A Pakistani official has confirmed that negotiations have officially begun between the US and Iran in Pakistan. The official told the Associated Press that they “cannot say whether they are sitting in the same room or in separate rooms, but talks have started and are progressing well.” Iran’s Fars news agency is also reporting that talks are under way.
The three-way talks are between US officials JD Vance, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Iran’s Mohammad Ghalibaf and Abbas Araghchi and Pakistan’s army chief Asim Munir.
It is first such meeting since the war began more than a month ago, which will test whether they can shore up a fragile ceasefire and pave the way for peace.
Al Jazeera, citing sources close to the mediation, has reported that the Iranian and US delegations are meeting face-to-face, with Pakistani mediators also present in the negotiating room. Reuters has also reported the same, citing a Pakistani source.
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Earlier on Saturday, Vance held talks with Pakistani prime minister Shehbaz Sharif, the White House said.
Earlier, Donald Trump claimed the US has begun clearing mines in the strait of Hormuz “as a favour to countries all over the world”. In a post on his Truth Social app, the US president said Iran’s minelaying ships “are also lying at the bottom of the sea”.
He claimed all of the Iranian military’s air and naval capabilities have been diminished and its missiles and drones “have been largely obliterated”.
“The only thing they have going is the threat that a ship may ‘bunk’ into one of their sea mines which, by the way, all 28 of their mine dropper boats are also lying at the bottom of the sea. We’re now starting the process of clearing out the Strait of Hormuz as a favor to Countries all over the World, including China, Japan, South Korea, France, Germany, and many others. Incredibly, they don’t have the Courage or Will to do this work themselves.”
He repeated an earlier comment that empty tankers “from many nations” are heading to the US for oil.
The ceasefire brokered by Pakistan still faces hurdles in the talks beginning on Saturday, as Israel and Hizbullah militants have traded fire along the border of southern Lebanon and Iran has set conditions before negotiations can begin.
Before the talks, Iran’s first vice-president, Mohammad Reza Aref, warned that if Israeli interests are prioritised in today’s talks in Islamabad “there will be no deal” and “the world will face greater costs”.
The Iranian delegation arrived on Saturday in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad, led by parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, who said on X that discussions will only take place if there is an Israeli ceasefire in Lebanon and the release of blocked Iranian assets.
On Saturday, Lebanon’s health ministry said 10 people, including three emergency workers, were killed by Israeli strikes on the south of the country, as state media reported raids on more than a dozen locations, according to AFP news agency.
In advance of the US envoys’ arrival in Islamabad, president Trump wished Vance good luck.
“We’ll find out what’s going on. They’re militarily defeated,” Trump said.
[ Why did Trump choose Vance to negotiate difficult peace talks with Iran?Opens in new window ]
The normally bustling streets of Islamabad were deserted as security forces sealed roads in advance of the talks. Pakistani authorities urged residents to stay inside, making the city to look as thought it was under curfew.
Pakistan prime minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Friday that the conflict was entering a “difficult phase” as the sides try to shift from a temporary pause in fighting to a more lasting settlement, adding that they were at a “make-or-break” moment.
Before his departure from Washington on Friday, Vance said he believed the negotiations with Iran would be “positive”.
But he added: “If they’re going to try and play us, then they’re going to find that the negotiating team is not that receptive.”
Negotiations between Israel and Lebanon were expected to begin on Tuesday in the US capital, Lebanese president Joseph Aoun’s office said on Friday.
Beirut is keen to hold direct talks to end the war between Israel and Hizbullah, but under a ceasefire similar to the one with Iran.
Israel’s insistence that the ceasefire in Iran does not include a pause in its fighting with Hizbullah has threatened to sink the deal. The militant group joined the war in support of its backer, Iran.
The day the truce was announced, Israel pounded Beirut with air strikes, killing more than 300 people, according to the Lebanese health ministry. It was the deadliest day in the country since the war began on February 28th.
Trump said on Thursday he had asked Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu to ease the strikes.
[ Iran calls for ceasefire in Lebanon before US peace talks take placeOpens in new window ]
Then on Friday, Israeli warplanes struck near a state security office in the southern town of Nabatieh, killing 13 officers, according to the Lebanese president’s office.
Israeli forces said they also hit about 10 rocket launchers in Lebanon that had fired toward northern Israel.
Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz has sent oil prices skyrocketing, driven stocks down and roiled the world economy. Tehran’s control over the waterway has proved its biggest strategic advantage in the war.
The spot price of Brent crude, the international standard, was about 97 dollars Friday, up more than 30 per cent since the war started.
Before the conflict, more than 100 ships passed through the strait each day, many carrying oil to Asia. With the ceasefire in place, only 12 have been recorded passing through.
Trump said Iran has little clout in the negotiations.
“The Iranians don’t seem to realise they have no cards, other than a short term extortion of the World by using International Waterways,” Trump posted on Friday.
“The only reason they are alive today is to negotiate!” – AP, Guardian
