Official cites 90% rise in domestic transport fees behind price increases

US Vice President said on Saturday, before departure, that technical talks in Switzerland would focus on the Iranian nuclear issue and efforts to reach a ceasefire in Lebanon, adding that he hopes the discussions will make progress on both fronts.

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The Swiss Foreign Ministry on Saturday confirmed the arrival of the Iranian delegation in Switzerland, saying the team is travelling to Bürgenstock as part of the implementation of the memorandum of understanding signed between the United States and Iran.

Hardline commentators on Iranian state TV on Saturday said that closing the Strait of Hormuz is not enough to stall negotiations and called for shutting Mehrabad Airport in Tehran to prevent officials from travelling abroad for talks with the United States.

They added that the appropriate strategy in such conditions is “containment over passivity,” rejecting engagement at the negotiating table.

A conservative outlet - Raja News - reported on Saturday Iran’s new supreme leader issued a negative response to the Islamabad negotiations, objecting that officials had discussed nuclear issues and failed to uphold a previously outlined set of conditions.

According to the report, the Leader said the talks were conducted “against religious law” due to engagement on the nuclear file and failure to impose the agreed conditions.

The outlet added that members of the Supreme National Security Council subsequently wrote to the Leader defending the need to include the nuclear issue in any negotiations and raising concerns about continued conflict and possible strikes on infrastructure.

It said the Leader responded that the talks would bring “neither benefit in this world nor in the hereafter” and would not prevent attacks on Iran’s infrastructure.

Hardline figure and former lawmaker Jalal Rashidikoochi warned on Saturday that members of the Paydari Front and their allies in parliament, state television and online networks have launched a “very dangerous game” that he said would weaken the standing and popularity of Iran’s new supreme leader among the public.

"The Paydari faction, in collaboration with their representatives in Parliament and on state television, and their aides and supporters in the virtual realm, have embarked on a highly dangerous game-one whose primary outcome will be, before anything else, the erosion of the new Leader's stature and popularity among the masses of the people," Rashidikoochi posted on X.

"Fostering despair over any improvement in conditions, laying the groundwork for tensions, manufacturing false polarizations, disrupting society's psychological security, and undermining the legitimacy of the regime-these are among the other consequences of this perilous game," he added.