‘Final deal is the house’: Vance says Switzerland talks with Iran set ‘good foundation’ to end war

Vice President JD Vance said on Monday that peace talks with Iran had created a “good foundation” for reaching a final agreement aimed at ending the war that began in late February, AP reported.

In simpler terms, he described the negotiations as a strong starting point for a possible deal, though no final agreement has been reached yet.

“The final deal is the house,” Vance told reporters. “We set the foundation. We haven’t built the house, but we’ve laid a successful foundation to get to a good place for the American people.”

JD Vance spoke after completing an extended round of initial talks on Monday with Iran’s parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, aimed at paving the way toward a durable end to the ongoing war between the two nations.

The mediation process, hosted in Switzerland, began on Sunday and ran into the early hours of Monday. Although the discussions were at times tense, they still produced some points of agreement between the two sides.

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The vice president also indicated that the U.S. administration may consider releasing frozen Iranian funds to allow purchases of American agricultural goods such as soy, corn, and wheat.

He added that Jared Kushner, a leading U.S. negotiator, developed the proposal in coordination with officials from Qatar.

Vance said Qatar would have approval over the process, but Iranian money that would be accessible as sanctions were lifted “would actually go to buy American soy, American corn and American wheat for the benefit of the Iranian people.”

In a joint statement, mediators Pakistan and Qatar said that although the high-level talks had concluded, lower-level technical negotiations would continue in Switzerland throughout the week.

JD Vance was expected to address the media from the resort at 1 p.m. local time, according to his office.

The mediators hailed what they called “encouraging progress” made during the talks. A senior U.S. diplomat claimed progress on multiple fronts, including the establishment of “mechanisms” to ensure the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway for global energy shipments, remains open and that a ceasefire in the fighting between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah militants in southern Lebanon holds, as reported by AP.

Yet the talks between the United States and Iran were jolted by blistering statements from Trump, who, from thousands of miles away from the Swiss negotiating venue at a mountainside resort near Lake Lucerne, was firing off comments that offended the Iranians.

Iranian state media said talks had paused after the “publication of an insulting message by the U.S. President," according to Iranian state media.

A senior U.S. diplomat said that, despite earlier uncertainty, the Iranian delegation ultimately stayed at the venue and negotiations continued. The official—who spoke anonymously because they were not authorized to comment publicly—briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity.

However, Iranian state television reported that the delegation had left the summit site on Monday, heading to Zurich airport to return to Tehran.

Trump didn't attend what was dubbed the “Lake Lucerne Summit," but his presence certainly loomed large.

Ahead of the talks, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian had vowed to “never back down from the right to enrich uranium,” according to state media.

Trump on Sunday told Fox News in a phone interview that Pezeshkian should watch what he says and also threatened to take over Iran, according to one of the news channel's correspondents.

Trump also continued to issue warnings against Iran on social media, posting as negotiators worked: “Iran must immediately stop their highly paid PROXIES in Lebanon from causing trouble. If they don’t, we’ll hit Iran very hard again, just like we did last week, only harder!!!”

It remains uncertain when JD Vance will leave Switzerland. Meanwhile, U.S. envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff are overseeing much of the detailed technical work on behalf of the American delegation.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote on X that Pakistani and Qatari mediators delivered "major progress to end the Lebanon War.” But, he added, the first “real test” of negotiations would be whether the mechanism succeeded in halting the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.

(With inputs from AP)