Tolga Akbaba and Muhammed Kilic
21 June 2026•Update: 21 June 2026
A member of Iran’s negotiating team said Sunday that Tehran and Washington have finalized a draft covering the temporary lifting of sanctions on Iranian oil exports during talks held in Switzerland.
Hossein Ghorbanzadeh said the remaining provisions of the memorandum of understanding between Iran and the US “will not enter into force” unless a final settlement is reached to end the war in Lebanon, Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reported.
According to Ghorbanzadeh, the discussions in Switzerland extended beyond the main negotiations to include separate technical meetings addressing technical issues.
“Those technical talks concluded with the finalization of a draft concerning the temporary easing of sanctions imposed on Iranian oil exports,” he added.
Ghorbanzadeh also said the Iranian delegation discussed the release of frozen Iranian assets during meetings with the Qatari delegation.
Earlier Sunday, talks between the US and Iran opened at the Burgenstock resort in Switzerland under the framework of the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding, which aims to pave the way for a permanent end to the US-Israeli war on Iran.
On June 14, Iran and the US announced they had reached a 14-point understanding through Pakistani mediation aimed at ending the war and resolving disputes through dialogue and negotiations.
The memorandum entered into force on June 18 after being electronically signed by Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and US President Donald Trump.
Its provisions include ending hostilities on all fronts, including in Lebanon, reopening the Strait of Hormuz and lifting the US naval blockade imposed on Iran.
*Writing by Mohammad Sio in Istanbul
