US VP Vance in Islamabad for crucial talks with Iran

Pakistan jets escort Vance, Iran delegation to Islamabad: 70-member Iran delegation led by Parliament Speaker Bagher Ghalibaf receives high-level welcome in Pakistan: PM Shehbaz says process at 'make or break' stage: Bagher says Iran enters talks with US in Islamabad with 'complete distrust'

Published: 08:59 AM, 11 Apr, 2026
Pakistan, Latest
US VP Vance in Islamabad for crucial talks with Iran
Caption: TV grab

US Vice-President JD Vance and his delegation landed in Pakistani capital Islamabad a little before Saturday noon morning for make-or-break talks with the Iranian leadership, aimed at ending the Gulf war, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

US VP Vance was warmly received by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Ishaq Dar, Chief of the Army Staff and Chief of Defence Forces Field Marshal Asim Munir and Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi at the Nur Khan Airbase.

Army Chief Asim Munir, who also shares a personal rapport with US President Donald Trump, also greeted VP Vance, escorting him down a red carpet at the Nur Khan Airbase, where US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner were already waiting.

The high-voltage talks are taking place during a two-week halt in the US-Israeli war against Iran, which began with the US-Israeli attacks on February 28. The conflict, which spread across the Middle East and sent shockwaves through global economies, paused after Pakistan had brokered a temporary ceasefire on April 8.

The Iranian delegation arrived in Islamabad early Saturday morning after a last-minute hurdle over Israeli strikes in Lebanon eased.
The US delegation, led by Vance, includes President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff. Officials from the US National Security Council, State Department and Department of Defence are accompanying VP Vance, while advance security, technical and communications teams reached Islamabad earlier in the day.

Bagher leads Iran delegation

Iran and the United States were scheduled to hold peace talks in Pakistan on Saturday (today) with Iran announcing that its “preconditions have been accepted” by Washington.

The Iranian delegation, with more than 70 members and headed by parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, arrived first in Islamabad, where security was tight.

"We have good intentions but we do not trust," Iranian state TV quoted Ghalibaf as saying upon his arrival in Pakistan's capital. "Our experience in negotiating with the Americans has always been met with failure and broken promises."

Earlier, JD Vance, was equally wary in comments to reporters before leaving Washington. "If the Iranians are willing to negotiate in good faith, we're certainly willing to extend the open hand," Vance said. But "if they're going to try to play us, then they're going to find the negotiating team is not that receptive."

Iran has insisted on a truce in Lebanon and unfreezing of its assets for the Islamabad talks to go ahead.

Ahead of ceasefire talks with the United States, the Iranian Embassy in South Africa said Tehran’s “preconditions have been accepted” by Washington.

Iran’s Parliament Speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, set two key conditions — a ceasefire in Lebanon and the release of Iran’s blocked assets prior to the commencement of negotiations.

US President Donald Trump demanded the opening of the Strait of Hormuz as a condition for the two-week ceasefire which has made the negotiations possible.

The strait, through which one-fifth of the world's crude passes, has not reopened to normal traffic, however, and Trump vowed on Friday to have it open soon "with or without" Iran's cooperation.

He said his top priority at the Islamabad talks was to ensure the Islamic republic cannot have a nuclear weapon. "No nuclear weapon. That's 99 percent of it," he said.

Pakistan jets escort Vance to Islamabad

Multiple fighter jets escorted US Vice-President JD Vance to Islamabad as he arrived in the Pakistani capital ahead of scheduled peace talks with Iran.

Meanwhile, Iran sent three planes — with only one of them carrying the delegation and other two being decoy ones — to Islamabad in order to shield its negotiators, fearing a potential attack.

Iron-clad security

Security was tight in the Pakistani capital on Saturday, with a heavy police and paramilitary presence on the streets and road diversions around the Red Zone where government and diplomatic buildings are located.

The federal capital's main luxury hotel, which could host delegations, has been cleared of its normal well-heeled clientele.

It was not known whether the two sides would meet face-to-face, or whether they would mirror an indirect format used in Oman-mediated talks before the war.

Pakistan has formulated a team of subject matter specialists to facilitate the two sides in negotiations on navigation, nuclear and other key matters, a diplomatic source familiar with the matter told AFP.

Key regional players

The negotiations will be closely watched by other key regional players, with Egypt and Turkey having helped with mediation, along with China, all of which Pakistan was still coordinating closely with for the talks, the source said.

Beijing has been sought as a possible guarantor of any lasting agreement, official sources have said, with Trump confirming to AFP that China helped get Tehran to the negotiating table.

