Iran refuses to turn up to sign Donald Trump's landmark peace deal

A signing ceremony for the US-Iran peace deal has been postponed after the Tehran delegation refused to travel to the event in Switzerland.

The White House confirmed Vice President JD Vance would not depart tonight but remain ready to begin the next phase of negotiations.

The Iranian delegation is believed to have missed the opportunity over Israeli military action in Lebanon.

Pakistani sources, who mediated talks, chalked up the delay to both countries signing the deal remotely but said representatives are still expected to meet for further talks.

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"Plans for the upcoming technical talks have not been finalised and the US delegation has been prepared to depart at the first available opportunity,” the White House said.

"But the logistics of these negotiations have never been simple or predictable. As of now the Vice President is not departing tonight.

"We will let you know as soon as we have a concrete update about next steps. We look forward to beginning technical talks as soon as possible."

The Swiss Foreign Ministry added a new date for the talks had not been provided. “Switzerland remains ready to facilitate these talks. The relevant preparatory work at Burgenstock is continuing."

The agreement between the two nations centres around 14 core points, including the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, and the requirement for Iran to surrender nuclear weapon capabilities.

Both sides are also bound to achieve a final deal within the next 60 days, which could be extended with mutual consent.

After pen hit paper on the deal, Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei said that despite having a "different view" to US President DonaldTrump, he had committed to cooperate after assurances from Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian.

On the circumstances that led to a deal being struck, Mr Khamenei said the US President had "out of desperation, used all kinds of leverage".

The Supreme Leader's absence did not come as a shock to many, as he has not been seen in public since taking office in March following the killing of his father and predecessor, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

After the deal was sealed in writing, Mr Trump posted to his Truth Social platform that he expects a ceasefire to take effect "on all fronts", including between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

US Vice-President JD Vance said he is likely to head to Switzerland for "technical negotiations", but that Iran was "not an easy country to get out of", so no plans are set in stone.

A White House spokesperson said the US was "looking forward to beginning technical talks as soon as possible".

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Republican Senator Bill Cassidy described the newly struck agreement as the "worst foreign policy blunder in decades".

"Iran's nuclear ambitions were not curbed, and they have learned that threatening the Strait of Hormuz works," he said.

Mr Vance defended the deal on Thursday, claiming Iran is incentivised to meet its obligations set out in the agreement through conditional sanctions relief.

He said the deal, known as the Memorandum of Understanding, requires Iran to destroy its stockpile of enriched uranium and show it will not fund proxy groups in the region.

The Vice President said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ought to "wake up and smell the reality", as the nation contends its limited role in negotiations.

"If I was in the cabinet of the Israeli government, I might not be attacking the only powerful ally that I have anywhere left in the entire world," the Vice-President told reporters.

"I guess my response to them would be - what is your exact proposal? You're a country of nine million people. You can't just kill your way out of solving every single national security problem that you have."

Mr Netanyahu himself stressed the importance of keeping close ties with the US, as the two nations had stood "shoulder to shoulder" during the conflict.

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