ISLAMABAD TALKS
Twenty-one hours of direct US-Iran negotiations in Islamabad — the highest-level contact between the two countries since 1979 — ended Sunday morning without an agreement. Vice President Vance departed, publicly crediting Pakistan’s mediation and stating that Iran had declined to accept US terms. The Iranian delegation has not left. The ceasefire remains in place. The Strait of Hormuz was not resolved. Both sides have nine days left on the two-week window Pakistan secured on April 8.
No Deal, JD Vance tells Media
US Vice President JD Vance has departed Islamabad without an agreement, confirming in brief remarks to the media that twenty-one hours of negotiations produced substantive discussions but no deal.
Vance thanked Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir by name, describing them as “incredible hosts” and absolving Pakistan of any responsibility for the outcome. “Whatever shortcomings of the negotiation, it wasn’t because of the Pakistanis — they did an amazing job and really tried to help us and the Iranians bridge the gap and get to a deal,” he said.
On the talks themselves, Vance drew a sharp line. “We’ve been at it now for 21 hours, and we’ve had a number of substantive discussions with the Iranians. That’s the good news. The bad news is that we have not reached an agreement.” He added: “I think that’s bad news for Iran much more than it’s bad news for the United States of America.”
Vance said the US had made its red lines explicit — what it was willing to accommodate and what it was not — and that Iran had “chosen not to accept our terms.”
The Iranian delegation remains in Islamabad.
Iran Officially Confirms: Hormuz, Nuclear Programme, Reparations, and Sanctions All on the Table
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqhaei has issued the first official Iranian statement on the substance of the Islamabad talks. It is the clearest confirmation yet of what has actually been discussed inside the Serena Hotel.
Baqhaei confirmed in his post on X that in the past 24 hours, negotiations covered multiple aspects of the following issues: the Strait of Hormuz, the nuclear question, war reparations, the lifting of sanctions, and a complete end to the war in Iran and across the region. Talks began Saturday morning and have continued without interruption, he said, with multiple exchanges of messages and written texts between both sides. He praised Pakistan’s mediation as “outstanding.”
On the prospects for an agreement, Baqhaei placed the burden squarely on Washington: success depends, he said, on the other side’s seriousness and good faith, its willingness to refrain from “excessive and illegitimate demands,” and its recognition of Iran’s legitimate rights and interests.
The statement’s harder edges — framing diplomacy as a continuation of Iran’s “sacred mission” and vowing never to forget what it described as US and Israeli crimes — reflect domestic audience management as much as negotiating posture. They do not alter the core news value: Iran has, for the first time, officially named every major issue on the table.
Four AM in Islamabad: Five Rounds, Multiple Drafts, and Talks Resuming Later Today
More than twelve hours after the first handshake, the Islamabad talks have reached a natural pause point — though not an ending. Five rounds of direct negotiations have taken place through the night. Drafts have been exchanged multiple times. Both delegations have made calls to their respective leaderships. Additional Iranian aircraft landed during the night. Talks resume Sunday morning.
What has emerged from the marathon session is not a deal, but something arguably more significant at this stage: both sides are still at the table, still exchanging texts, and still talking — through five rounds, a dinner, a deepening Hormuz deadlock, and a White House lawn statement that nearly derailed the atmosphere twice.
The level of engagement is itself historic. The 2015 JCPOA negotiations were conducted at foreign minister level. Tonight, the US Vice President and the Speaker of the Iranian Parliament were in the same building, working through the night. That gap in seniority from 2015 to now is not a footnote — it reflects how seriously both Washington and Tehran are treating this process, whatever their public postures suggest.
Pakistan’s role throughout has been to hold the room together without casting a shadow on the outcome. A near-total gag order on Pakistani officials remains in place. The message from Islamabad’s hosts is consistent and deliberate: whatever emerges must be seen as the decision of the two parties, not the product of Pakistani pressure.
Iranian sources maintain US demands remain excessive, particularly on Hormuz. The Americans have not moved publicly from their position on free passage. And yet — five rounds. Multiple drafts. More planes. Dawn coming.
Official sources are hopeful. The talks continue.
Possibly Final Round of Direct Talks Concludes; Expert Teams Back at the Texts
Another–probably final round–of face-to-face negotiations between the US and Iranian delegations has concluded in Islamabad. Both sides have returned to exchanging written texts, this time with their expert teams present alongside the senior negotiators. The process of drafting, exchanging, and responding continues into the early hours of Sunday morning. No conclusion has been announced.
Eight Hours In: Multiple Tracks, Prisoner Release on Agenda, Press Conference Expected
The Islamabad talks have entered their eighth consecutive hour of direct negotiations — the longest single session of any US-Iran engagement in this process. Sources from inside the room indicate progress, though nothing conclusive has been reached.
