JD Vance says US wants to 'transform relationship' with Iranian people as Trump threatens to hit Iran 'very hard again'
He hailed the first set of talks as a "historic meeting", declaring that President Donald Trump had asked him to "turn over a new leaf" with Iran
JD Vance has promised that the United States will "transform our relationship with the people of Iran" if the leadership stops being a driver of regional instability and abandons its nuclear ambitions.
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The US Vice President is in Switzerland to help with negotiations with the Iranian leadership, as well as Pakistan and Qatar, in a bid to stop Tehran from pursuing a nuclear weapons programme.
He hailed the first set of talks as a "historic meeting", declaring that President Donald Trump had asked him to "turn over a new leaf" with Iran.
The negotiations are part of a wider approach to bring the conflict to a close.
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Mr Vance said: "What the President has asked us to do is turn over a new leaf, to transform our relationship with the people of Iran and to extend an outstretched hand that says to the people of Iran that if your leadership is willing to give up being a driver of regional instability, if they are willing to give up nuclear weapons ambitions for the long term, then the United States is willing to fundamentally transform our relationship with that country.
"That is certainly our goal.
"We've already made great progress over just the last few hours, and I expect that we'll make additional progress in the hours to come."
It follows a framework agreed by both the US and Iran last week, providing negotiators with a 60-day window to reach a conclusion on the technical details.
Despite this, the first days of the agreement have been littered with heavy exchange of fire in Lebanon between Israel and the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah.
On Saturday, Trump hailed the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz as a "win", adding that ships are flowing through the waterway as "nobody has ever seen before".
Shortly after this, Iranian state media reported that its country's leadership had closed the Strait, citing "ceasefire violations" by both the US and Israel.
It said that the closure was the "first step" in response to what it described as breaches of commitments and warned that further measures would be taken if "aggression" continued.
Mr Vance continued: "I think that the President of the United States and the United States of America have done more to stop the conflict in Lebanon than any government anywhere in the world over the last few months, and we're going keep on working towards it.
"As I think a lot of you appreciate, peace is never easy. Peace always requires a little bit of work. It always requires a little bit of give and take.
"But the President is committed not just to peace between the United States and Iran, the President is committed to a regional peace, which is why we're here working so hard to settle our issues."
As JD Vance was celebrating the steps being taken by the US and Iranian leadership in Switzerland to bring the conflict to a close, Trump was sharing social media posts threatening Iran.
He wrote on Truth Social: "Iran must immediately stop their highly paid PROXIES in Lebanon from causing trouble.
"If they don’t, we’ll hit Iran very hard again, just like we did last week, only harder!!!"