White House envoy Steve Witkoff is making his way to Switzerland, where the first round of talks with Iran on a potential nuclear deal is expected to take place, Axios reported on Friday, citing a US official.
The official stated that Trump's envoy Jared Kushner is already in Switzerland.
Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed Bin Abdul Rahman al-Thani, who is one of the key mediators between the US and Iran, arrived in Switzerland earlier on Friday.
The talks were supposed to begin on Friday but Tehran froze its delegation’s departure, citing ongoing Israeli military operations targeting Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.
The pro-Iranian, Hezbollah-linked Lebanese media outlet Al-Mayadeen reported that the Iranian government explicitly signaled to Washington and international intermediaries that Lebanese territorial security remains a non-negotiable, fundamental pillar of its participation in the broader peace framework.
US Vice President JD Vance was expected to lead the US delegation, but postponed his trip at the last minute on Thursday night, after Iran said it would not attend. Axios noted that it is unclear at this time if Vance will make the trip this weekend.
The development comes after a senior US official told Reuters that Israel and Hezbollah had agreed to a ceasefire which took effect at 4:00 p.m. local time.
US President Donald Trump told NBC News later on Friday that he spoke with Israel and asked the Jewish state to agree to a ceasefire in Lebanon.
“It’s a positive," he told the network, adding, “It’s a little icing on the cake." He declined to specify whether he had talked to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu directly.
Trump also said that he expects Vance to end up going to Switzerland for peace talks with Iran at some point.
(Arutz Sheva-Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)