Vance Delays Switzerland Trip as Iran Stalls Talks and Hezbollah Escalates Attacks on Israel
Israel retaliates after Hezbollah strike killed 4 IDF soldiers in southern Lebanon.
Vice President JD Vance postponed his trip to the U.S.-Iran talks in Switzerland following reports that the Iranian delegation was refusing to attend.
“The White House said Thursday night that Vice President JD Vance was delaying a trip to Switzerland, where he’d been set to lead a new round of negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program — raising questions about what’s next for the tentative agreement to end the war,” the Associated Press reported.
According to Arab media, Iran is stalling negotiations to strengthen the strategic position of Hezbollah, Iran’s proxy terrorist group in Lebanon.
“The announcement followed a report from Al-Mayadeen, a pan-Arab satellite channel that is politically allied with the Iranian-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, that Iran was delaying sending its delegation to Switzerland over Israel’s ongoing military campaign in Lebanon,” the news agency added.
The news comes days after President Donald signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Iran, paving the way for a 60-day negotiation window for a final agreement. The agreement requires Israel to halt counter-terrorism operations against the terrorist group and withdraw from southern Lebanon’s security buffer zone — a move opposed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government. It also outlines a $300 billion fund for Iran in exchange for nuclear concessions.
WATCH: IDF conducted strikes across southern Lebanon, throughout the night, in response to Hezbollah violations
— i24NEWS English (@i24NEWS_EN) June 19, 2026
Lebanon state-run media reports 16 people killed in the strikes pic.twitter.com/2aLsGCRKHy
Israel retaliates after Hezbollah strike killed 4 IDF soldiers
Emboldened by the initial U.S.-Iran agreement, Hezbollah stepped up rocket and drone attacks on Israel. “Hezbollah said its fighters were engaged in fresh clashes with the Israeli military today,” The Guardian (UK) reported Thursday night.
Four Israeli soldiers were reported killed when a Hezbollah drone or anti-tank missile struck a tank in southern Lebanon, initial reports suggest. “The IDF announced that Lieutenant Colonel Dor Gedalia Ben Simhon was killed in combat overnight while fighting in southern Lebanon. The 32-year-old from Beit Hashita was a commander of the 52nd Battalion, the ‘Iron Footsteps’ formation,” Israeli TV channel i24NEWS reported Friday morning. “He died alongside three other soldiers after a suspicious target hit a tank in the area of the village of Tebnit.”
‼️ ANOTHER BLATANT CEASEFIRE VIOLATION: As a result of an explosive drone impact in southern Lebanon, an IDF reserve officer was severely injured, and 3 reserve NCOs & an NCO were lightly injured.
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) June 19, 2026
This incident follows numerous blatant ceasefire violations by Hezbollah. Just… https://t.co/I0LgRUk8sH
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) struck Hezbollah terror targets following overnight rocket attacks. The Israeli military announced Friday morning that “in response to repeated violations of the ceasefire by the Hezbollah terrorist organization, which continues to advance and execute terror attacks against IDF soldiers, the IDF struck Hezbollah infrastructure sites in the Beqaa Valley.” The military “carried out strikes overnight and this morning on Hezbollah operatives and infrastructure across southern Lebanon,” The Times of Israel confirmed.
Heavy IDF strikes across southern Lebanon. pic.twitter.com/ZLQY669YIi
— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) June 19, 2026
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Comments
And so the end of the ceasefire begins.
Keep them stalled.
“Talks” are only to isolate Israel.
Is anyone surprised that irgc is stalling the talks over Lebanon? They need hezbollah to be a constant threat to Israel. Because hamas has been neutered and the houthis are not really a threat either. I’m sure the dramatic drop in oil and gas prices made the irgc lose leverage too.
This is like watching a rerun.
You know how the movie’s gonna turn out but you watch anyway.
If you dance with the Devil, it is only a matter of time before he grabs your crotch.
I can’t for the life of me understand why Vance and the other negotiators didn’t demand that Lebanon be taken off the table, entirely.
Lebanon is not Iran, and, Iran’s meddling in that country’s affairs, its destruction and death wrought, and its sponsorship of terrorist group, Hezb’allah, should have fairly resulted in the negotiators telling Iran to stick their demand to tie Israel’s hands in Lebanon where the Sun don’t shine.
Iran’s goal is to drive a wedge between the U.S. and Israel, as well as to isolate Israel, diplomatically and culturally.
Iran sees what’s happening, in the US — nazi/communist/Islamofascist/Muslim supremacist Dhimmi-crats ceaselessly, dishonestly and vociferously vilifying Israel, for its alleged “colonial-settler” usurpations, “genocide” and “apartheid, while a small but loud contingent of “conservatives” unfairly vilify Israel for allegedly dragging the U.S. into middle eastern wars and for causing the U.S. to incur the enmity of Islamic states.
They are succeeding with their effort to split up the relationship between the US and Israel. I see it online at many different sites that never had anti-Semitic comments before. Throw in all of Europe and most of the Democrats and you have almost total condemnation of Israel’s action in Lebanon. I do not believe Trump and his crew understand that Israel is fighting for their lives and not an agreement. They cannot tolerate missiles and drones bombing them nightly without a response. Iran could stop this in one minute but will not unless forced.
“Iran could stop this in one minute but will not unless forced.”
I don’t think it’s as easy as that anymore. We took out their first, second and third layers of succession and even hezbollah doesn’t know who’s in charge anymore.
