JAKARTA - Vice President JD Vance hopes that the United States and Iran can improve their relations, at the beginning of what he called a "historic" talk in Switzerland on Sunday.
Vice President Vance, accompanied by US negotiators Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, was at the Burgenstock resort overlooking Lake Lucerne for talks with Tehran negotiators on an initial US-Iranian deal to stop the war in the Middle East.
"This is a historic meeting," Vance said in the negotiation room, which was set up for the US team on one side and for the Iranian delegation on the other, launching Al Arabiya and AFP (22/6).
"The question that now lies before us is how much more can we achieve together?" he continued.
"Can we open a new page? Can we permanently change relations in the Middle East?" asked Vice President Vande.
"Or do we go back to doing things the old way, which is not our choice, but of course it is something that is very possible," he said.
As previously reported, Switzerland hosted a meeting in an effort to end the escalation in the Middle East between Iran and the United States, with Pakistani and Qatari mediators or the Lake Lucerne Summit at the Burgenstock Resort, Sunday (21/6).
Citing CNN, the meeting focused on the Strait of Hormuz, nuclear weapons, the situation in Lebanon, and the structure of the 60-day negotiation period according to a diplomat.
The meeting was held following the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding, which consists of 14 points and was signed by President Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian last week.
The Iranian delegation was led by the Speaker of Parliament and chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Galibaf along with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
Meanwhile, Pakistan is led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Qatar is led by Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.
The negotiating table is arranged in a U-shape, with Qatar and the United States on one side, Pakistan and Iran on the other - each with three seats.
Pakistan and Qatar each also have one seat in the middle, at the end of the table.
PM Sharif was accompanied by PM Mohammed when the mediators delivered the opening remarks.
"I think we will have a wonderful discussion that, hopefully, will produce very productive results in the future," said PM Sharif.
"Hopefully when we return home, we will hold a beautiful piece of paper that will promote peace, progress, and prosperity around the world," he added.
During the meeting, US President Donald Trump threatened to strike Iran again if it could not reach an agreement
Vice President Vance said what President Trump "is asking us to do is to start a new page to change our relationship with the Iranian people."
President Trump wants to "extend a hand to the Iranian people that says if your leadership is willing to give up its role as a driver of regional instability, if they're willing to give up their nuclear weapons ambitions for the long term, then the United States is willing to fundamentally change our relationship with that country."
"That is certainly our goal," said Vice President Vance.
Following President Trump's threat, the Iranian delegation in Switzerland protested to the US. Although negotiations have stalled, both sides say the meeting is not over.
The English, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and French versions are automatically generated by the AI. So there may still be inaccuracies in translating, please always see Indonesian as our main language. (system supported by DigitalSiber.id)
