Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Army Chief Asim Munir, who have mediated cease-fire talks between the United States and Iran, headed to Switzerland to attend follow-up negotiations between the two countries.
On the 21st (local time), Bloomberg and others said Pakistan's Foreign Ministry announced that Prime Minister Sharif and Chief of Army Staff Munir left for Bürgenstock, Switzerland, the previous day to attend talks on implementing the U.S.-Iran cease-fire memorandum of understanding (MOU).
The Foreign Ministry said that during this round, Prime Minister Sharif is scheduled to hold separate bilateral meetings with the U.S. and Iranian delegations. It also reaffirmed its position that it will continue to support faithful implementation of the cease-fire MOU the two countries signed on the 17th.
Earlier, the Foreign Ministry issued a statement the previous day saying, "Follow-up working-level consultations under the MOU are scheduled to be held," and noted, "In addition to the U.S. and Iranian delegations, mediators including Pakistan and Qatar will attend."
Originally, under the cease-fire MOU, the United States and Iran were to begin formal negotiations on the 19th with the nuclear issue on the agenda. But as Israel continued airstrikes on Lebanon, the two sides' face-to-face meeting was postponed to this day.
On the U.S. side, Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the eldest son-in-law of President Donald Trump, recently arrived in Switzerland, followed by Vice President JD Vance, who departed for the venue the previous day. On the Iranian side, the delegation led by Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf was reported to have arrived in Switzerland.
At the end of February, as tensions in the Middle East rose after U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran, Pakistan took on the role of mediator and launched a diplomatic push. Prime Minister Sharif and Chief Munir even arranged the first U.S.-Iran cease-fire talks in Islamabad in April. However, those talks ended without results, and both the United States and Iran skipped the second round scheduled for the same month, leading to a pause in dialogue for a time.