Must disagree that Trump and his team do not understand “Israel is fighting….”
Of course Trump understands that, everything he has done demonstrates that.
There is too much speculation and cud-chewing over the “deal” aka MOU which is why Trump likely decided not to release it sooner. He knew hysterics would ensue as they most certainly have.
Israel has done an exceedingly bad job at public relations. The arabs all and all have done a good if not great job. Most people who favor the muslims don’t understand either the history of the middle east or the problems faced by the people who live there, the disinformation shoved out by idiots such as Pecker doesn’t help and has been effective.
You do understand that all negotiations begin with a set of parameters from the Boss that outline what those people doing the negotiations are allowed to offer, what they can concede, what minimum concessions they must gain and what the basic agreement they gotta come back with looks like before they enter the negotiations?
The folks doing the negotiating ain’t freelancing or making things up as they go. They are operating on the guidelines and instructions given to them by President Trump. If it wasn’t acceptable to Trump he would have rejected it. Instead he signed off his acceptance of the terms.
Chief, it doesn’t matter what “terms” you establish or agree to, when you’re dealing with intrinsically dishonest, mendacious, hateful, belligerent, deceitful and greasy Islamofascist terrorists — surely you understand the plain truth of that premise and reality?
Iran has no intention of abiding by any “terms,” of any “agreement,” “MOU” or other document, so why engage in this farce, at all?
Tucker Carlson, Candace Owens, Megyn Kelley, Nick Fuentes, Carrie Prejean Boller, and J.D. Vance.
Catholic Integralists.
Unlike others, I was content to trust the administration’s discretion in implementing the MOU. But if the Iranian terrorist state insists on doing this the hard way, I’m good with that too. More than good actually.
Trump can bomb away given the anticipated “bad behavior” of Iran.
Sigh. I knew it. They’re gonna force us to bomb the living hell out of them again, aren’t they?
The fundamental problem is that they are still tribal people. They are essentially a cargo cult, both addicted to the material goods the West provides and desiring to go back to a primitive (and savage) social structure.
Mostly true for the.Arab oil States, less so for the Iranians who fall back upon a long history of their own civilization and culture. Persia looms large for the Iranians who are kinda arrogant about it, looking down on Arabs as being 3 or 4 generations away from uneducated tribesmen wandering around in the desert who merely traded their horses/camels for Mercedes/Range Rover. Kinda like how elitist WASP in the North East USA look down on rural America as a bunch of racist, dumb rubes and uneducated hicks ‘bitterly clinging’.
Small arab population as it turns out.
Major Ethnic Groups
Persians (Fars): Approximately 61% of the population, primarily in central and eastern Iran, including major cities like Tehran, Esfahan, Mashhad, Yazd, and Shiraz. They are predominantly Shia Muslims and speak Persian (Farsi), the official language of Iran
.
Azeris (Azerbaijanis): Around 16–18%, mainly in northwestern Iran near the Azerbaijan border. They are Turkic-speaking and mostly Shia Muslims
.
Kurds: About 10%, concentrated in western mountainous regions. Kurds are split between Shia and Sunni Islam, with some groups historically seeking regional autonomy
.
Lurs: Found in western Iran, particularly in the Zagros Mountains, they are Iranian-speaking and mostly Shia
.
Baloch: Approximately 2%, living in southeastern Iran near the Pakistan border. They are Sunni Muslims and speak Balochi
.
Arabs: Around 1–2%, mainly in southwestern Khuzestan province. They are Arabic-speaking and mostly Shia
Small Arab population in Iran? Well, yeah. The Arabs are primarily located in the Arabian Peninsula. The Iranians would be insulted if you lumped them into the same grouping with Arabs.
There’s a great deal of social/cultural hierarchy within/among the Middle Eastern Muslim Nations/Population; a soft caste system. (Oversimplified) Generally the Nations in the Levant stand atop, the Iraqis on the bottom, everyone else in between (-) the Iranians (Persians) off to the side looking down nose at all the rest of them.
Suggest that this is playing out according to Trump’s plan. He can now bomb away, having done virtually everything possible, including alienating Bibi if reports are true, without being accused of being a cold-hearted warmonger. The Left will call him that anyway, though.
**THIS**
In no way do I think Trump was ‘duped’ on anything. His plan is working like he knew it would, but, whether he likes it or not, he’s a politician and needs to politic in order to please the world.
More bombs are called for but, hey, he tried, right?
We find out in November after the midterms. While I hope the next use of force is continuous, relentless and ruthlessly delivered without pause until we get the ‘unconditional surrender’ Trump declared to be the new goal midstream …I have my doubts. I do think you are correct to point out that this might be a ‘strategic pause’ that Trump will use to build oil inventory from now to Nov to give the necessary cushion to withstand a prolonged 60-90 bombing campaign to make Iran quit, get past midterm elections, keep oil/fuel costs in check till Nov, lessen the inflationary impact on the economy to combat the ‘affordability’ drumbeat the d/prog are using to nationalize the midterms and yes absolutely to be able to point to this pause as ‘we did everything possible to avoid destroying Iranian infrastructure’.
I really don’t understand this argument. Iran honoring a ceasefire agreement has all the self-control of a new puppy getting a Milk-Bone balanced on his nose. Iran won’t last two weeks, never mind November. Then what — Trump has to wait until after November to respond to them? If this is the game Trump is playing, his hand is going to get called WAY before midterms.
Gee, where have I seen this scenario written out? Only the last piece is missing but the day is young still.