Iran-US agreement: what will happen in Switzerland?

There will probably be no official ceremony tomorrow, 19 June, in Switzerland to mark the signing of the agreement between Iran and the United States that will lead to a ceasefire between the two countries after almost four months of war. At least that is how it appears, given that the spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Esmail Baghaei, has ruled out any form of celebration for the signing of the memorandum of understanding, which has already taken place digitally. And the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Shehbaz Sharif, initially referred to a ceremony in a post on X but subsequently deleted the post. This is despite the fact that, until yesterday, the US media were reporting that a signing ceremony would take place and that Vice-President JD Vance and the Speaker of the Iranian Parliament Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf would be in attendance. However, there has been no confirmation of the meeting and it is unclear at this stage whether it will take place, although it has not yet been entirely ruled out.

Tomorrow at Burgenstock, a resort near Lake Lucerne , the first talks on the Iranian nuclear issue between Washington and Tehran are nevertheless set to begin; their 60-day duration “is not set in stone”, Donald Trump clarified from Paris. The Swiss government has confirmed the start of the talks, adding that “as things stand, the plan still envisages that the United States and Iran, together with the mediators Pakistan and Qatar and other countries involved, will meet tomorrow at Burgenstock for initial negotiations on the implementation of the agreement”. In a statement, the Swiss Foreign Ministry said that “no further information is currently available regarding the agenda and details of the meeting”.

In Switzerland, therefore – at least according to the initial plans – the agreement was also due to be signed in person; however, this was brought forward last night, with Trump signing in Paris and the Iranian president signing in Tehran. According to the American website Axios, this acceleration was driven by the need to swiftly reopen the Strait of Hormuz and by political pressure on the White House to disclose the terms of the agreement. Axios quotes a diplomat from a mediating country and a second source familiar with the matter, who had already reported on Wednesday that ongoing discussions regarding the possibility of signing and implementing the agreement ahead of schedule.

To ensure the security of tomorrow’s meeting, Switzerland has mobilised 2,000 soldiers, the government said in a press release. Airspace restrictions will also be imposed. The Bürgenstock offers organisers a venue that can be easily cordoned off for high-risk guests. For this reason, it was chosen to host a summit on Ukraine in 2024, which welcomed heads of government from around the world.