U.S.-Iran talks set to begin in Islamabad after delegations arrive
TOPSHOT – A police officer stands guard in front of a digital screen showing news of USIran peace talks along a road in Islamabad on April 10, 2026. (Photo: Farooq NAEEM/AFP via Getty Images)
Farooq Naeem | Afp | Getty Images
Pakistan has confirmed the arrival of a delegation of Iranian negotiators ahead of talks with the United States on Saturday to end Washington and Tel Aviv’s six-week war against Tehran.
The talks will aim to solidify a two-week-old ceasefire that began on Tuesday but remains under pressure as Iran continues to block most shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, the most critical chokepoint for the world’s oil and gas supplies.
Pakistan’s foreign ministry said the Iranian delegation, led by parliament speaker Mohammed Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, arrived in the capital Islamabad late on Friday.
Pakistani Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohammad Ishaq Dar “expressed hope that the parties will interact constructively and reiterated Pakistan’s desire to continue facilitating the parties to reach an agreement” [a] a lasting and lasting solution to the conflict,” Pakistan’s foreign ministry said. to post In X.
However, there are question marks over the ceasefire and the results of the talks. Ghalibaf warned on Friday that planned talks with the United States to end the war cannot begin unless Israel stops attacks on Lebanon and the United States releases Tehran’s frozen assets.
Ghalibaf issued this ultimatum after an American delegation led by Vice President J.D. Vance traveled to Islamabad for talks.
“Two of the measures mutually agreed upon between the parties have not yet been implemented: a ceasefire in Lebanon and the release of Iran’s blocked assets before the start of negotiations,” Ghalibaf said in an X post.
“These two issues need to be met before negotiations begin,” he wrote.
Speaking to reporters early Friday, Vance said he thought the talks would be “positive” but warned Iran not to “play with us.”
Vance’s team touched down in Islamabad early Saturday and was greeted by U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.
Trump’s disappointment with Iran
Trump, meanwhile, expressed frustration that Iran continues to block most shipping traffic through Iran. Strait of Hormuz.
The Bosphorus is the world’s most vital shipping route for oil. Before the war, 20% of the world’s crude oil was transported through this passage.
In a statement Tuesday evening, Trump said the United States would agree to a two-week suspension of hostilities subject to Iran’s agreement to fully and immediately reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
However, since then, ship traffic in the strait has been almost as tightly restricted as it has been since the war began on February 28.
In a post published on Truth Social on Thursday evening, Trump fumed: “There are reports that Iran is charging tankers passing through the Strait of Hormuz. They better not be, and if they are, they better stop now!”
“Iran is doing a very bad, some would say dishonorable thing by allowing oil to pass through the Strait of Hormuz,” the president wrote in a follow-up post. “This is not the agreement between us!”
