U.S. Vice President JD Vance said significant progress had been made toward establishing a mechanism aimed at preventing escalation between Israel and Hezbollah, following talks with Iranian officials in Switzerland, as Washington pushes for a broader regional ceasefire.

Speaking at a press conference in Burgenstock, Vance said discussions held the previous day had produced encouraging results on what he described as a "deconfliction mechanism" designed to manage incidents involving Israel, Lebanon, Hezbollah and other regional actors.

"We want a regional ceasefire, right? We want Hezbollah to stop firing at our friends in Israel. We want Israelis to be able to live in peace. We also want to make sure that, you know, when things happen, they don't spiral into a broader escalation," Vance said.

According to the vice president, the proposed mechanism would establish a channel for direct communication among the parties involved whenever security incidents occur, helping contain tensions before they develop into wider confrontations.

He noted that such a framework had previously been absent from regional diplomacy.

"The goal is to make sure that when incidents happen between Israel, Lebanon, Hezbollah and other regional partners, there is a way to communicate directly, because there really hasn't been a mechanism to have those discussions until basically yesterday, when we set that up," he said.

The comments come after both Vance and President Donald Trump publicly questioned the scale of Israel's recent military responses to Hezbollah attacks, describing some of the retaliatory strikes as disproportionate.

While reaffirming Israel's right to defend itself, Vance stressed the need to balance security concerns with efforts to reduce tensions.

"Israel and every other nation in the region has the right of self-defense, but we want to make sure that everybody has that right of self-defense in the background where we're talking about how to de-escalate these conflicts rather than spiraling out of control," he said.

Asked whether Washington wanted Israel to withdraw from the security zone it maintains in southern Lebanon, Vance avoided giving a direct answer, saying discussions aimed at reducing friction between the parties were continuing.

"We want Israel's security to be protected, and we also want Lebanon's sovereignty to be protected. And this is going to be an ongoing conversation," he said.

Vance also defended Israel's stated rationale for maintaining its military presence in southern Lebanon.

"The Israelis have been very clear they do not have territorial intentions on south Lebanon. The reason they feel they have to be there is because they're worried about Hezbollah fighters in south Lebanon firing into Israel," he said.

The vice president said a lasting solution would require balancing Lebanon's sovereignty with Israel's security concerns, while involving multiple actors in the process.

He said achieving a situation in which "Lebanon's territorial integrity and sovereignty is protected" and "Israel's security is protected" would require close coordination with the Lebanese Armed Forces, as well as efforts by Iran to restrain Hezbollah.