MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
Talks between the U.S. and Iran - talks that were scheduled to take place in Switzerland today - have been postponed. That is because of continued Israeli attacks in Lebanon. Those attacks killed at least 47 people today. They injured close to 100. That is according to Lebanese health officials. A senior U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told NPR, Israel and Hezbollah have agreed to a ceasefire, but the fighting appears to continue. Meanwhile, journalists, including NPR's very own Rob Schmitz, continue to wait for peace talks to begin in the Swiss city of Lucerne. Hey there, Rob.
ROB SCHMITZ, BYLINE: Hey, Mary Louise.
KELLY: Hey, so I guess there are worse places to have to cool your heels and...
SCHMITZ: (Laughter).
KELLY: ...Wait for negotiations. But talk me through this day. We're supposed to see leaders, including JD Vance, start negotiating the terms of this peace agreement between President Trump and Iran. That didn't happen. Where do things stand?
SCHMITZ: So the first article of Trump's peace plan with Iran promises to ensure Lebanon's territorial integrity, but that is very difficult to accomplish for a couple of reasons, Mary Louise. First, Israel's military continues to occupy a swath of Southern Lebanon. And secondly, Israel continued to bombard that region with military strikes earlier today, the same day JD Vance and his Iranian counterparts were supposed to be here in Lucerne to finalize this tentative deal to end the war. And as you mentioned, Lebanon's health ministry says Israel's military killed at least 47 people, including at least a dozen women and children in airstrikes overnight.
For its part, Israel says four of its soldiers were killed in fighting. You know, we've had reports of a ceasefire between the two, but Israel is still occupying Southern Lebanon, something Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says it will continue to do. And all of this seems to be getting in the way of this peace plan that the U.S. and Iran were supposed to sign here in Lucerne today, and that's why neither JD Vance nor the Iranian delegation has showed up here.
KELLY: So I want to understand the link here. I mean, is the sense that if Israel and Hezbollah would actually commit to a ceasefire - and it could hold - on Lebanon, that we would see the U.S. and Iran go ahead and meet and discuss the U.S.-Iran ceasefire deal?
SCHMITZ: Well, from people I'm talking to, yes. I think these peace talks, whenever they happen, will be predicated on a halt of Israeli military action in Lebanon, as well as from Iran and the U.S. These are the players here. And if one of these countries continues to attack any of the others, then we're not likely going to see much progress. I spoke to Laura Blumenfeld, a senior fellow at Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies about this. Here's what she said.
LAURA BLUMENFELD: The U.S. is clashing with Iran over control of the strait, but Israel is clashing with Iran over control of Lebanon. And I think that the common theme here - for the U.S., it's about the economy. For Israel, it's about security. But in both cases, Iran is flexing and testing the limits of what it considers to be its win.
SCHMITZ: And Mary Louise, Blumenfeld mentions here, Iran's leaders consider Trump's preliminary deal to be a win because the U.S. has promised to remove its naval blockade. And if Iran complies with this deal, the U.S. has promised to pay Iran at least $300 billion for its reconstruction and development.
KELLY: Rob, just about 30 seconds left, but where does Israel's role stand here? Like, will President Trump be able to restrain Netanyahu?
SCHMITZ: You know, this is why these negotiations that were supposed to take place here in Lucerne this weekend are so important. There are so many details that the U.S. and Iran need to hash out here, and Israel's conduct is key in all of this. Blumenfeld told me she thinks the Iranians won't begin talking with the Americans until Israel stops attacking Lebanon, but she says there's a quiet agreement between Israel and Iran that Israel can act in its own self-defense. But as we've seen, Netanyahu's concept of self-defense is seen by much of the rest of the international community as going way too far.
KELLY: NPR's Rob Schmitz, reporting and cooling his heels in Lucerne, Switzerland. Thank you, Rob.
SCHMITZ: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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