Four tracks are now being covered simultaneously: security, diplomacy, economics, and prisoner release. The Washington Post had earlier reported the Trump administration intended to raise detained Americans as part of the negotiations; that issue is now confirmed as an active track inside the Serena. Pakistan is working to build confidence measures across all four areas.
Iranian sources continue to describe the American position—particularly on the Strait of Hormuz—as maximalist, while maintaining that their side is showing willingness to move on several issues. Pakistani sources are described as hopeful that something tangible will emerge, whether that is a ceasefire extension, a framework for Hormuz passage, or early movement on the nuclear file.
A gag order on Pakistani officials remains in place. Information is coming out slowly and almost entirely through anonymous sourcing. A press conference from the Serena Hotel is expected — timing unconfirmed.
Trump: “Makes No Difference” Whether Iran Deals or Not—”We Win Either Way”
Speaking to reporters on the White House lawn before boarding a helicopter, President Trump offered remarks that cut directly against the tone his delegation is working to hold inside the Serena Hotel. Trump said it “makes no difference” to him whether Iran reaches a deal, adding: “We win no matter what.” He claimed the US had “defeated” Iran militarily. On the Strait of Hormuz, he said Iran had likely dropped water mines and that the US is currently “sweeping the strait.” He noted NATO had not assisted with Hormuz operations. On China, he warned Beijing would face “big problems” if it ships arms to Iran.
The remarks land at the worst possible moment—direct talks are in a critical phase, Iran is showing early flexibility on Hormuz, and the gap between what Trump says on a White House lawn and what his delegation is negotiating in Islamabad is now, once again, the story running alongside the talks themselves.
US-Iran Talks Enter Critical Phase; Iran Shows Flexibility on Hormuz as US Holds Firm
Direct talks at the Serena Hotel have entered what sources describe as a critical phase, with the Strait of Hormuz still the central issue. The Iranian delegation is showing some flexibility in discussions on the strait — a notable shift from the hard line Tehran brought into the room. The American position, however, remains maximalist. Both sides are described as working intensively.
Three IRGC-Affiliated Cargo Planes Land at Nur Khan; Purpose Unknown
At least three aircraft belonging to Pouya Air — an Iranian cargo airline affiliated with the IRGC’s Quds Force and Aerospace Force — have landed at Nur Khan Airbase in the past hour. It is not immediately clear why. Iran already has a contingent of at least 70 personnel in Islamabad, but Iranian sources had indicated earlier that additional experts might travel to Pakistan as talks entered a more detailed phase. Pouya Air operates out of Mehrabad International Airport, which was struck during the US-Israeli campaign.
The arrival coincides with unconfirmed reporting that the Trump administration intends to raise the release of Americans detained in Iran as part of the negotiations. Whether the two developments are connected is unknown.
Iranians Staying the Night; Draft Framework Emerging as JD Vance Clock Ticks
Al Jazeera’s sources inside the Serena Hotel confirm the Iranian delegation intends to stay in Islamabad overnight — they have no plans to leave once tonight’s working sessions conclude. Discussions are still ongoing. At the delegate level, an exchange of draft texts indicates some progress toward a basic framework, though what specific points have been agreed remains unclear.
The Vance clock is now the variable. The US Vice President has been on the ground for approximately thirteen hours. He had been expected to spend roughly twenty-four hours in Pakistan — no official schedule was ever confirmed. If that informal timeline holds, he has around eleven hours remaining. Whether the Iranians staying the night signals an expectation that talks will continue into Sunday—with or without Vance—is the question no one inside the Serena is answering publicly.
Hormuz Deadlock Deepens; No Clarity on Whether Talks Continue Sunday
Information coming out of the Serena Hotel has slowed sharply. Sources close to the Iranian delegation told that US demands on the Strait of Hormuz are “too ambitious”—the clearest signal yet that the night session has hit a wall on the issue Tasnim (news agency) flagged an hour ago as a point of “serious disagreement.” Whether tonight’s session continues, whether talks extend into Sunday, and whether Vice President Vance delays his return to the United States all remain unclear. Vance arrived at approximately 11am Saturday and had been expected to spend less than 24 hours in Islamabad—no official departure schedule has been announced.
Lights Still On at the Serena. Talks Resume After Breakout.
It is 11pm in Islamabad and the Serena Hotel is still lit. Both delegations are working into the night with no indication of an imminent conclusion. Earlier reports that the talks had ended were inaccurate — what concluded was a breakout session in which the two sides had separated to exchange notes. After that exchange, both delegations returned to face-to-face talks. This round has been notably tighter on leaks than previous Iran-US contact in Muscat and Geneva — very little is coming out of the building, and what is emerging is fragmentary.
The talks are continuing.
