Day 115 | First round of US–Iran Swiss talks concludes
The opening round of high-stakes, direct negotiations between the United States and Iran has officially concluded in Switzerland.
Facilitated through the joint mediation of Pakistan and a Gulf nation, the diplomatic track marks the first major bilateral push to establish regional stability after months of severe military escalation.
Hussein Gurbanzadeh, a senior member of the Iranian negotiating delegation, told state television that the initial day of talks centered on fundamental economic concessions.
Specifically, the delegations reviewed mechanisms for releasing frozen Iranian financial assets and evaluated detailed proposals regarding oil sanctions relief.
The Lebanon Impasse: Continued warfare between 'Israel' and the Iran-backed group Hezbollah stands as a major roadblock to peace. Tehran has made it a strict precondition that fatal 'Israeli' strikes across Lebanon must cease entirely before any meaningful diplomatic progress can be made.
Vance’s Strained Mission: While steering the American delegation into the Swiss negotiations, Vice President JD Vance expressed strong optimism regarding the opportunity to "transform" long-standing US ties with Iran. However, this high-stakes diplomatic initiative was rapidly upended by conflicting public remarks from Donald Trump.
Sharaa: Syria will help Lebanon but won't fight Hezbollah
- Sharaa remarks follow comments by Donald Trump about Syria’s role regarding Hezbollah.
- Sharaa says Trump’s comments were misunderstood and referred to diplomacy, not military action.
- Calls for solutions based on ending the war and strengthening the Lebanese state.
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa has explicitly stated that while Damascus is prepared to help resolve the escalating conflict in neighboring Lebanon, the country will not deploy its military to fight or dismantle Hezbollah.
The announcement comes in the wake of high-profile remarks from US President Donald Trump, who recently suggested that Syria should assume responsibility for "taking care of Hezbollah" to alleviate the burden on 'Israel'.
Sharaa pushed back on interpretations that Damascus was preparing for a cross-border military operation, insisting that a sustainable solution can only be achieved through political de-escalation.
Sharaa: Trump's remarks 'misunderstood'
In an interview with the Arab news outlet Al Mashhad, Syrian President Sharaa sought to reframe the conversation surrounding Trump's public statements, which had triggered widespread speculation of an imminent Syrian intervention.
“The crisis in Lebanon is very serious and there is a deadlock in political solutions,” Sharaa observed. “President Trump expressed concern about the current situation in Lebanon, and his words were misunderstood. He spoke about Syria’s role in seeking a safe and peaceful solution, but people understood him as if Syria would enter Lebanon tomorrow morning.”
Sharaa firmly emphasized that Syria would offer a distinctly "different approach" to the deadlock, one rooted strictly in diplomacy rather than further bloodshed.
"The solution for Lebanon will not come through war and the bombing of cities," the Syrian leader added, making an immediate halt to hostilities the absolute prerequisite for any future political roadmap.
A push for 'creative solutions'
Rather than entering a volatile combat arena against a deeply entrenched armed group, Damascus aims to position itself as a facilitator for rebuilding Lebanese sovereign authority.
Sharaa outlined a vision heavily focused on restoring international and regional support directly to the official Lebanese state, rather than factional entities.
He underscored the necessity of strengthening Lebanon's formal state institutions to foster an inclusive political resolution that "everyone can believe in."
Concluding his remarks, the Syrian President warned that conventional intervention tactics would fail to yield long-term results in the modern landscape. "Stopping what is happening in Lebanon now requires creative solutions," Sharaa asserted, "not traditional and outdated ones."
Previous day
For coverage of the previous day, visit the link below.
Read more: Day 114 | US & Iranian delegations to meet for talks in Switzerland
