Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Monday said that talks with the US on Iran’s nuclear program and the lifting of US sanctions on the Islamic Republic will begin in Switzerland on Friday after the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) meant to end the conflict in the region.
US officials said on Monday that the MOU has been signed “digitally,” but it will be formalized this Friday during a ceremony in Geneva that will be hosted by Pakistan, which served as a mediator between the two sides.
“On Friday, a meeting between the heads of the delegations of the two sides is likely to take place in Switzerland, and an MOU between Iran and the US will be signed, followed by the first round of subsequent negotiations,” Araghchi said, according to Iran’s Mehr news agency.
The formal signing of the MOU will begin a 60-day period of negotiations, which can be extended. Araghchi said that Iran is going into the talks with caution due to the US history regarding agreements with Iran.
“We have a history of broken promises, non-compliance, and the tearing up of agreements,” the Iranian diplomat said. Iran had been bombed twice, in June 2025 at the start of the 12-Day War, and on February 28 of this year by the US and Israel, while engaged in negotiations with the US.
Araghchi, Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, and US Vice President JD Vance are expected to attend the ceremony in Geneva, though the delegations haven’t yet been confirmed by either side.
The main obstacle to sealing the MOU and starting the negotiations appears to be Israel, as it refused to withdraw from southern Lebanon and continued attacks there on Monday, despite an end to the Israeli war in the country being included as part of the agreement.
