Qatar’s possession will be returned as part of the preliminary deal with the US to end the war, Al Jazeera reports.

“All provisions of the memorandum of understanding are in our favour, and the achievements of these talks and negotiations will become evident,” Tasnim news agency quoted President Masoud Pezeshkian as saying.

He said President Trump “who had forbidden us from doing many things in his recent speech declared all of them as the rights of the people and the nation”.

“Our $6bn in Qatar will be returned,” he added.

Pezeshkian also took a jab at Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu saying he’ll be “the first to be unhappy with the negotiations” in Switzerland.

“America’s only point is that we not have an atomic bomb. This is something the martyred leader also repeatedly said, ‘we do not want an atomic bomb,’” Pezeshkian noted, referencing the religious edict decreed by slain Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

“America said ‘write this down and sign’ – and we signed.”

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir hold bilateral meeting with US Vice President JD Vance at Burgenstcok Resort in Switzerland ahead of delegation-level technical talks with Iran.

A senior official at the Prime Minister’s Office told Dawn that a delegation-level meeting of four countries — Pakistan, the United States, Iran and Qatar — in Burgenstock is expected to be held at 4pm Pakistan time.

Heads of delegations, including Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, will also speak on the occasion.

However, it is yet to be confirmed whether the Pakistani delegation will stay or return today, the source added.

According to a poll, Israelis overwhelmingly believe that Iran emerged stronger from the Middle East war and its subsequent deal with the United States, AFP reports.

The poll of 3,644 respondents, conducted between June 17 and 20 by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in collaboration with the Agam Institute, paints a stark picture of public sentiment following the US-Iran deal.

Of those surveyed, 92.1 per cent said Iran had won or gained more from the conflict, while 82.9pc felt that Israel’s long-term security had been weakened.

The survey found that even among voters who support the right-wing bloc, the electoral base of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, 93.1pc believed Iran had won.

Opposition to the US-Iran agreement was widespread, with 63.2pc of respondents opposing it compared with just 12.1pc expressing support.

The findings pointed to a broader crisis of confidence in Israel’s leadership.

Nearly three-quarters of those surveyed, 72.5pc, said they did not believe Netanyahu’s claims about the military campaign’s achievements, while 56.4pc rated his management of the campaign as “failed” or “poor”

Hojjatoleslam Abdollah Haji Sadeghi, the main representative of Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, says “negotiation is not the primary option” with the United States, Al Jazeera reports.

“We will enter negotiations with power and caution, but we are not passive,” Sadeghi was quoted as saying in a post on Telegram.

“Our primary option is the field of jihad, whether on the battlefield or in the streets. We are not worried about the negotiations failing,” he added. “We have not gone into negotiations out of desperation or helplessness.”

Iran says that the ongoing conflict in Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah will top the agenda in talks with the United States in Switzerland, as well as issues such as frozen Iranian funds and the sale of the country’s oil, AFP reports, citing Iran’s IRNA news agency.

“The Zionist (Israel) regime continues to violate its commitment in Lebanon; this issue will be the main topic of discussion in today’s talks,” Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman said.

“The issue of making available Iran’s frozen or restricted assets, as well as the discussion related to issuing the necessary licenses for the sale of Iranian oil,” will also be on the agenda, he added.

The US delegation, led by Vice President JD Vance; the Iranian delegation, led by Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf; and mediation teams from Pakistan and Qatar are now all in Burgenstock, Switzerland, according to the Swiss Foreign Ministry.

“Talks between the parties are set to begin during the course of the morning,” the Swiss Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Technical-level talks between the US and Iranian delegations could extend into tomorrow, state broadcaster Pakistan TV reports.

Pakistan TV, reporting live from the venue, said that the Pakistani delegation was expected to hold separate bilateral meetings with both US and Qatari delegations.

The report said that technical-level talks could go on till tomorrow and no formal deadlines or timeframes had yet been announced, adding that discussions will continue for “as long as necessary”.

Iranian Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad says that the country’s oil industry will be a key testing ground for any final peace agreement with the US if Western parties remain committed to its spirit, Reuters reports.

The ministry’s news outlet, Shana, quoted Paknejad as saying that in a post-agreement era, Iran’s oil sector would offer the global economy major investment opportunities and has hundreds of investment projects, as well as technical and operational partnership contracts ready to be signed.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has arrived in Zurich along with his delegation, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has said.

In a statement on X, PMO said that PM Shehbaz had arrived and will participate in High-Level Talks on the implementation of the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding alongside CDF Munir.

PM Shehbaz Sharif and CDF Field Marshal Asim Munir have landed in Switzerland, where they are set to participate in the US-Iran talks, diplomatic sources said.

The talks, mediated by Pakistan and Qatar, will take place at the Burgenstock resort.