Iran's oil industry will be a key testing ground for any final peace agreement with the US if Western parties remain committed to its spirit, Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad said on Sunday. The ministry's news outlet, Shana, quoted Paknejad as saying that in a post-agreement era, Iran's oil sector would offer the global economy major investment opportunities and has hundreds of investment projects, as well as technical and operational partnership contracts ready to be signed, according to Reuters. A new round of negotiations over the Middle East war was set to kick off Sunday, with Iranian negotiators arriving in the Swiss host city hours ahead of US Vice President JD Vance, even as Tehran said it was closing the Strait of Hormuz again over Israeli attacks in Lebanon. Follow-up talks had been planned in Switzerland on Friday but were postponed at the last minute after Israel launched deadly strikes in Lebanon following the deaths of four of its soldiers in combat. Hormuz, a key conduit for oil and gas shipments, was blockaded by Iran for much of the war, sending shockwaves through global energy markets.
