ISLAMABAD: The United States and Iran are holding their highest-level talks in years in Islamabad in a Pakistan-brokered bid to turn a fragile two-week ceasefire into a lasting end to a war that has roiled global energy markets.
Here are five things to know about the Islamabad talks:
The war behind the talks
On February 28, the US and Israel launched coordinated strikes that killed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and struck Iran’s military and nuclear infrastructure, killing more than 2,000 people in five weeks.
Tehran responded by effectively closing the Strait of Hormuz, through which about a fifth of global oil and gas passes, sending energy prices soaring and disrupting trade worldwide.
On April 8, the US and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire brokered by Pakistan. Iran’s Supreme National Security Council said the talks could continue for up to 15 days. The ceasefire is expected to expire on April 22.
Pakistan’s starring role
Pakistan, a nation more frequently making international headlines for its terror incidents and shaky economy, is hosting the first negotiations between Washington and Tehran since the war began, a stunning pivot for a country long viewed through the lens of deep security concerns.
Pakistan’s value as mediator rests on an unusually broad diplomatic network.
Iran was the first country to recognise Pakistan following independence in 1947, with the two neighbours sharing a 900-kilometre border and deep historical, cultural and religious ties.
At the same time, Islamabad has cultivated strong ties with Washington, Riyadh and Beijing.
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar visited Beijing at the end of March for talks with Wang Yi, who backed Islamabad’s mediation efforts as “in keeping with the common interests of all parties”.
President Trump himself told AFP that China helped bring Iran to the negotiating table, an account backed by authorities in Islamabad.
What’s on the table?
The gap between the two sides remains vast. Washington’s reported 15-point proposal centres on Iran’s enriched uranium, ballistic missiles, sanctions relief and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. Tehran has countered with a 10-point plan demanding control over the strait, a toll for vessels crossing the strait, an end to all regional military operations and the lifting of all sanctions.
Lebanon is also a major sticking point. Israel continued its strikes in the country, targeting Hezbollah — after the ceasefire came into force — with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejecting the assertion that the truce included Lebanon.
US Vice President JD Vance appeared to take a softer tone, saying there may have been a “legitimate misunderstanding” from Iran that Lebanon would be included.
Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian warned on X that Israel’s strikes on Lebanon rendered the negotiations “meaningless”. “Our hands remain on the trigger. Iran will never forsake its Lebanese brothers and sisters.
Who are the negotiators?
Vance will lead the American team, joined by special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.
It marks the most senior US engagement with Iran since Secretary of State John Kerry negotiated the 2015 nuclear deal. Witkoff held multiple rounds of Oman-mediated talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi before the war cut the process short.
Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Araghchi are expected to lead the Iranian delegation.
Ghalibaf is a former IRGC commander, and it remains unclear whether any active IRGC representative will attend.
Foolproof security in Islamabad
The talks are being held in Islamabad. The streets of the federal capital are flooded with security personnel in military fatigues, traffic diversions and police checkpoints. The capital, already a quiet city, was even quieter on Friday.
The talks themselves are expected to be indirect: the two delegations sitting in separate rooms with Pakistani officials shuttling proposals between them, mirroring the format used in earlier Oman-mediated rounds.