Hormuz a Point of “Serious Disagreement”; US Accused of “Excessive Demands”
Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency has confirmed that both sides are exchanging written texts in an effort to reach a common framework for the negotiations, but reports that progress is being hindered by what it describes as “usual excessive demands” from Washington. Tasnim’s correspondent in Islamabad specifically named the Strait of Hormuz as “one of the issues facing serious disagreement.” The framing — coming from Iranian state-affiliated media — reflects Tehran’s public positioning as much as the state of the room, but the confirmation of a Hormuz deadlock aligns with what analysts and both delegations’ opening positions suggested from the start.
First Session Over; Both Sides Exchanging Written Texts in Second Session
The first phase of direct talks has concluded and a second round is now under way following a dinner break. Sources say both delegations are exchanging written texts — documents aimed at confirming that both sides are on the same page on points discussed during the day’s sessions. The process of committing positions to paper, even informally, marks a step beyond verbal exchanges and suggests the talks have moved into a more substantive phase.
Multiple rounds of negotiation are reported to have taken place in what sources describe as a congenial atmosphere. Officials in Islamabad have been asked not to speak to media, meaning most information is coming from sources on condition of anonymity. Progress is being reported — cautiously — on Lebanon, the unfreezing of Iranian assets, the Strait of Hormuz, and several other issues. Nothing has been confirmed officially by any party.
Trump Posts as His Team Negotiates; Delegation in Islamabad Setting a Different Tone
While his delegation in Islamabad pursues what sources describe as constructive direct engagement, President Trump has taken to Truth Social with a markedly different register. In his latest post, Trump wrote that the US had “completely destroyed Iran’s Military, including their entire Navy and Air Force, and everything else,” adding: “Their Leadership is DEAD! The Strait of Hormuz will soon be open, and the empty ships are rushing to the United States to ‘load up.'”
Sources close to the US delegation say the team in Islamabad is consciously trying to set a different tone than the one the president is amplifying from Washington. The contrast is not incidental — it reflects the structural tension of a negotiation where the chief executive is simultaneously the dealmaker’s backer and his most complicated variable.
Frozen Assets: Iranian Sources Say US Move Was Precondition for Delegation’s Arrival
Sources close to the Iranian delegation have told reporters that Tehran’s decision to participate in the Islamabad talks followed a US move to release frozen Iranian assets — funds held since 1979 and one of Iran’s explicit demands in its 10-point plan. If accurate, this would mean Washington made a significant concession before the talks formally began. The US has not commented. The claim is Iranian-sourced only and remains unconfirmed.
Pakistan is separately reported to be pushing for at least one additional day of talks — an extension that would allow both sides to move toward a more conclusive agreement. That push has not yet produced a result. Pakistani diplomats say they remain hopeful and are working to convince both delegations to cede further ground. Whether the talks continue beyond today will depend on decisions made at the leadership level on both sides.
Pezeshkian Backs Delegation: “They Will Negotiate Bravely”
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has posted on X in support of the delegation in Islamabad, saying the high-level team “is present in Pakistan with its whole being as the guardian of Iran’s interests, and will negotiate bravely in this regard.” He added: “In any case, our service to the people will not stop for a moment, and whatever the outcome of the negotiations, the government will stand by the people.”
The statement is notable less for what it says than for when it was said—posted while the first session was still being digested, and as both sides prepare to meet again over dinner. Pezeshkian is managing domestic expectations: signalling resolve to the Iranian public without previewing any outcome, and giving the delegation political cover to negotiate without appearing to have already conceded anything.
No story element changes required. No social push needed for this update—hold it for context in the dinner session round-up.
Technical Committees Convene Alongside Main Session
Parallel to the main trilateral session, economic, political, and legal technical committees from both the US and Iranian sides have convened separately, with senior negotiators joined by subject-matter experts from each delegation. The structure suggests both sides came to Islamabad prepared for substantive, granular engagement — not just a preliminary exchange of positions. No outcomes from either the main session or the committee meetings have been confirmed.
Historic: US and Iran Sit at the Same Table in Islamabad
The Islamabad talks have officially begun. After hours of separate bilateral sessions with Pakistani officials, delegations from the United States and Iran have moved to direct negotiations — both sides sitting at the same table at the Serena Hotel. It is the first time American and Iranian negotiators have faced each other directly since the Islamic Revolution of 1979. Iranian state media has confirmed the development.
The US delegation is led by Vice President JD Vance. Iran is represented by Parliament Speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, who has spent weeks shuttling between Washington and Tehran as the primary Pakistani intermediary, expressed hope the talks would progress positively. Pakistan remains present at the table as facilitator.
No details of what is being discussed have been made available. The contents of the room remain strictly off the record.