It was not clear whether China would have any direct presence during the talks or would be willing to take on a formal role.

High-level welcome for Iran delegation

Pakistan’s Foreign Office earlier announced the arrival of the Iranian delegation ahead of ceasefire talks with the US.

According to a statement issued in Islamabad, the delegation led by Speaker of the Iranian Parliament Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf has been received by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Ishaq Dar, Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir, Speaker of the National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq and Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi.
“DPM/FM expressed the hope that parties would engage constructively, and reiterated Pakistan’s desire to continue facilitating the parties towards reaching lasting and durable solution to the conflict,” the FO said.

Pakistan has also released a list of the Iranian delegation members. Led by Iranian Parliament Speaker Bagher Ghalibaf, the delegation includes FM Araghchi, three Supreme National Security Council members, the Central Bank governor, three Deputy Foreign Ministers, the Foreign Ministry spokesperson, members of parliament, and the president of Iran’s National Defence University.

In addition, Ali Bagheri Kani, deputy of the SNSC, who has a thorough experience in nuclear negotiations, and Mohammad Nabavian, one of the most hardline conservative MPs in the Iranian parliament, are also a part of the delegation.

- 'Make or break' -
Israeli air strikes continued in Lebanon on Friday against Hezbollah despite the Iranian demand that they be halted as a condition of the truce with Washington.

Israel has said the US-Iran ceasefire does not cover Lebanon. Israel's ambassador to the United States, Yechiel Leiter, said his country will hold discussions with Lebanon's government in Washington next week but will not discuss a ceasefire with Hezbollah.

Israel "agreed to begin formal peace negotiations" with the Lebanese government, with which it has no diplomatic relations, Leiter said in a statement.

"Israel refused to discuss a ceasefire with the Hezbollah, which continues to attack Israel and is the main obstacle to peace between the two countries."

Lebanese authorities say the weeks of hostilities have killed more than 1,950 people, with Israeli strikes killing more than 350 people Wednesday alone, the first full day of the US-Iran ceasefire.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said making progress at the Islamabad talks would be hard work. "A temporary ceasefire has been announced, but now an even more difficult stage lies ahead: the stage of achieving a lasting ceasefire, of resolving complicated issues through negotiations," he said.

"This is that stage which, in English, is called the equivalent of 'make or break’."

Heavy security at talks venue

In Islamabad, all routes leading to the Serena Hotel, the expected venue for the talks, were blocked off with heavy security, while a large banner and digital signs along the expressway heralded the "Islamabad Talks."

- Iran internet shutdown hits 1,000 hours -
Digital monitor Netblocks said Iran's internet blackout has lasted more than one thousand hours, in an X post on Sunday.

While Iran's domestic intranet remains operational -- supporting local messaging apps, banking platforms and other services  -- access to the global internet has been severely restricted since early February.

- Trump: Hormuz to open 'fairly soon' -
US President Donald Trump vowed Friday to have the Strait of Hormuz open "with or without" Iran's cooperation and said his top priority in peace talks was to ensure Tehran cannot have a nuclear weapon.

Trump has sent Vance to Pakistan to meet with top Iranian officials in a bid to reach a peace deal following a two-week ceasefire that was agreed on Tuesday.

- Lebanon-Israel talks -
Lebanon's presidency said Friday a meeting will be held at the US State Department on Tuesday "to discuss declaring a ceasefire and the start date for negotiations between Lebanon and Israel under US auspices," according to a statement.

The statement said the date was agreed to during a first telephone call on Friday evening between the Lebanese and Israeli ambassadors to Washington, and the US ambassador to Lebanon.

- Trump warning -
Trump said that Iran has "no cards" in upcoming talks with the United States, apart from its effective stranglehold on the crucial Strait of Hormuz shipping channel.

In a separate interview with the New York Post, Trump said US warships are being reloaded with weaponry to strike Iran if the talks in Pakistan fail to produce a deal.

"We have a reset going. We're loading up the ships with the best ammunition, the best weapons ever made -- even better than what we did previously and we blew them apart," the Post quoted Trump as saying.

- Hezbollah warns Beirut -
Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem urged the Lebanese government to stop giving "free concessions" to Israel ahead of negotiations between the two governments due to begin in Washington next week.

"We will not accept a return to the previous situation, and we call on officials to stop offering free concessions," Qassem said in a written message broadcast on the party's Al-Manar TV, in which he also denounced Israeli strikes that killed more than 300 people in Lebanon on Wednesday as "bloody criminality".

Reporter Awais Kiyani and Anwer Abbas/Agencies

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