NPR News: 06-20-2026 1PM EDT

Nora Raum· Host0:01

Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Nora Raum. Pakistani officials who have been mediating the talks between US and Iran on ending the war in Iran, along with Qatar, say the negotiations will resume tomorrow in Switzerland. Vice President JD Vance told Fox News today the US envoy, Steve Witkoff, and Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, are there now. He says he plans to join them.

J.D. Vance· Soundbite0:25

I expect that I will leave sometime in the next couple of days, but, you know, it's always a delicate coordination dance- Right ... and the diplomatic protocols. I gotta be honest with you, I don't really understand these things. Uh, I've never been a, uh, particularly into diplomatic protocols. [laughs] My attitude is, "Let's get on the ground and actually fix these problems."

Nora Raum· Host0:42

Right.

J.D. Vance· Soundbite0:42

But they wanna do a delicate dance. The Qataris and the Pakistanis wanna make sure that we do this in the right way, so I'm trying to be respectful. Given my, my position of the last year and a half, I have to care about diplomatic protocols.

Nora Raum· Host0:54

Vance says the Iranians are in a much weaker position, that the Iranian military is now destroyed. He said Iran's nuclear program is also destroyed, but the US must ensure it won't be rebuilt. Iran says it has again closed the Strait of Hormuz, blaming the US for Israeli attacks in Lebanon it says violate the preliminary agreement signed this week. NPR's Jane Arraf has more.

Jane Arraf1:19

Iran says it closed the strait to shipping traffic due to what it calls breaches of the tentative agreement it reached with the US, the failure to ensure Israel adheres to a ceasefire in