By Humeyra Pamuk, Dave Graham and Laila Bassam
BUERGENSTOCK, Switzerland/BEIRUT, June 22 (Reuters) - The United States waived sanctions on Iran for 60 days from Monday after the first talks under a nascent peace deal, and officials reported calm in Lebanon after fighting that had prompted Iran to declare the Strait of Hormuz closed.
After a weekend that had seemed to put the week-old peace agreement in jeopardy, including threats from U.S. President Donald Trump to restart the war if Iran closed the strait, tanker traffic started to pick up through the waterway and oil prices resumed their slide.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance said his talks with Iranian officials in Switzerland had laid a good foundation for a final peace deal, although Iran denied that it had begun discussions of its nuclear programme.
The two sides, trying to build on the interim deal they signed last week, agreed to a roadmap towards a permanent agreement within 60 days at the talks in the Qatari-owned Swiss mountain resort of Buergenstock, mediators Pakistan and Qatar said.
They also agreed on a mechanism to end fighting in Lebanon between U.S. ally Israel and Iran-aligned Hezbollah, and opened a communications line to help ensure safe passage for commercial ships through the strait.
In the first major step of several foreseen under the agreement to provide Iran with economic benefits, the U.S. Treasury announced a waiver until August 21 on sanctions, allowing Iran to sell oil and related products and receive payment for them.
VANCE DELIVERS UPBEAT ASSESSMENT
Vance, who has maintained a largely upbeat tone since the memorandum of understanding was signed, said Tehran had agreed to allow in nuclear inspectors, and to establish mechanisms to handle its assets frozen abroad and manage ceasefires.
"We laid a very good foundation for a successful final deal," he told reporters after taking part in the talks.
However, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei told the official IRNA news agency that Iran had not yet discussed nuclear issues or made new commitments.
Iran has limited inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency since the U.S. and Israel launched a first round of air strikes last year, and suspended them entirely when war broke out in February. It says its nuclear programme is peaceful.
Vance played down the tensions that had emerged over the weekend, which were driven by escalating fighting in Lebanon, Iran's new declaration it had again closed the strait, and an angry response from Trump.
"There was a little bit of threatening, there was a little bit of whining, but at the end of the day the talks continued and we made great progress," Vance said.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on social media that Tehran had secured waivers for oil and petrochemical exports, the release of some of its frozen assets abroad and the launch of a reconstruction and development plan for Iran.
Vance said White House envoy Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law, had come up with a process whereby the U.S. and Qatar would have control over Iranian funds when they are unfrozen, and the money could be spent on U.S. corn, soy and wheat.
OIL PRICES DROP
Technical talks were due to continue for the rest of this week.
The interim peace agreement calls for ending all hostilities, including in Lebanon, which Israel invaded in March after Hezbollah fired across the border.
Israel was not party to the peace agreement and says it will not withdraw its troops from Lebanon, but on Friday it agreed a new ceasefire. Though intense fighting continued for another day, Lebanese officials said it had abated since Saturday night.
Hassan Wazni, director of a hospital in Nabatieh, a city in the south that has been heavily bombarded during the conflict, said it was the first two full days of calm since the war began.
"I'm monitoring the situation day by day, and most of the time I'm sleeping in the hospital. This is the longest a ceasefire has held," he told Reuters by phone.
More than a million Lebanese have been displaced by the war, and though some have begun returning to their homes, many are still too wary.
In Qennarit, a southern town, mourners carried the bodies of four women killed in Saturday's wave of Israeli strikes. The coffins were draped in yellow Hezbollah flags with the group's green logo of an arm holding an assault rifle.
Meanwhile, reflecting the reduced tensions, the Israeli military lifted safety restrictions in eight communities in northern Israel near the Lebanese border.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun discussed efforts to maintain the ceasefire and halt Israeli military escalation during a phone call with Vance, Qatar's prime minister and Kushner, the Lebanese presidency said.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog said Israel was not opposed to a diplomatic end to the Iran war, but any agreement must ensure Tehran cannot use funds it receives as part of the deal for military purposes or to support regional proxies.
(Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk and Dave Graham in Buergenstock, Laila Bassam in Beirut and Reuters bureaus; Writing by Timothy Heritage, Peter Graff; Editing by Sergio Non, Alexandra Hudson and Alexander Smith)
