Transcription
We are heading to Switzerland, where the first, first talks between the United States and Iran have just concluded. And JD Evans, you recognize him, the American Vice President, who is therefore speaking and reporting on this sequence. Uh, of crude oil and of gar are, but we wanted to ensure that we have a coordination mechanism in order to remove the mines from the Strait of Hormuz, to ensure that we can, uh, avoid any escalation. That's what we did yesterday. Secondly, we also wanted to build a second mechanism to remove conflicts, as the President of the United States said. Sometimes, uh, ceasefires mean that there are fewer shots fired. But what we wanted was good coordination to ensure that if there are, uh, exchanges of fire, if there are attacks on Israel, if Israel reacts, or if there are other conflicts in the region, that we talk to each other and that we, uh, ensure that hostilities are avoided, that security is strengthened for everyone and for our allies. Thirdly, and this is what is most exciting for us, is that the Iranians have agreed to invite the IAEA inspectors again. This is very important. It is the first, the first step towards denuclearization, uh, or the demilitarization of Iran's nuclear program. This is exactly what we want. We have also made significant progress on other aspects of the nuclear program. And finally, what we have done is establish the process for upcoming technical negotiations. Our teams are working with the Iranians, with the mediation of the Pakistanis from the CADR. We have made a lot of progress, and these exercises in Burgenstock, here in Burgenstock, can continue in the days and weeks to come. We want political supervision of this process. Well, we are in a beautiful place. I cannot stay here for 60 days. I am preparing to return to the United States, but the technical teams will work with good supervision to ensure that we achieve our objectives. So, that's what we wanted to accomplish. We came here, we did that, and the approach is very simple. In fact, we have established, laid the very solid foundations for a final agreement. So, we are building a house. We haven't built the house, but we have, uh, laid the, uh, foundations for a good agreement for the American people. I believe that everyone really needs to understand what we have accomplished. But there is still a lot to do. As we continue to advance on nuclear negotiations, on regional negotiations, as we continue to remove mines from the Strait of Hormuz, to ensure that maritime traffic resumes, a lot of progress has been made, but there is still a lot of work to do, and we are committed to this path. So, I am ready to take a few questions. Thank you for being here. Yes, go ahead with your question. Can you clarify what happened? No, the Iranians did not try to block the process. They threatened to leave the negotiations, but we negotiated well beyond 1 a.m. Yesterday, they did not leave, the technical team is still there in Burgenstock, and I think some people are watching this press conference. Listen, what we told the Iranians yesterday is that when you, uh, engage in, uh, bad statements, you should not expect the President of the United States not to react. If you say things that are false, the President of the United States will react, I will react. When they make threats, they must understand that the President of the United States will, uh, uh, correct what has been said. There have been some threats, some complaints, but in the end, the negotiations continue. We have made a lot of progress. At what point do you think, what is the deadline, and when can we expect the end of this conflict? Could it end by the midterm elections? Well, at the moment, the conflict is in a ceasefire phase, and we hope to reach a peace agreement and a permanent agreement. I think we have made significant progress. We should really congratulate ourselves for that. As for the date of return of the IAEA inspectors, we tried to reach the inspectors around 2 a.m. As you can imagine, few people answer the phone at 2 a.m. I think that will happen this week. But some of these discussions with the inspectors, with the IAEA, could happen even today, but I will, uh, uh, I will see about that with my teams since these calls. Mr. Vice President, thank you. Mr. Vice President. Did you expect the, uh, Iranians to place as much emphasis on Lebanon as they did, and what progress has been made on Lebanon? Well, I would say that we have, yes, made a lot of progress. We want, it's at the regional level. We want Hezbollah to stop firing on our Israeli friends. We want Israel to be able to live in peace, and when things happen, that it does not lead to a wide escalation. So, we are putting in place a deconfliction mechanism, but what we are saying is that when something happens, the parties involved must talk to each other. Sometimes it's the chicken and egg problem. You have a junior who sends a drone without the command's approval. Israel must react, but sometimes this response could lead to a more passive situation if Israel reacts in the context of an ongoing discussion between Hezbollah, Lebanon, and other partners, Israel and other partners. We did not have such a basis, uh, until 4 a.m. in Bergstock. We have, uh, established this principle. What we are seeking to do, to assert, is that all states have the right to self-defense, but this must be within a context of deconfliction rather than an escalation that is beyond