Iran is sending a state-wide delegation to US talks to show its financial needs
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The scope of Iran’s delegation to the first round of technical talks in Switzerland and the United States on Sunday underscored what the analyst described as Tehran’s need for a red line of “quick cash flow” and key financial deals from the start.
The group’s arrival in Bürgenstock came a few days after a memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed by President Donald Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and after follow-up talks were cancelled, fueling uncertainty across the region.
“These are the most important negotiations that the United States has entered into in the Middle East in recent years. Iran knows that, and is playing very well,” said counter-terrorism expert Dr. Omar Mohammed told Fox News Digital.
“Tehran has come as if this is the time to collect,” said Mohammed, director of the Program on Extremism at George Washington University.
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Tehran has sent an unprecedented ‘state-of-the-art’ delegation to the US deal talks, which shows one very important thing, a counter-terrorism expert says. (URS FLUEELER/Pool via REUTERS)
Iran’s state media also confirmed that Tehran has sent state-wide resources, led by chief negotiator Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
Their team includes top security, legal and financial figures, including Abdolnaser Hemmati, governor of the Central Bank of Iran, who heads the economic committee; Ali Bagheri Kani, deputy secretary of Iran’s National Security Council; Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran’s deputy foreign minister in charge of legal affairs; and top oil and energy government officials.
Mohammed noted that Iran deliberately bypassed a small, political delegation only to protect its domestic power.
“Iran has not only sent ambassadors; it has sent the foreign ministry, the security regime, the central bank, legal affairs and oil,” he explained. “This is a statewide team built around spending, money, energy and red lines.”
Araghchi, Mohammed said, is the face of the embassy, while Bagheri Kani brings the National Security Council into the room, meaning the security service oversees the process and “protects the state’s red lines.”
The installation of senior financial and energy officials in Iran sends a clear signal of Tehran’s main objective: quick cash flows, “energy leverage” and control of offshore operations, the expert said.
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Vice President JD Vance speaks during a news conference after meeting with representatives from Pakistan and Iran in Islamabad, Pakistan, April 12, 2026. Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff listen during the event. (Photos by Jacquelyn Martin/Pool/Getty)
“The presence of Hemmati on Sunday was one of the clear signs. You don’t send the governor of the central bank to a symbolic meeting. You send him when the question is money: frozen assets, the release of sanctions, banking channels, the currency used and how quickly Iran can change promises on paper into money it can actually use,” said Mohammed.
“The oil giant is another big signal. If oil is in the room, Hormuz is in the room. For an American policymaker, that means maritime security and strong power.”
The presence of Gharibabadi, said Mohammed, points directly to the legal arena in terms of verification and language, perhaps designed to ensure that Iran can avoid future use.
The US delegation, including Vice President JD Vance, was supported by US Special Envoy for Peace Steve Witkoff and former White House senior adviser Jared Kushner.
Vance said Washington hoped to make progress on the nuclear issue and the end of the war in Lebanon while in Switzerland.
On Sunday, he said Trump had asked to turn over a “new leaf” to change US-Iran relations and that the talks starting in Switzerland would allow both sides to work to resolve the issues.
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In this photo obtained by Iran’s ISNA news agency, Mojtaba Khamenei (C), son of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, walks down a street in Tehran on May 31, 2019. (Hamid FOROUTAN / ISNA / AFP via Getty Images)
In contrast, according to Iran International, hardline legal adviser Mahmoud Nabavian read excerpts of what he described as secret letters from Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei on Iranian state television.
The leader said he was opposed to nuclear talks, demanded compensation from Washington and insisted that Iran take control of the Strait of Hormuz before the live broadcast was cut.
Now, the different composition of the two groups underscores the very different approaches the two nations bring to the table, Mohammed said.
“Iran is not just negotiating, it is negotiating terms where it can avoid pressure,” Mohammed warned. “If money comes first and agreements come later, Tehran will not interpret that as a compromise. It will interpret it as a victory.”
“If Washington gives Iran money, access to oil and legal protection while Iran keeps Hormuz, proxies, missiles and nuclear options alive, then America has not bought peace. It has financed the next phase of Iran,” said Mohammed.
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“This team is not designed to destabilize Iran. It is designed to collect the benefits of a pause, save the regime’s pressure points and take them to the next round.”
On Sunday, talks between Iran and the US were suspended but not over, Reuters reported.
