US, Iran set for peace talks but doubts emerge over Lebanon, sanctions
The US delegation, led by Vice President JD Vance and including President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner, set out for Islamabad after a refueling stop in Paris.
The Iranian delegation, led by Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqir Qalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, arrived on Friday.
Read more: Ceasefire agreement reassures some in Iran, but Trump’s threat to end a civilization still resonates
TRUMP: IRAN HAS ‘NO CARDS’
Qalibaf said on channel X that Washington had previously agreed to lift the blockade on Iranian assets and establish a ceasefire in Lebanon, where Israeli attacks on Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants have killed nearly 2,000 people since the start of hostilities in March. He said talks would not begin until these promises were fulfilled.
While Israel and the US say that the Lebanon operation is not part of the Iran-US ceasefire, Tehran insists. Qalibaf also said Iran was ready to reach a deal if Washington presented what he described as a real deal and gave Iran its rights, Iranian state media reported.
Read more: Iran demands Lebanon ceasefire and unfreezing of assets before peace talks
The White House did not immediately comment on Iran’s demands, but Trump shared on social media that the only reason the Iranians survived was to negotiate a deal.
“The Iranians do not realize that they have no other cards than short-term usurpation of the world by using the International Waterways. The only reason they survive today is to negotiate!” he said.
Speaking en route to Pakistan, Vance said he expected a positive outcome but added: “If they try to play us, then they’re going to find that the negotiating team isn’t that receptive.”
Islamabad was under an unprecedented lockdown on Saturday, with thousands of paramilitary personnel and army troops on the streets, ahead of Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s make-or-break talks.
Trump announced a two-week ceasefire in the war on Tuesday, halting U.S. and Israeli airstrikes on Iran.
But this did not end Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, which has caused the largest ever disruption to global energy supplies, or calm the parallel war between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon.
STRUGGLES CONTINUE IN LEBANON
Israeli ambassador to the United States Yechiel Leiter and his Lebanese counterpart Nada Hamadeh Moawad will hold talks in Washington on Tuesday, Israeli and Lebanese officials said.
The Lebanese presidency said the two had a telephone conversation on Friday and agreed to declare a ceasefire and set a date for the start of bilateral talks under the mediation of the United States. However, Israel’s embassy in Washington said the talks would be the beginning of “formal peace negotiations” and that Israel had refused to discuss a ceasefire with Hezbollah.
Israeli attacks continued in southern Lebanon on Friday. President Joseph Aoun said in a statement that 13 members of the Lebanese state security forces were killed in the attack on the government building in the city of Nabatieh.
Hezbollah said in a statement on its Telegram channel that it fired salvoes of rockets at towns in northern Israel in response.
Lebanese officials said that hours after the ceasefire was declared, Israel launched its biggest attack of the war, killing more than 350 people in surprise attacks on populated areas.
Tehran’s agenda in the talks also includes demands for major new concessions, including an end to sanctions that have crippled its economy for years and recognition of its authority over the Strait of Hormuz, aimed at collecting tolls and controlling access in what would mark a major shift in regional power.
While Iran’s ships passed through the strait without encountering any obstacles on Friday, other countries’ ships were stuck inside.
The disruption in energy supply fueled inflation and slowed the global economy; This effect is expected to last for months even if negotiators manage to reopen the strait.
The tough stance taken by Iranian leaders ahead of the talks follows the defiant message given by new Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei on Thursday.
Khamenei, who has not yet appeared in public since taking over from his father, who was killed on the first day of the war, said Iran will demand compensation for all wartime damages.
“We will definitely not leave the murderous attackers who attacked our country unpunished,” he said.
Although Trump declared victory and weakened Iran’s military capabilities, the war failed to achieve many of the goals it initially set: depriving Iran of the ability to attack its neighbors, dismantling its nuclear program, and making it easier for its people to overthrow their governments.
Iran still has missiles and drones capable of hitting its neighbors and a stockpile of more than 400 kg (900 pounds) of uranium enriched near the level needed to make a bomb. Faced with a popular uprising just months earlier, religious rulers resisted the onslaught with no signs of organized opposition.
