Vice President JD Vance is leading the U.S. delegation, which includes Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff and Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
Delegations from Iran and the U.S. are in Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad, on Saturday to begin negotiations on a peace deal after Washington and Tehran reached a fragile ceasefire to the Middle East war earlier this week.
The Pakistani foreign ministry said it hoped the “parties would engage constructively,” according to a welcome message posted on X. The ministry “reiterated Pakistan’s desire to continue facilitating the parties towards reaching a lasting and durable solution to the conflict,” it said.
Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar praised the U.S. for committing “to achieving lasting regional and global peace and stability.”
Vice President JD Vance is leading the American delegation, which includes U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff and Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf are representing Tehran.
The Iranian delegation is meeting with Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, and Tehran has set some preconditions to enter face-to-face talks with the Americans, including the release of Iranian frozen assets and a ceasefire in Lebanon, according to Iranian news agency Tasnim.
“Two of the measures mutually agreed upon between the parties have yet to be implemented: a ceasefire in Lebanon and the release of Iran’s blocked assets prior to the commencement of negotiations,” Iran’s parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said in a post on X. “These two matters must be fulfilled before negotiations begin.”
The inclusion of Lebanon in the ceasefire agreement is one of the most controversial issues in the deal reached between the two sides. Tehran has said stopping raids on Lebanon was one of the conditions included in the deal, while the U.S. argues that it wasn’t. Israel conducted a massive attack on Lebanon the day after the deal was announced.
However, Israel and Lebanon agreed to hold separate negotiations with delegations expected to meet in Washington on Tuesday.