‘Minab 168’: Iranian delegation named after slain schoolchildren
Pakistan provided extraordinary air cover for the Iranian delegation’s arrival Friday night. As the Iranian aircraft entered Pakistani airspace, it was escorted by AWACS early warning aircraft, electronic warfare planes, and fighter jets all the way to Islamabad. On the ground, the delegation’s convoy from Nur Khan Airbase was protected by the Special Services Group, Pakistan’s elite commando unit. Field Marshal Asim Munir received the Iranian team at the airport in military fatigues — a detail Pakistani generals say reflects personal choice rather than fixed protocol, though one recently retired officer noted the deviation from standard procedure signals the extraordinary weight of the occasion.
The Iranian delegation has been named Minab 168 — a reference to one of the first strikes of the six-week war, when an elementary school in the city of Minab was targeted, killing 168 schoolgirls and teachers. More than 800 schools, 30 universities, and numerous healthcare facilities have been struck since the conflict began on 28 February.
Full Iranian Delegation Confirmed: 14 Officials, Four Deputy Foreign Ministers
Pakistan’s Foreign Office has confirmed the full composition of the Iranian delegation. It is led by Parliament Speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf and includes Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi; Ambassador to Pakistan Reza Amiri Moghadam; Supreme National Security Council member Ali Akbar Ahmadian; SNSC deputy Ali Bagheri Kani — who also served as chief nuclear negotiator in the 2015 deal; National Defence University president Esmail Ahmadi Moghadam; SNSC assistant secretary Mohammad Jafari; Central Bank Governor Naser Hemati; and four deputy foreign ministers — Kazim Gharibabadi, Majid Takht-e Ravanchi, Valiollah Nouri, and Esmaeil Baghaei. Two members of parliament, Abolfazl Amouei and Mohammad Nabavian, complete the delegation.
The breadth of the team — a parliamentary speaker, a sitting foreign minister, his predecessor as chief nuclear negotiator, four deputy foreign ministers, the central bank governor, and senior security officials — signals Tehran is treating these talks as a comprehensive negotiation, not an exploratory contact.
PM Sharif Meets Both Delegations; Direct Talks Targeted for This Afternoon
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has held separate meetings with both delegations at his residence. He first welcomed Iran’s Ghalibaf and Araghchi, then met US Vice President Vance, accompanied by Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar and Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi were present for both meetings. Sharif told both sides he hoped the talks would serve as “a stepping stone towards durable peace in the region” and reiterated Pakistan’s commitment to facilitating a resolution.
The current format is bilateral: Pakistan is holding separate sessions with each side, passing proposals and conditions between them. A diplomatic source in Islamabad says the plan is to move to direct talks — with a handshake between the two delegation heads, or a Pakistani official standing between them — at 11:30 GMT today, provided preconditions are sufficiently bridged. If direct talks do not materialise, the source cautioned, negotiations will remain indirect and may be limited to today’s session only.
Iran’s First VP Issues Warning about ‘America First’
Iran’s First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref has posted on X that the outcome of the Islamabad talks rests entirely on US priorities. A mutually beneficial agreement is probable, he said, if the American side focuses on “America First” interests. But if the US pivots toward an “Israel First” agenda, the result will be no deal — and Iran would, he warned, “inevitably continue our defence even more vigorously than before,” imposing “greater costs” on the world.
The statement is directed as much at the Trump administration’s domestic base as at the negotiating table. It frames the talks in terms designed to appeal to the isolationist wing of the Republican Party — the same current of thinking JD Vance is seen as representing.
Pakistani Fighter Jets Deployed to Saudi Arabia Under Mutual Defence Pact
Pakistani fighter jets and support aircraft have landed at King Abdulaziz Air Base in Saudi Arabia, the Saudi defence ministry confirmed, describing the deployment as aimed at strengthening joint military coordination and raising operational readiness. The move is made under a mutual defence pact signed last September between PM Sharif and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, which commits both countries to treating any act of aggression against one as an act against both. Pakistan has not commented.
The deployment is taking place simultaneously with Pakistan hosting the Islamabad talks — a pointed signal that Islamabad’s role as a neutral mediator between Washington and Tehran does not override its obligations to Riyadh. Iran struck Saudi Arabia’s Jubail Industrial City earlier this week. The two commitments are not yet in direct conflict. They are moving closer.
Hamas Backs Islamabad Talks; Frozen Assets Release Under Discussion
Hamas has issued a statement backing the Islamabad talks, calling for “a complete and comprehensive end” to the US-Israeli war on Iran and expressing hope for “positive outcomes that will strengthen stability” and unity among Arab and Islamic nations. The statement names Pakistan explicitly as the sponsor of the negotiations.
Separately, a diplomatic source tracking the talks indicated there may be some US movement on the question of unfreezing Iranian assets—funds held since 1979—as part of early confidence-building. No figure has been confirmed and no official statement has been made. The report is single-sourced and unverified.
