Iran says talks on final US deal to begin this week

FE Team | Published: June 16, 2026 23:50:31

Iranian women sit at a table waiting for their brunch order at a cafe in Tehran on Tuesday. Iran's Foreign Minister said on the day, that ending the war on all fronts, including Lebanon, was "the most important" issue in the peace deal with the United States announced the day before. — AFP

TEHRAN, June 16 (AFP): Iran on Tuesday said talks with the United States on its nuclear programme and sanctions relief would likely begin later this week, as President Donald Trump's announcement that the Strait of Hormuz would reopen sent oil prices tumbling.
Officials say negotiations over a final deal will take place within a 60-day window after the memorandum of understanding to end nearly four months of war triggered by US-Israeli strikes on Iran is physically signed.
"Likely on Friday, at a location to be determined... a new round of negotiations between Iran and the United States to reach a final agreement will begin," Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said.
"In the final agreement, decisions will be made on the nuclear issues and the lifting of sanctions."
According to Iran's deputy foreign minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi, the Islamic republic's top negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf will attend the signing in Switzerland, which Bern said would take place at the luxury Burgenstock resort overlooking Lake Lucerne.
The mountainside venue "was proposed by Pakistani and Qatari mediators, as well as by the US and Iran," the Swiss foreign ministry told AFP.
The US side will be represented by Vice President JD Vance, who said Trump might also attend.
The developments came after Trump said an Iranian blockade on the crucial Hormuz strait oil and gas route would be fully lifted by Friday, which would be a major boost to the global economy.
"Ships are starting to move, many loaded up with Oil, out of the Strait of Hormuz," Trump said Monday.
Optimism over the reopening of Hormuz has sent the price of the international benchmark Brent North Sea crude tumbling below $80 a barrel, a three-month low.