Middle East crisis live: Iran’s negotiating team leaves Switzerland after ‘constructive progress’ in first round of talks

In a post on X on Monday morning following the end of the first session of talks in Switzerland, Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said “major progress” had been made to end Israel’s war in Lebanon.

He wrote: “Oil and petrochem exports are waived, blockade lifted, some frozen assets released, and major reconstruction & development plan launched for Iran. 1st real test: Lebanon deconfliction cell.”

Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, vowed yesterday to keep Israeli troops in the so-called “security zone” in southern Lebanon “for as long as necessary”, claiming this is to protect northern Israel from Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Lebanese militant group.

“As prime minister of Israel, I insist on this unequivocally, and nothing will change it,” seemingly referring to his increasingly strained relationship with the US president, Donald Trump, who has said Netanyahu has been using disproportionate force in the attacks against Hezbollah, in which civilians are often killed. Trump is demanding the Israeli airstrikes stop in Lebanon because the negotiations with Iran will be derailed again if they don’t.

Last week, Israel announced the “security zone” in southern Lebanon, which comprises hundreds of square miles of territory. Lebanese officials have demanded a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces, something Iran said was required by the memorandum of understanding.