TYRE, Lebanon (AP) — U.S. and Iranian negotiators headed to a Swiss venue Saturday for talks on adding key details to their interim agreement to halt the war, hours after Tehran said it closed the Strait of Hormuz because of Israel’s attacks in Lebanon and warned that little might be achieved if the fighting doesn’t stop.
U.S. President Donald Trump, in response, unleashed a new threat to impose American tolls in the crucial waterway if a final deal with Iran isn’t reached in 60 days, saying the money would be for “services rendered as the Guardian Angel to the countries of the Middle East.” The agreement calls for toll-free travel for 60 days.
The announcements indicated a rough start to the technical-level talks that key mediator Pakistan said will begin Sunday, with Qatari mediators also participating.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance left for Switzerland on Saturday evening, just as Iranian state TV posted video showing Iran’s negotiators arriving there. They are led by parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf and include Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and central bank and oil officials, among others. The deal calls for billions of dollars of Iran’s assets to be unfrozen.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir also left for Switzerland late Saturday.
Talks were meant to start Friday, but the Iranians canceled plans to attend because of escalating fighting in Lebanon. Negotiators for the U.S. and Qatar, with help from Iran, worked out an agreement between Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group to tamp down hostilities, according to U.S. and regional officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly.
Vance told reporters he would be in Switzerland “for a day or two” but was optimistic about making progress in talks about Iran’s nuclear program and on a ceasefire in southern Lebanon. He earlier confirmed that top negotiators Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff were already in Switzerland.
But Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei told state TV that negotiations toward a final agreement will begin once key commitments are upheld. If they are not, “the memorandum of understanding as a whole will be jeopardized.”
The strait once again becomes a challenge
The strait has emerged again as a focus. Iran’s joint military command said it was closed because of the U.S. “clear breach of its commitments” by failing to end the war. The interim deal is meant to stop fighting on all fronts, including Lebanon.
The U.S. disputed Iran’s announcement.
“Iran does not control the Strait of Hormuz. Traffic continues to flow, and U.S. forces are monitoring the situation to ensure this remains the case,” said Capt. Tim Hawkins, a spokesperson for U.S. Central Command. The military said that 55 merchant ships transited Saturday with more than 17 million barrels of oil.
The global economy braced for more uncertainty.
Ships began transiting after the interim U.S.-Iran agreement was signed earlier in the week, a milestone that left plenty of questions unanswered. The U.S. lifted its blockade of Iran’s ports and now allows Tehran to sell its oil freely — terms that have left some in U.S. Congress asking whether the war was worth it.
The interim deal signed by Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian gives negotiators 60 days to reach a nuclear agreement, but the issue is intricate and the time can be extended.
Israeli attacks in Lebanon kill at least 16
Earlier Saturday, as mediators tried to get the parties to Switzerland, a Hezbollah official told The Associated Press that Iran informed the militant group that Tehran won’t reopen the strait until Israel announces publicly that it will comply with a “comprehensive ceasefire” in Lebanon and an end to military operations there. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak publicly.
The official said that Hezbollah would commit to a ceasefire if Israel does.
An Israeli military official, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with regulations, later said that the military had received “updated directives from the political echelon to cease fire.” The official said that the military is operating in a defensive manner in Lebanon, which includes the right to respond to Hezbollah attacks.
The official also said that five Israeli soldiers had been killed in the past 48 hours in southern Lebanon.
Neither Israel nor Hezbollah are signatories to the deal between the U.S. and Iran.
Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon on Saturday killed at least 16 people, including two children. Seven people were trapped under rubble after strikes hit the southern city of Nabatiyeh and nearby villages, Lebanon’s National News Agency said.
An Israeli military official said that Hezbollah fired more than 50 projectiles at Israeli forces in southern Lebanon overnight. Israel’s army said that it struck dozens of Hezbollah targets and militants.
The death toll in the latest Israel-Hezbollah war has surpassed 4,000, Lebanon’s health ministry later announced.
Hezbollah and Israel went to war two days after the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran on Feb. 28, with Hezbollah firing rockets and drones at northern Israel and Israel seizing large swaths of southern Lebanon.
A new round of U.S.-backed talks between the Lebanese government, and Israel is expected in Washington next week.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to keep Israeli forces in southern Lebanon until any threat to Israel is eliminated. Hezbollah has refused to halt its attacks unless Israel commits to withdrawing from Lebanon.