Iran Enters Talks From Strength, Not Desperation
Iran is entering the Islamabad talks from a position of confidence, not concession, according to Professor Zohreh Kharazmi of the University of Tehran. Speaking to Al Jazeera, she argued that the talks themselves represent a shift in Washington’s stance — pointing out that as recently as 6 March, Trump was demanding unconditional surrender. The US is now at a negotiating table.
“Iran is firm about its conditions,” Kharazmi said. “And at least some of the critical ones will be approved — maybe not in this round, but in the rounds to come.”
On the Strait of Hormuz, Kharazmi said Iran’s Supreme Leader has again made clear the waterway will not be surrendered lightly, and that Tehran views control of the strait as the mechanism through which it intends to recover the costs of the war.
Islamabad Talks ‘high stakes, very little margin of failure’
Former US ambassador Henry S. Ensher has warned that the Islamabad negotiations carry exceptionally high risk, largely because of the senior level at which both sides are engaging.
“This is really high-risk stuff for a bunch of reasons,” Ensher told Al Jazeera. He said talks usually begin at lower levels to allow room for escalation if progress is made—a cushion that does not exist when negotiations start “at the top or near the top”.
“If this fails, it’s hard to see what we and the Iranians would do next,” he said.
Ensher also flagged political risks for JD Vance, who is leading the US delegation. He warned that failure—marked by more bombing, wider destruction, economic fallout, and strain with allies—could seriously damage Vance’s political future.
Iranian Delegation Lands in Islamabad, Confirming Talks Will Proceed
The Iranian delegation, led by Parliament Speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, has arrived in Islamabad for the ceasefire talks, Iranian media is reporting. Other key figures in the delegation are:
Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi
Secretary of the Supreme National Defense Council Ali Akbar Ahmadian
Central bank governor Abdolnaser Hemmati
Former IRGC commander Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr
Several members of Iran’s parliament have also joined the delegation, according to Iranian media.
Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry has formally confirmed the delegation’s arrival in Islamabad, saying the Iranian officials were received by Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar along with other senior Pakistani officials.
This effectively marks the start of the Islamabad phase of the talks.
The streets leading into the Red Zone were empty. Rangers and army personnel stood at multi-layered checkpoints along roads that would normally be thick with evening traffic. Snipers had taken position on government rooftops. The Serena Hotel — cleared of all private guests since Thursday, ringed by a security perimeter that rendered it a sealed diplomatic compound — sat waiting. Pakistani, American, and Iranian flags flew together on stretches of the city’s main avenues, an image that would have been unthinkable six weeks ago. Islamabad had not looked like this before, and that, in itself, was the story.
Forty-eight hours after a fragile two-week ceasefire pulled the United States and Iran back from the edge of an abyss, the world’s most consequential diplomatic encounter of 2026 was converging on Pakistan’s capital. Formal proximity talks between Washington and Tehran — the highest-level engagement between the two countries since 1979 — are scheduled to begin Saturday morning at the Serena Hotel. The format, the venue, and the entire diplomatic architecture bringing these talks into existence are Pakistani. So is the pressure to make them work.
The Night the Bombs Did Not Fall
The ceasefire that made these talks possible did not emerge from a summit or a communiqué. It came from an X post, a phone call — and then several more, through the night of April 8.
Field Marshal Asim Munir, Pakistan’s Chief of Defence Forces, spent the hours before a self-imposed US strike deadline in direct contact with Vice President JD Vance and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, working through the technical framework of a pause. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif ran a parallel track — calls to Riyadh, Ankara, and Beijing, building the coalition of regional and international pressure needed to give both capitals a usable off-ramp. With minutes remaining before a deadline that the Trump administration had spent days making explicit, PM Sharif posted on X, requesting Trump to extend by two weeks and asking Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz as a goodwill gesture.
Trump announced the suspension of strikes ninety minutes before his own deadline expired, crediting the conversations with Sharif and Munir by name. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi confirmed acceptance within the hour. He also, in a moment that reverberated across diplomatic circles, publicly thanked Field Marshal Munir by name — calling him his “dear brother” and praising his “tireless efforts.” It was an extraordinary acknowledgement, from a Tehran that rarely offers such courtesies to foreign military figures.
Whether the precise choreography of the final hours was authored entirely in Rawalpindi or partly coordinated with Washington to give Trump the political cover to stand down is a question that has not been fully answered. A draft label that briefly appeared on an earlier version of the PM’s X post — visible for approximately sixty seconds before correction — has prompted sharper scrutiny of who, exactly, was writing the lines. Pakistan’s Foreign Office has not commented. The talks are still starting Saturday.
