Switzerland’s Foreign Ministry said Friday that the scheduled talks to implement the U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding have been “postponed,” according to a statement. The announcement came hours before the first round of negotiations was set to begin at the mountaintop resort of Burgenstock.
The ministry gave no reason for the postponement and did not provide a new date. “Switzerland remains ready to facilitate these talks,” it said. “The relevant preparatory work at Burgenstock is continuing.”
President Donald Trump signed the memorandum of understanding Wednesday while in Paris. Although the full text has not been made public, the MOU stipulates conditions including the United States lifting its naval blockade and Iran permitting commercial passage through the Strait of Hormuz.
The first round of implementation talks had been scheduled for Friday at Burgenstock. The location was proposed by mediators Pakistan and Qatar, as well as by the United States and Iran, with Switzerland acting as the facilitator.
The cause for the postponement was not immediately clear. A White House spokesperson told reporters that Vice President JD Vance would not be departing the United States to attend the talks. The spokesperson said that plans for the negotiations had not been finalized and that their logistics had “never been simple or predictable.”
“We look forward to beginning technical talks as soon as possible,” the spokesperson said.
The postponement is the latest disruption in a series of U.S.-Iran negotiations that have seen repeated stops and starts over recent months. The talks had been set to take place amid heightened military tensions, including U.S. threats of strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities and Iranian countermeasures in the Persian Gulf.