US, Iran, Pakistan and Qatar to launch quadrilateral meeting in Swiss

Tehran announces a quadrilateral meeting between Iran, the US, Qatar and Pakistan is set to take place at the Buergenstock mountaintop resort in Switzerland Sunday afternoon, as a follow-up to the US-Iran memorandum of understanding.

A high-level Iranian delegation that includes parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived at the Swiss venue late on Saturday for direct talks to work out important details of their interim ceasefire deal signed with the US this week.

Complicating the matters are the escalating Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon. Earlier, Iran's military closed the Strait of Hormuz again citing the US's "clear breach of its commitments."

Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei says in an interview with the state-run IRIB TV negotiations toward a final deal will start once key commitments are held.

If not, "the MoU as a whole will be jeopardised," says Baghaei.

The US Central Command, however, claims that traffic in the critical waterway continues to flow. US President Donald Trump has unleashed a new threat to impose American tolls in the strait if a final deal with Iran is not reached in 60 days.

On Sunday morning, Vice President J.D. Vance lands in Obbuergen to join the presidential envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner.

Upon his departure, Vance frames the talks around immediate priorities including Iran's nuclear programme and stabilising Lebanon.

He says, "Despite the headlines, things are actually getting better there (Lebanon), and things have calmed down a little bit. It's going to be something we're just going to have to continuously manage to ensure that you know Israel and Lebanon are both safe and secure. That's fundamentally the goal of this, to make the whole region safe and secure."

Qatari mediators are in place for the technical-level discussions to halt the Middle East war that started in late February.

Prime minister of Pakistan Shehbaz Sharif along with army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir also arrive at the Swiss venue where foreign ministers of Iran and Switzerland held a bilateral meeting.

In the Lebanese idyllic city of Tyre known for its iconic remains from Roman times, the historical al-Buss Necropolis was severely struck as it witnessed horrendous strikes from Israel.

Officials say the reverberations affected the columns at the UNESCO World Heritage Site, adding that it will takes time to use specialised equipment to viably assess and fix all the damage as they have limited resources amid the ongoing war.