In-person talks between the United States and Iran aimed at ending their six-week-old war have commenced in Pakistan's capital, Islamabad, days after a fragile ceasefire was agreed. Discussions between the two sides began on Saturday afternoon, following earlier bilateral meetings each side held separately with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
The US delegation is led by Vice President JD Vance and includes special envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. Iran’s delegation of more than 70 people is being led by parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. Al Jazeera’s Abid Hussain, reporting from Islamabad, said the talks were initially meant to be “proximate talks”, but “our sources close to the mediation say the two teams are now involved in direct negotiations, with the Pakistani mediators also present” in the room.
Vance and Ghalibaf both met with Pakistan’s Sharif earlier on Saturday, with Sharif’s office stating that Islamabad looked forward to continuing its facilitation of both sides. The negotiations proceeded despite earlier assertions from Tehran that they would not take place without commitments on Lebanon’s inclusion in the ceasefire and US sanctions. Earlier, Ghalibaf wrote on X that Washington had previously agreed to unblock Iranian assets and to a ceasefire in Lebanon, where Israeli attacks on Iran-backed Hezbollah fighters have killed nearly 2,000 people since the start of the fighting in March.
Israel and the US have said the Lebanon campaign is not part of the Iran-US ceasefire, while Tehran and Pakistan say it is. Al Jazeera’s Osama Bin Javaid, reporting from Islamabad, cited sources as saying that “there has been some progress made on basic conditions, including on the need for a ceasefire in Lebanon”. Sources are also saying that “there could be some movement on the unfreezing” of Iranian assets, said Bin Javaid, however, he added that “it is still early hours and a lot of this needs to be confirmed,” but that Pakistan is still very hopeful about the possibility of a breakthrough.
Ghalibaf said earlier that Iran was ready to reach a deal if Washington offered what he described as a genuine agreement and granted Iran its rights, Iranian state media reported. “Our experience in negotiating with the Americans has always been met with failure and broken promises,” Ghalibaf said, shortly after landing in Pakistan. The White House did not immediately comment on the Iranian demands, but Trump posted on social media that the only reason the Iranians were alive was to negotiate a deal, a statement that underscores the deep-seated tensions and skepticism surrounding these talks.
Source: www.aljazeera.com