What Sharif Said — and the Word That Raised the Stakes
When PM Sharif stepped in front of the cameras Thursday evening to formally announce the Islamabad talks, his language was measured in every respect but one. He called it “a proud moment for Pakistan,” extended “heartfelt thanks” to both sides for trusting Islamabad to host the process, and described the goal as “meaningful and conclusive talks for a comprehensive settlement of all disputes.”
Conclusive. In diplomatic speech, that is not a neutral word. It sets an expectation, names an outcome, and implicitly holds the host accountable for delivering conditions that make it achievable. Sharif was not framing this as an open-ended exercise in dialogue management. He was declaring an ambition — and raising the stakes for every party preparing to arrive.
The Delegations: Who Is Coming
The American team is led by Vice President JD Vance, who departed Joint Base Andrews on Friday morning. He is accompanied by Steve Witkoff, Trump’s chief negotiator, and Jared Kushner, understood to be focused on Iranian ballistic missile constraints and regional proxy networks. The delegation is expected at Nur Khan Airbase late Friday night or in the early hours of Saturday. A 30-member US security advance team has been coordinating with Pakistani authorities since Thursday.
Before boarding, Vance offered Tehran a pointed message and a conditional welcome in the same breath. The US was willing to extend an “open hand,” but Trump had provided “pretty clear guidelines” and the delegation was not arriving to be “played.” Among the details the Iranians are tracking closely: their delegation regards Vance as the more pragmatic figure in the US team. Witkoff is viewed in Tehran with particular wariness, following what Iranian officials describe as US strikes timed to coincide with earlier rounds of talks in Muscat and Geneva.
Iranian media confirmed the delegation’s arrival in Islamabad in the early hours of Saturday morning, ending hours of deliberate ambiguity. Pakistan’s Foreign Office had expected a high-level team to land on Friday, led by Parliament Speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. Iranian Ambassador Reza Amiri Moghadam briefly confirmed the delegation’s arrival on social media before deleting the post, citing it as “premature.” Press TV and Tasnim ran periodic reports suggesting the delegation had not left Iran and talks were “on hold” until Israeli strikes in Lebanon ceased. .
The mixed messaging is strategy, not confusion. Iran has spent weeks managing its own domestic calculus — an IRGC establishment deeply suspicious of negotiations, a pragmatic president in Masoud Pezeshkian who has publicly thanked Pakistan for the ceasefire, and a Parliament Speaker in Ghalibaf whose IRGC background gives him the authority to sell a deal that a career diplomat alone could not. For a delegation travelling to sit in proximity rooms with the country that killed their Supreme Leader six weeks ago, calculated ambiguity is the first and cheapest form of leverage.
The Format: No Handshakes, No Eye Contact
The talks will use a proximity format — a structure born of situations where the distrust between parties is too deep for direct negotiation. Both delegations will be housed in separate wings of the Serena Hotel. Pakistani officials, led by Ishaq Dar and the National Security Adviser, supported by military liaison officers, will shuttle proposals and counter-proposals between the rooms. There will be no joint sessions. No shared table. No cameras inside.
Pakistan is, quite literally, the wall between them that both sides have agreed to speak through.
What Is Actually on the Table
The gap between the two sides’ opening positions is vast, though not unbridgeable — if both parties decide they want a bridge.
Iran’s 10-point plan frames the recognition of Iranian sovereignty and economic rehabilitation as preconditions for any lasting settlement. The demands include: a binding US guarantee against future strikes; internationally recognised Iranian control over the Strait of Hormuz, including the right to charge a $2 million per-ship transit fee; formal acceptance of Iran’s right to continue uranium enrichment; the full lifting of all primary and secondary sanctions; the annulment of UN Security Council and IAEA resolutions; the release of all frozen Iranian assets; reparations for war damages; withdrawal of all US combat forces from the region; and a UN Security Council resolution to ratify any final agreement. Iran also insists the ceasefire must cover all fronts — Lebanon and Yemen included — as a non-negotiable condition.
The US has arrived with a 15-point framework focused almost entirely on dismantling Iranian strategic capabilities as a prerequisite for peace. Washington wants the complete termination of Iran’s nuclear programme — Natanz, Isfahan, and Fordow — and the transfer of all enriched stockpiles to the IAEA. It demands deep cuts to Iranian ballistic missile capabilities, an end to Iranian support for Hezbollah and the Houthis, and the immediate, unconditional reopening of the Strait of Hormuz with no Iranian toll regime or oversight role. Sanctions relief and the potential unfreezing of Iranian assets are offered as conditional rewards for verified compliance.
There is one item not listed on any official agenda. According to the Washington Post, the release of at least six Americans in Iranian custody — including Kamran Hekmati and Reza Valizadeh — is a secret top priority for the Vance team.
