Ali Larijani, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), met on Wednesday with Swiss Deputy Prime Minister and Security Advisor Gabriel Lüchinger to discuss Iran’s nuclear program and regional security developments.
The meeting was part of an ongoing effort to explore ways to revive the stalled nuclear negotiations between Tehran and world powers. Switzerland, traditionally acting as an intermediary between the United States and Iran, expressed its willingness to help facilitate talks by engaging with other stakeholders and sharing their positions with Iranian officials.
According to the Arab outlet West Asia News Agency (WANA), Lüchinger delivered a message from U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff, who previously led indirect negotiations with Iran. The message reportedly offered “guarantees” that the United States would refrain from attacking Iran if Tehran agreed to return to the negotiating table.
However, this account was later challenged by the U.S. outlet Axios, which reported that no official message had been conveyed by Switzerland on behalf of Washington.
Tehran has been reluctant to resume negotiations since June, following a 12-day conflict with Israel and subsequent U.S. airstrikes that targeted three of Iran’s nuclear facilities. These strikes occurred during indirect talks, prompting Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi to demand formal assurances from Washington before any future engagement.
The Swiss role in these recent discussions has raised questions about which international actors are driving the renewed diplomatic activity. Lüchinger, who was appointed in April as Switzerland’s envoy to handle trade negotiations with the United States during President Donald Trump’s global tariff measures, played a key role in facilitating the U.S.–China trade truce signed in Geneva in May.
Despite this latest outreach, analysts argue that verbal assurances will not satisfy Tehran’s security concerns. Earlier this week, Yahya Rahim Safavi, senior military advisor to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, warned: “We are not in a ceasefire; we are in a stage of war. No protocol, regulation, or agreement has been written between us and the U.S. or Israel,” underscoring that Iran’s military remains on high alert.