Fighting continues near the Israel-Lebanon border
The dead in Lebanon included parents and two children in Barish village. In Arab Salim village, a body was pulled from a destroyed house, and in Doueir and Kfar Rumman villages, drone strikes killed a person on a motorcycle and a Lebanese soldier. Nine people were killed in strikes in Qannarit, Sohmor and Shehour villages.
Israeli jets flew low over the coastal city of Tyre.
“Our entire lives would change if there’s a ceasefire,” said one resident, Hussein Khoshman.
Some residents of northern Israel doubted the fighting would stop.
“I don’t believe in a ceasefire because it doesn’t exist,” said Miriam Hod in Metula.
___
Mroue reported from Beirut, Ahmed from Islamabad and Kim from Washington. Abby Sewell in Beirut, Samy Magdy in Cairo, Konstantin Toropin in Washington, Josef Federman in Jerusalem, and Jamey Keaten in Zurich, Switzerland, contributed to this report.
___
A previous version of this story corrected the spelling of the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson’s last name to Baghaei, not Bagahei.

Nine people in critical condition after train crash
Twenty-eight people remain in hospital – nine of them in a critical condition – after a train crash near Bedford, police have said.
A train driver was killed and 100 people injured when two East Midlands Railway (EMR) services to London St Pancras collided at 17:15 BST on Friday.
Eleven people were very seriously injured, a further 32 were described as injured and 57 had minor injuries, East of England Ambulance Service confirmed.
Speaking near the scene on Saturday, Chief Constable Lucy D’Orsi of British Transport Police (BTP) said the crash was being investigated and asked people to refrain from speculating about what happened.
She said the force’s deepest condolences were with the driver’s family, his friends, and his colleagues.
“The driver’s family, as you would expect, are being supported by specially trained officers at this difficult time,” she added.
BTP declared a major incident following the collision, which took place at about 17:15 BST, just south of Elstow, near the road interchange of the A421 and A6.
EMR services to and from London St Pancras have been suspended throughout the weekend, with trains starting and ending journeys in Bedford.
“There will of course be a lot of questions as to what happened last night,” added D’Orsi.
“I would like to reassure everyone that specialist investigators from BTP are working with colleagues at the Rail Accident Investigation Branch to gather the facts and determine what has happened.
“They are extremely experienced, and I would ask that we all refrain from speculation.”
She praised all who responded to the incident for their “absolutely incredible work in tragic and challenging circumstances” and thanked local people who showed their “immense kindness” to passengers stranded on trains, and to casualties.
Multiple air ambulance helicopters, road vehicles and some 70 firefighters were involved in the immediate aftermath.
Will Rogers, managing director of EMR, said it was on the scene with Network Rail and emergency services to ensure those affected got the care and support they needed.
“This is a profoundly sad day for the rail community,” he added.
RMT general secretary Eddie Dempsey said the union was “devastated” to learn the driver, a former RMT rep, had died.
The two trains involved were the 16:40 EMR train from Corby and the 15:50 Nottingham to London St Pancras service.
Dr Peter Knapp, who was travelling in the front carriage of the train that went into the other, said: “When I got up, I saw all of the chairs everywhere. It felt like I’d been in a bomb explosion.
“When I got up, I saw people’s bloodied faces and people’s legs looked broken and there was smoke everywhere.”
Shola Mene said she heard a “big bang” and “people flew from their seats”.
“There was a lot of blood. A lot of people had facial injuries,” she added.
Teresa Itabor, from Wellingborough in Northamptonshire, said she had been heading to the capital to celebrate her birthday.
“We left Bedford station and there was a massive bang… I didn’t know what was going on. My head hit the seat in front of me,” she said.
“I opened my eyes and that’s when I saw people on the floor with blood everywhere.”
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said she was “deeply concerned” by the news of the collision and the death.
“We will make sure that there’s a thorough investigation done to establish how this collision happened and to ensure that lessons are learned so that we don’t have an incident like this ever again,” she said on Friday.
“The UK railways are some of the safest in the world,” she added. “It’s very unusual for this to happen on the network.”
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer described the incident as “deeply concerning”, adding: “My thoughts are with the family of the person who has sadly lost their life, and with those who have been seriously injured.”