The two positions do not simply differ on details. They reflect incompatible visions of what a post-war Iran looks like. Washington wants a contained, defanged Iran. Tehran wants formal recognition as a regional power with a civilian nuclear programme, guaranteed by international law.
The Lebanon Problem
If the talks collapse before they begin, Lebanon will be the reason.
Iran has declared it a red line: the ceasefire covers all theatres. Ghalibaf has described a Lebanon ceasefire as a mandatory prerequisite for meaningful engagement. Israel’s position is the opposite. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated categorically that there is “no ceasefire in Lebanon” and that Israel would continue striking Hezbollah “with full force.” Strikes in Nabatiyeh killed eight state security personnel after the ceasefire announcement. Washington has not publicly contradicted Netanyahu.
The matter was further complicated Friday by Pakistan’s own Defence Minister, Khawaja Asif, who described Israel as “evil” in remarks that drew an immediately “furious” response from Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar. The exchange landed at precisely the wrong moment, introducing bilateral friction into a mediation that depends on Islamabad being seen as genuinely neutral. Senior Pakistani officials scrambled to contain the damage. The talks must still begin Saturday. But the atmosphere in which they begin has been complicated by a minister who either did not calculate the cost of those words, or calculated it and chose to speak anyway.
The Strait That Is Holding the World to Ransom
The Strait of Hormuz is twenty-one miles wide at its narrowest point. Through it passes roughly twenty per cent of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas. Since the US-Israeli war began on 28 February, Iran has effectively blocked it — producing what shipping analysts describe as the single largest disruption to the waterway in recorded history. The economic damage — higher fuel prices, accelerating inflation, slowing growth — is already locked in for months, regardless of what the Islamabad talks produce.
Inside the Serena Hotel tonight, it is the issue on which both sides are furthest apart.
Iran’s position is straightforward and non-negotiable, according to its delegation: sovereignty over the strait, with the right to collect transit fees from vessels seeking passage. Tehran frames this as both a security guarantee and a reconstruction financing mechanism — the means by which Iran recovers the costs of six weeks of bombardment.
The US position is equally direct: free, unconditional passage for global shipping, no tolls, no Iranian oversight role. Earlier this week, Trump sharpened the stakes in language that drew international condemnation — warning that “a whole civilisation will die” in Iran unless its government allowed ships to pass freely.
Sources close to the Iranian delegation described US demands on the strait tonight as “too ambitious.” Tasnim called it a point of “serious disagreement.” Both characterisations, from opposite sides, are saying the same thing: this is where the talks are stuck.
The strait will not be resolved tonight. The question is whether both sides agree it is worth coming back for.
The Architects: How Pakistan Built This
This did not happen overnight. And it was not the work of one institution, one phone call, or one relationship.
What is on display in Islamabad this weekend is a rare, synchronised effort between Pakistan’s civilian leadership and its military establishment — two institutions whose historical relationship has been defined more often by tension than trust. This time, they were reading from the same page. That alignment, more than any single diplomatic manoeuvre, is what made Pakistan a credible enough channel for both Washington and Tehran to use simultaneously.
Shehbaz Sharif’s contribution was structural. Where other Pakistani leaders leaned into the crowd-pleasing line, Sharif spent months maintaining contact with Middle Eastern capitals and keeping the Washington channel open during periods when there was no obvious domestic credit to be earned from it. He positioned Pakistan as ground where both parties could feel their security and sovereign dignity would be respected — not because either loves Pakistan, but because both had concluded that Islamabad was the least hostile available intermediary. The word “conclusive” in Thursday’s address was a deliberate raising of the stakes. Sharif knows what he has committed to.
Field Marshal Munir’s role was equally indispensable, and Araghchi’s public thanks confirmed what was already understood in diplomatic circles. His direct personal access to the Trump White House — a channel that bypassed the conventional State Department routes that Tehran had stopped trusting — gave Pakistan a line to Washington that no European or Gulf capital could replicate. His guarantee of physical security for the Iranian delegation while on Pakistani soil was, according to sources familiar with the process, a prerequisite for Ghalibaf’s decision to travel. The broader philosophy at work — that economic stability underpins strategic relevance, and that a country managing its own collapse cannot credibly offer others a stable room — has shaped the Pakistan that was able to make this offer.
Ishaq Dar’s contribution was architectural in the most practical sense. He was supposed to be in Ankara for last month’s quadrilateral consultations. He stayed in Islamabad because he was too embedded in the back-channel relay work to leave. That single logistical fact says more about his role than any formal title does. The decision to grant visa-on-arrival to all official delegates and accredited international journalists was not a minor operational detail — it was a signal, to the world and to both delegations, that Pakistan had nothing to hide and every reason to be seen.
What the World Is Saying
The international response has been watching — and, in several cases, acknowledging — what Pakistan has pulled off.
