ISLAMABAD: The United States and Iran began direct negotiations on Saturday in Pakistan, days after declaring a fragile two-week ceasefire, as the war that has killed thousands of people and rocked global markets enters its seventh week.The White House emphasized the direct nature of the talks, a rare instance of high-level communication between the US government and the Iranian government.
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Talks between the United States and Iran in Islamabad falter due to the dispute over the Strait of Hormuz, and negotiations continue
The official Iranian news agency said that the tripartite talks, including Pakistan, began after Iranian preconditions were met, including a reduction in Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon. “After Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif held separate meetings with delegations from the US and Iran, the official round of direct negotiations between Iran and the US officially began on Saturday evening,” a senior Shehbaz administration official told PTI.The American delegation, headed by Vice President J.D. Vance, and the Iranian delegation, headed by Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, were discussing how to advance a ceasefire that is already threatened by deep disagreements and ongoing Israeli attacks against Hezbollah in Lebanon. Vance, accompanied by Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, arrived in Islamabad hours after Ghalibaf.
Pakistani Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar and Army Commander Field Marshal Asim Munir received both delegations at Noor Khan Air Base in Rawalpindi, which was damaged by Indian strikes during Operation Sindoor. Iranians wore black clothes to mourn Ayatollah Khamenei and others killed in the war.
Chinese, Egyptian, Saudi and Qatari officials are in Islamabad to facilitate the talks
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was also among the delegation.Since Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, the most direct US contact was in September 2013 when President Barack Obama called newly elected President Hassan Rouhani to discuss Iran’s nuclear program.
The recent high-level meetings were between Secretary of State John Kerry and his counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif during negotiations on the program.Iran doubled down on its commitment to parts of its previous proposal, with its delegation telling Iranian state television that it had presented some of the plan’s ideas as “red lines” in its meetings with Sharif. These included compensation for damage caused by the US-Israeli strikes that launched the war on February 28.Reflecting the high stakes, officials from the region said that Chinese, Egyptian, Saudi and Qatari officials were in Islamabad to indirectly facilitate the talks. They spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss this sensitive issue.