Iran halts four-party technical talks in Switzerland after Trump threat, foreign ministry spokesperson says

Iran has suspended a quadrilateral technical meeting in Switzerland involving the U.S., Iran, Qatar and Pakistan after U.S. President Donald Trump publicly threatened to hit Iran “very hard” over its “highly paid proxies in Lebanon,” according to Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson. He said discussions had continued on licences for Iranian oil sales, the release of frozen Iranian assets and a maritime security mechanism for the Strait of Hormuz, with progress reported on the oil and assets issues. Qatar and Pakistan sought to keep the talks in a four-party format, but Iran declined. The pause leaves key implementation arrangements stalled despite technical progress, adding uncertainty to efforts tied to Iranian oil exports.