By The South Asia Times

BÜRGENSTOCK, Switzerland -  US Vice President JD Vance on Sunday said significant progress had been made in talks with Iran as American and Iranian delegations launched technical negotiations in Switzerland aimed at implementing the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding and reducing tensions across the Middle East.

Speaking at the opening of the talks in Bürgenstock, Vance praised US President Donald Trump’s leadership and said the negotiations marked a potentially historic turning point in relations between Iran, the United States and the wider region.

“First of all, I want to thank the President of the United States. He has empowered us to find a diplomatic resolution to a host of issues that matter to the American people, but I think the world,” Vance said.

He argued that key objectives had already been achieved, including the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and the end of Iran’s nuclear weapons ambitions.

“The question before us now is how much more can we accomplish together? Can we turn over a new leaf?” he said.

Vance described the talks as part of a broader effort to reshape regional dynamics through diplomacy.

“What we're trying to accomplish here is very simple — through diplomacy, through working together, to transform the Middle East, where Iran and the Gulf have been at war with each other, or at least have had very unfriendly relations,” he said.

“Now we see a future where everybody can work together to promote peace and prosperity for everyone.”

The US vice president said negotiations had started positively.

“We've already made great progress over just the last few hours, and I expect that we'll make additional progress in the hours to come,” he said.

Vance stressed that Sunday's meeting marked the beginning of a technical negotiation process rather than an attempt to resolve every outstanding dispute immediately.

“What today really represents is the beginning of a technical negotiation that's not going to solve every disagreement, but is going to allow us to sit together as teams for the first time really in history, to figure out what matters most to the respective parties, settle those issues, solve those issues, and get to a better tomorrow,” he said.

He added that the presence of senior political leaders was intended to establish a framework for the negotiations and provide support to negotiators working through difficult issues.

The talks were formally opened by Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, whose countries are serving as mediators under the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding signed on June 17.

Vance credited Pakistan, Qatar and other regional partners for helping advance the diplomatic process.

“We found great partners in working with the Qataris, the Pakistanis, our friends in Israel. We're all working towards regional peace,” he said.

Addressing concerns about reported Israeli ceasefire violations in Lebanon, Vance said Washington remained committed to preserving stability.

“We've seen great progress over the last couple of days in ensuring that the ceasefire holds in Lebanon,” he said, acknowledging that ceasefire implementation could be “a little bit messy” but insisting that conditions had improved significantly compared with recent months.

For his part, Prime Minister Sharif expressed optimism about the negotiations.

“I think here we will have wonderful discussions which will lead to, hopefully, very productive results in times to come,” he said.

Pakistan's mediation efforts have been widely credited with helping bring Washington and Tehran to the negotiating table, culminating in the signing of the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding earlier this month. Sunday's talks are expected to focus on implementation mechanisms and confidence-building measures aimed at advancing the next phase of U.S.-Iran engagement.