anyone's control. Sometimes what happens is that when events get out of control, it is much worse for everyone, for the process of legitimate defense. So, we now have a process in place to prevent this. You are already seeing the fruits of this in the last 24 hours. These are, these are the last 24 hours that have been the most, uh, peaceful. The previous 24 hours were good. 72 hours ago, there were exchanges of fire. So, this is ongoing work. But what we have done is put this operation in place to prevent all of this from getting out of control in the future. Do the United States want the United States to want Israel to withdraw from southern Lebanon? We want Israel's security to be protected. We also want Lebanon's sovereignty. The Israelis have been very clear in saying that they do not want, they have no territorial ambitions. The reason they are there is that they want to prevent Hezbollah from firing on Israel. We think it will be a lot of work. We think we can ensure a situation where Lebanon's territorial sovereignty is protected, and also that of, of, of Israel. This will require coordination, including with the Lebanese army, to ensure that Hezbollah ceases its attacks, and we have gone much further than we were. Have you spoken to Prime Minister Netanyahu in recent days? Yes, we are in constant contact with the Israelis, but also with the Saudis, the Emiratis. We also spoke to the Lebanese yesterday. So, we are seeking to maintain. This is not an agreement that the United States is imposing on the region. This is an agreement that the region is desperately asking the United States to create, and of course, this region has been an area of enormous problems for a very long time. So, what we are saying is, let's lay the groundwork, let's see if we can move towards lasting peace, and if not, the President of the United States has many options to ensure the security of the United States, but we are committed to this path for now. We want to continue working and see what we can accomplish. And before we, uh, part ways, I would like to say one last thing. I have seen, uh, some articles that are not, uh, that are false, for example, about the freezing of Iranian assets. We want to ensure that we establish a process where if we, uh, uh, release these Iranian assets, we can ensure that these assets go to help the Iranian people and not for terrorism. Jar Kner had a very interesting solution with the Qataris, namely that if there are frozen Iranian assets, which are already at that point, we must have supervision. We must give our approval, the Qataris must give their approval, and the money would go, would be directed towards the purchase of American grain for the people, for the Iranian people. And I see, uh, some, uh, elements that are, uh, false, that are being disseminated, but we see some, uh, reports on social media. But what, uh, Gerard and the Qataris and the entire team at Bogenstop have achieved is truly a classic Trump operation, namely that if the, uh, assets are already, are, uh, unfrozen, they will allow American farmers to become richer and to help the Iranian people. And this is truly an agreement, it is a typical Trump proposal. This will contribute, uh, to this security architecture that we are building, and we will ensure that it persists. So, from Switzerland here, from Switzerland. Thank you very much for being here. Thank you for your questions. Thank you for your commitment. I look forward to going home, and we will keep you all informed of what will happen in the coming days and weeks. Thank you all very much. These are the words of, of JD, the American Vice President, that you have just experienced live with us. The explanation of the text following this first round of talks, of discussions that have been engaged between the United States and Iran. He was speaking from Switzerland, from Burgenstock, this luxury hotel in Lucerne. And we will obviously retain from this sequence the progress that he mentions. JD Evans, who believes he has laid the groundwork, laid very solid foundations, to reach a good agreement for the Americans. There is still a lot of work to be done, he says. The foundations are there, they are laid, but the house is not built, a sign that there are still many points to address, to resolve. Questioned at length, of course, on the different stakeholders, JD Evans also discusses the situation in Lebanon. Are there still exchanges between the Americans and the Israeli side? Yes, we maintain contact with the Israelis, but also with the Lebanese. We are obviously seeking to maintain the link from this press conference. Some questions were asked to the American Vice President. We will also note that Tehran has reportedly agreed to the return of IAEA inspectors to Iran. The nuclear issue, which is obviously one of the main points to be resolved in this negotiation phase. We are supposed to, uh, reach an agreement during this negotiation cycle on the next steps, a cycle of talks, 18 hours in total, described as intense by the Iranian delegation, whom we do not hear here, but who has already left Switzerland this morning, on their way to Tehran. And according to the Iranians, the discussions also briefly addressed the nuclear issue. We will perhaps have the opportunity to return to this later with our correspondents, either in Iran to hear their perspective and see if it is the same or different, or with our correspondents in the, uh, United States. Jen, it's the same.