Tehran’s negotiators opened the first round near Lucerne on June 21 insisting on a recognised right to enrich, upfront sanctions and frozen-asset relief, and an end to Israeli attacks before the substantive nuclear track can proceed.
Iran entered the opening round of the 60-day nuclear talks near Lucerne on Sunday with a hardened set of conditions, after President Masoud Pezeshkian declared that Tehran would not surrender its core demand. “What is certain is that we will never back down from the right to enrich uranium, and the other side is also forced to accept it,” Pezeshkian said, per Iranian state media cited by PBS NewsHour and the Sunday Guardian, which reported he paired the pledge with an offer to guarantee Iran would never build a weapon.
The most immediate red line voiced on June 21 was not nuclear but military. Parliament Speaker and lead negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf cast an end to Israeli strikes on Lebanon as a precondition, with Al Jazeera reporting Tehran treats the Switzerland session as separate from the formal memorandum process because Clause 1 — an “immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon” — has not been met. Ghalibaf, responding to fresh threats from President Trump, wrote on X that “our armed forces are prepared to respond to them in a different manner,” according to PBS NewsHour.
Tehran also signalled it would use the Strait of Hormuz as leverage tied to the strikes. Iran’s military claimed on Saturday it had again closed the waterway, citing Israeli attacks on Hezbollah as a violation of the deal — a claim the US military rejected, saying the strait remained open, as reported by the Times of Israel and CNN, which documented the opposing claims ahead of the talks.
On the economic track, Iran is pressing for sequencing that front-loads relief. Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said Tehran would be “pressing for implementation” of US commitments and seeking clarity on how Washington intends to carry them out, telling reporters that “the implementation of any document is more important than its signing,” per Al Jazeera and PBS NewsHour. Per Al Jazeera, Iran’s priorities entering the room were the cessation of hostilities in Lebanon, lifting the US maritime blockade, reopening Hormuz, releasing frozen assets, and ending sanctions on its oil and petrochemical sector.
The frozen-asset and sanctions sequencing remains the thorniest point. The Times of Israel reported that before the core nuclear issues are settled, Iran expects initial benefits such as sanctions waivers and the unfreezing of blocked funds; Washington has tied broader relief to negotiating progress, with about $6 billion in funds being arranged via Qatar for humanitarian use and a potential $300-billion reconstruction fund dangled for a final deal, as detailed by the Times of Israel and Al Jazeera. Under the memorandum, Fortune reported oil and petrochemical waivers come on signing while full asset release is gradual and linked to the nuclear talks.
Some specific figures circulating in Iranian media remain unverified: a reported draft cited by Iran International describes the release of $24 billion in frozen assets during the 60 days and enrichment held at current levels, but neither Iranian nor US officials have confirmed the document. The opening session, attended by Araghchi and Ghalibaf with Pakistani and Qatari mediators, lasted roughly 80 minutes, with Iranian sources telling the Times of Israel that Tehran declined to appear on camera alongside the US delegation, rejecting what it called an American “media show.”
