US President Donald Trump on Sunday threatened to strike Iran if it did not stop Hezbollah from "causing trouble," as peace talks between senior US and Iranian officials began in Switzerland.
The negotiations opened against a backdrop of clashes in recent days between the Israeli army and Hezbollah -- a Tehran ally -- in southern Lebanon, threatening to derail the preliminary peace deal between Tehran and Washington.
"Iran must immediately stop their highly paid PROXIES in Lebanon from causing trouble," Trump posted on his Truth Social platform. "If they don't, we'll hit Iran very hard again, just like we did last week, only harder!!!"
Israeli airstrikes killed at least 30 people on Saturday in eastern and southern Lebanon, before a lull in the fighting that evening, when the Israeli army was ordered to halt clashes with Hezbollah.
The memorandum of understanding signed on Wednesday between the United States and Iran stipulates a cessation of hostilities on all fronts, including in Lebanon.
At the outset of the talks in Switzerland on Sunday, US Vice President JD Vance said he had seen "great progress in the last just couple of days in ensuring that the ceasefire holds in Lebanon."
"We're all working towards regional peace," he said. "I actually feel great about where we are in Lebanon. There's still some additional wood to chop but we're going to keep on working at it."
Vance asserted that Trump and the United States had done more to stop the conflict in Lebanon than any other country in recent months. He said he hopes Washington and Tehran can reset their relationship at the start of what he called "historic" talks.
Vance, flanked by US negotiators Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, was at the luxury Burgenstock resort overlooking Lake Lucerne for talks with Tehan's negotiators on the preliminary US-Iran deal to halt the Middle East war.
"This is a historic meeting," Vance said in the negotiation room, set up with for the US team on one side and for the Iranian delegation on the other.
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf were leading the talks for Tehran.
The discussions are being mediated by Pakistan and Qatar.
The negotiation table was set up in a U-shape, AFP journalists in the room saw, with Qatar and the United States on one side, Pakistan and Iran on the other — all with three seats each. Pakistan and Qatar each also had one sat in the middle, at the head of the table.
What Trump "has asked us to do is turn over a new leaf to transform our relationship with the people of Iran", said Vance.
Trump wants to "extend an outstretched hand that says to the people of Iran that if your leadership is willing to give up being a driver of regional instability, if they are willing to give up nuclear weapons ambitions for the long term, then the United States is willing to fundamentally transform our relationship with that country.
"That is certainly our goal," said Vance.
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israeli forces would remain in southern Lebanon "as long as necessary", while also vowing to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
"We will remain in the security zone in southern Lebanon for as long as necessary to protect the cherished residents of the north and all the citizens of Israel... Nothing will alter that commitment," Netanyahu said.
"And with regard to Iran: whatever political developments may unfold, I will not allow Iran to acquire nuclear weapons. As long as I serve as prime minister of Israel, that will not happen." — AFP
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