EMR has advised travellers to use alternative routes over the weekend, saying tickets that had already been bought could be used at no extra cost to travel with other operators.

WASHINGTON — The effort by the U.S. and Iran to negotiate an end to the war has been defined by dramatic fits and starts and punctuated by missile strikes and naval blockades. Yet since a memorandum of understanding was brokered last weekend, the confusion has only grown.
The White House said the agreement had been signed on Sunday by Vice President JD Vance but then announced there would be another signing — this time with a ceremony — on Friday. Also on Sunday, President Donald Trump said he would “fully authorize” the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz in what he described as a “complete” deal. But an hour later, the president said the critical waterway would open once the deal was signed on Friday.
Trump administration officials offered conflicting messages on Monday about when the text of the memorandum would be released, with some saying within the next 24 to 48 hours and others saying not until Friday.
At one point, Trump said while in France for the Group of Seven summit that he might just read the text of the MOU aloud during a news conference. Instead, U.S. officials read the text on a call with reporters during Trump’s news conference.
Then, Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian suddenly re-signed the agreement, the U.S. leader doing so during a dinner at Versailles with French President Emmanuel Macron looking on. And now it’s unclear whether there will be a signing ceremony, or further talks, at all.
The lack of clarity over the proposed peace deal is only the latest murky point in the conflict since the U.S. and Israel launched attacks on Iran in February. Trump has offered shifting reasons for going to war with Iran and given different answers on what he hoped to get out of it. Both Iran and the U.S. have continued to launch strikes, even as leaders say a temporary ceasefire brokered in early April remains in place. Even the MOU differs from what Trump said he wanted out of a deal with Iran.
It comes as Americans are increasingly down on Trump’s handling of the war, with elevated gas prices and November’s midterm elections drawing near. And even some Trump-supporting Republicans in Congress are raising concerns about the 14-point MOU as a road map to a comprehensive Iran deal.
Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., wrote on X on Wednesday that President Ronald “Reagan is rolling over in his grave” and labeled the MOU “the worst foreign policy blunder in decades.”
Asked if he’s confident Iran will give up its nuclear ambitions, Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said on Tuesday, “Unless you were homeschooled by a day drinker, no one’s confident that Iran’s going to do anything.”
And Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who has been skeptical of the U.S. negotiating with Iran, posted on X that he spoke with U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and “it is my opinion that signing the MOU will be beneficial to the United States, in as much as the Strait of Hormuz will begin to open, and the hostilities with Iran will stop.”
Vance said Thursday that the 60-day clock for a long-term agreement had already started. But it took hours for the U.S. to say the critical Strait of Hormuz was open, a development that the MOU stipulates should have happened immediately, though the U.S. blockade of ships coming from or going to Iranian ports was lifted after the second MOU signing, according to U.S. Central Command.
“The traffic of commercial vessels will immediately start,” the MOU states.
The U.S. military does not have any reports of Iranian attacks against commercial ships in the strait on Friday, according to a U.S. official. U.S. forces would continue to operate in the area to support freedom of navigation, the official said, adding: “We’re not going to let commercial vessels get attacked.”
It also remains unclear whether the U.S. has issued sanctions waivers to allow Iran to sell its oil, which is also a provision in the MOU. “The United States of America undertakes that immediately upon the signing of this MOU, and until the termination of sanctions, U.S. Department of Treasury will issue waivers for the export of Iranian crude oil, petroleum products, and derivatives, and all associated services, including banking transactions, insurances, transportation, etc.,” it says.
The latest twist came on Thursday.
Officials from Tehran and Washington were set to meet in Switzerland on Friday to begin 60 days of negotiating a long-term deal designed to facilitate a lasting conclusion to the war. But new Israeli strikes in Lebanon cast doubt on the deal, and the White House abruptly announced that Vance had postponed plans to travel to Switzerland for the talks.
Iran asked for guarantees that hostilities in Lebanon would end, as outlined in the MOU, and mediators were working to resolve the issue, a regional diplomat told NBC News.
American spy agencies believe Israel will likely continue to launch attacks on Hezbollah forces in Lebanon, potentially jeopardizing the tentative peace deal between the U.S. and Iran, according to a source with knowledge of the intelligence assessments. And Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and officials in his government have criticized the MOU.
Trump, meanwhile, has publicly sought to convey optimism about the MOU and the prospect of a long-term deal.
