Pakistan Hosts US-Iran Negotiations Today

SadaNews - The world's attention is focused today, Saturday, on US-Iran negotiations mediated by Pakistan, hosted in Islamabad, which was the main intermediary in a ceasefire announced by US President Donald Trump on April 8, lasting two weeks.

The negotiations come amidst a long history of mutual suspicions between the two sides, the latest being the statement made by US Vice President J.D. Vance before heading to Islamabad with the US delegation, saying he looks forward to having positive negotiations with Iran, warning Tehran against "deceiving" his country and "evading" it.

Hours after Vance's statement, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht Ravanchi announced that his country "always welcomes diplomacy, but not dialogue based on false information aimed at deception and paving the way for new aggression against it.".

Accompanying Vance are US President's envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner, who had held several sessions with the Iranian side prior to the war through Omani mediation.

The Iranian delegation is headed by Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, accompanied by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. Qalibaf linked the start of talks with the US side to the implementation of two measures, which he said had been previously agreed upon: a ceasefire in Lebanon and the release of frozen Iranian assets.

The negotiations are expected to be conducted indirectly, with both delegations seated in separate rooms, and Pakistani officials moving between them. However, Pakistani sources indicated that the two delegations might discuss directly if things move in the right direction, which Islamabad hopes will result in a historic meeting.