Michael Kugelman of the Atlantic Council described Pakistan’s role as one of its biggest diplomatic moments in years, noting that Islamabad had “defied sceptics who didn’t think it had the capacity to pull off such a complex, high-stakes feat.” Dr Vali Nasr of Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies observed that both Washington and Tehran choosing Islamabad over other regional capitals reflects Pakistan’s “unique ability to work across the sectarian and geopolitical fault lines of the Muslim world.” Ambassador Maleeha Lodhi—whose diplomatic career spans decades—described the civilian-military coordination on display as Pakistan’s “Kissinger Moment”: the kind of strategic patience and precise execution that repositions a country in the global order.
Ali Vaez of the International Crisis Group offered the most structurally honest assessment: “We have a ceasefire that may or may not be in place, based on terms that may or may not be commonly understood, leading to negotiations that may or may not actually happen.” It is a sentence blunt to the point of poetry, and it is the frame within which every optimistic reading of these talks should be held.
The Analysts’ Assessment
Pakistan has earned this moment. That should be said plainly, without the performance of national pride and without the false modesty that sometimes passes for analytical rigour.
But it should also be said plainly that the talks may still fail. Trita Parsi of the Quincy Institute has noted that the war has, paradoxically, strengthened Iran’s economic hand — Tehran is currently selling oil at elevated prices, with some sanctions enforcement disrupted by the conflict. Iran is not a desperate party. It has absorbed serious damage and retains leverage, and knows it.
The structural gaps between the two positions are not rhetorical. They are generational. What Pakistan has achieved is getting both sides into the same city, willing to speak through the same intermediary. It cannot compel either side to say yes. It cannot stop Israel from striking Lebanon. It cannot resolve in fourteen days what has been unresolved for four decades.
The Islamabad City, the Stakes
Islamabad has been on a government-declared public holiday since Thursday, the second consecutive day of closures across the Islamabad Capital Territory and Rawalpindi to minimise movement and secure VVIP routes. The Islamabad Expressway from Zero Point to Koral Chowk has been subject to intermittent closures. International outlets — Al Jazeera, Reuters, CNN, BBC, and dozens more — are stationed outside the Red Zone perimeter, waiting for press releases and pre-recorded statements. The negotiating rooms themselves are, and will remain, strictly off-camera.
The economic numbers provide context. Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz stands at roughly 90 per cent below normal — nine vessels transiting daily against an average of 138. Brent crude briefly fell below $100 per barrel following the ceasefire announcement. Pakistan’s rupee opened 0.45 per cent higher against the dollar this week. None of this is recovered ground. It is a pause in the bleeding, conditional on what happens inside the Serena Hotel over the next 48 hours.
China has been more than a spectator. Beijing provided the assurance that Iranian officials would not be targeted while on Pakistani soil — a prerequisite Ghalibaf required before agreeing to travel. The Five-Point Initiative agreed between FM Dar and Chinese FM Wang Yi earlier this year serves as the foundational regional framework within which these talks are operating. For China, the reopening of the Strait is an existential energy-security interest.
The mood among ordinary Islamabadis is a study in contradictions — pride that their city is at the centre of something historic, and unease about what happens if it goes wrong. “We are the peacemakers now,” one taxi driver outside Aabpara said Thursday evening. It was the kind of line that captures a national mood better than any analyst’s quote.
The Room Where It Happens: Islamabad’s Serena Hotel
The Serena Hotel did not choose this moment. The moment chose it.
Serena Hotel is a location that has always made it the natural address for sensitive diplomatic business. Heads of state, official delegations, and visiting dignitaries have passed through its corridors for over two decades. It has hosted discreet conversations before. None quite like this.
When Pakistan’s government requisitioned the property ahead of the talks, clearing all private guests and handing the building over to the state, the Serena ceased to be a hotel. It became, for the duration, a sealed diplomatic compound—the physical container for the most significant US-Iran engagement since 1979.
What Comes Next—after the Islamabad Talks
Saturday morning will be the test. If the Iranian delegation transfers from Nur Khan to the Serena Hotel, the talks proceed. If Tehran’s public statements harden into a formal refusal — citing Lebanon, Israeli strikes, or the Khawaja Asif controversy — the architecture of the last six weeks could collapse before the first message is shuttled between rooms.
For a nation that spent years as a footnote in other people’s geopolitical dramas, being the address where the United States and Iran sit in the same building and attempt to talk their way out of a war is something else. Pakistan did not stumble here. It built this, over months that the rest of the world was looking elsewhere — and when the moment came, the civilian and military leaderships moved together.
What it can do now — what it is doing tonight, as the Red Zone sits silent and the flags of three nations hang together on the avenues of a locked-down capital — is hold the table open.
For now, that is the whole job.
This is a developing story. Live updates will follow as delegations arrive and talks progress.