“We have our deal done with Iran,” he said Tuesday during a meeting with the emir of Qatar while in France. “It goes to a second stage, which I think will be actually easier.”

A huge fire at a luxury beach resort in the Dominican Republic killed one woman and forced nearly 1,700 guests to be evacuated on Friday.
The woman was a 46-year old Italian tourist, the DAEH emergency services said in a statement to local media. It added that three people were taken to medical facilities and six others were treated on site.
Drone footage shows how widespread the fire was, with buildings spanning the Viva Wyndham Dominicus Beach in the town of Bayahibe on fire, and thick black smoke billowing into the air.
The cause of the early-morning blaze is not yet known, but an initial investigation found the flames spread quickly due to wind conditions and the flammable thatched roofs on some buildings.
The country’s Emergency Operations Center (COE) said the fire had been brought under control and guests had been moved to other hotels.
Italian news agency Ansa reported that the Italian ambassador to the Dominican Republic met the deceased woman’s husband at the hospital. The embassy is helping around 285 Italian tourists who were staying at the resort or nearby, issuing emergency passports to those whose travel documents were destroyed in the fire and arranging flights home.
Bayahibe, a popular resort town on the Caribbean coast, is known for its clear blue waters and sandy beaches.

The first peace talks between the United States and Iran were postponed Friday, as Vice President JD Vance canceled his planned travel to Switzerland and intense new Israeli strikes in Lebanon cast doubts on the deal to end the war.
The escalation in Lebanon came just days after the interim U.S.-Iran agreement was signed and as the two sides were set to sit down for their first negotiations to agree a lasting conclusion to the conflict started by the U.S. and Israel in late February.
The White House did not give a reason for the cancelation of Vance’s trip to the Swiss Alps. The talks that had been planned for Friday were meant to launch a 60-day period of negotiations to resolve key long-term issues and ensure a permanent end to the war.
Switzerland’s foreign ministry confirmed early Friday that the planned talks between the U.S., Iran, Qatar and Pakistan would not take place in the mountaintop resort of Bürgenstock.
“Switzerland remains ready to facilitate these talks,” the ministry said in a statement, adding that “relevant preparatory work” in Bürgenstock is continuing.
A White House spokesperson said late Thursday that Vance would not be traveling to Switzerland.
“As the Vice President said at his press conference, the plans for the upcoming technical talks have not been finalized, and the U.S. delegation has been prepared to depart at the first available opportunity,” the spokesperson said. “But the logistics of these negotiations have never been simple or predictable. As of now the Vice President is not departing tonight.”
The spokesperson added, “We look forward to beginning technical talks as soon as possible.”
Speaking at the White House earlier Thursday, Vance stressed that Israel had to “respect this peace process that is fundamentally good for them and good for the entire region.”
He also addressed President Donald Trump’s public frustration with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying that Israeli strikes in Lebanon when they were “right on the cusp of a major breakthrough in the agreement” were “not acceptable.”
In Lebanon, Israel said it targeted Tehran-backed militant group Hezbollah across the south of the country overnight and early Friday, killing at least 18 people, Lebanese health officials reported.
The Israeli military said four of its soldiers were killed and another five injured as Hezbollah also reported fighting in the area.
There was no immediate reaction from Iranian officials, with the country’s state media reporting on the postponement of the talks but not laying out the reasons for it.
Iran has warned that it would not abide by the agreement should Israel, which was left out of the peace talks, continue its deadly campaign in Lebanon.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei said that Trump brought about the interim agreement “out of desperation.”
In a statement released Thursday night on Telegram, Khamenei said he “held a different view” on the memorandum of understanding, but gave his permission anyway, adding that Iran won’t submit to any “excessive” American demands.
“It is self-evident that the in-person negotiations that will take place in the future will not mean acceptance of the enemy’s position,” he added.
The interim agreement includes reopening the key Strait of Hormuz trading route, after months of disruption for the global economy.
Brent crude steadied Friday but remained set for a more than 8% weekly decline given news of the deal.
NBC News analysis of marine traffic through the crucial waterway revealed a slow trickle of ships travelling through the strait Thursday and into Friday, as two Chinese and two Hong Kong owned ships and a Japanese crude oil tanker left the Persian Gulf, where they had been stuck since February.