Iran Closes Strait of Hormuz as US-Iran Nuclear Talks Open in Switzerland

Iran's gambit: Closing Hormuz on the eve of talks

Iran's joint military command declared the Strait of Hormuz closed on Saturday, June 20, citing continued Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon as a "clear breach" of the interim agreement Tehran signed with Washington just days earlier.cnbc +1 The announcement came hours before Iranian negotiators boarded planes for Bürgenstock, Switzerland, where technical-level talks with U.S. officials — brokered by Pakistan and Qatar — were set to begin Sunday.pbs The U.S. military flatly denied the closure: Central Command spokesperson Captain Tim Hawkins said that "Iran does not control the Strait of Hormuz" and that 55 merchant ships had transited with more than 17 million barrels of oil on Saturday.bbc +1

A fragile MOU already under strain

The June 14 memorandum of understanding between President Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian called for an immediate halt to military operations on all fronts — including Lebanon — and toll-free reopening of the strait for at least 60 days.cfr Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon killed at least 16 people on Saturday, including two children, just hours after a fresh ceasefire was announced, triggering Iran's closure declaration.cnbc +1 Iran's IRGC Navy warned vessels their safety could not be guaranteed if they approached the waterway.nbcnews Hezbollah accused Israel of trying to "sabotage" the broader deal, while the IDF said it struck "dozens" of Hezbollah targets in response to more than 50 projectiles fired at its forces.nbcnews

Vance heads to Switzerland as Trump threatens tolls

Despite the turmoil, Vice President JD Vance departed Washington late Saturday to join negotiations in Switzerland, saying he hoped to "make progress on the nuclear issue" and the Lebanon ceasefire.cnbc He pointed to a record single-day flow through the strait — 16 million barrels — as evidence the ceasefire had already improved conditions.cnbc Trump added pressure with a Truth Social post threatening that the U.S. could impose its own transit tolls if the two sides fail to convert the MOU into a final deal within 60 days, calling any future charge compensation for "services rendered as the Guardian Angel to the countries of the Middle East."pbs

The nuclear question looms large

The Switzerland talks mark the first formal step toward a comprehensive agreement. Iran's negotiating team — including Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf — departed for Switzerland even as Iranian state media was instructed not to portray the closure and the diplomatic mission as contradictory.bbc +1 The 60-day window is meant to resolve the thorniest remaining issues: the fate of Iran's enriched uranium stockpile, sanctions relief, and missile limits.cfr Vance told reporters that U.S. negotiators were focused on making Iran's remaining enriched uranium "effectively impossible" to reconstitute into a weapons program — a commitment Iran has not publicly accepted.cnbc