US and Iran Delegations Meet in Islamabad for High-Level Peace Negotiations

American and Iranian delegations arrived in Islamabad on Friday, April 10, for preliminary meetings ahead of high-level peace negotiations formally scheduled to begin on Saturday, April 11, marking the first direct talks between the two sides since the start of the conflict on February 28, 2026. The talks follow a fragile two-week ceasefire that entered its third day on Friday. The United States delegation is led by Vice President JD Vance, accompanied by presidential emissaries Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. The Iranian side has sent Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. Pakistan, which brokered the ceasefire and maintains diplomatic ties with both Washington and Tehran, is serving as host and mediator. The Pakistani daily The Nation described the moment as "historic," writing that "the outcome of these negotiations could shape the Middle East and West Asia for decades to come."

The conflict between the United States, Israel, and Iran began on February 28, 2026, when the US-Israeli coalition launched strikes against Iran in what was designated Operation Epic Fury. The strikes killed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, after which his son Mojtaba Khamenei was appointed Supreme Leader on March 9, 2026. The Strait of Hormuz, a critical global energy chokepoint, was subsequently brought under Iranian control, with Tehran collecting transit fees and triggering a global energy crisis. Pakistan, a nuclear-armed state, leveraged its relationships with both Iran and the United States, as well as with Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and China, to bring the two sides to the table.

Islamabad locked down as 10,000 officers deploy Pakistani authorities placed Islamabad on "red alert" ahead of the talks, deploying across the capital. Several major road arteries were closed, as were hiking trails in the Margalla Hills overlooking northern Islamabad. Emergency services and hospitals were placed on maximum alert. Authorities declared two days of public holiday — Thursday, April 9, and Friday, April 10 — in both Islamabad and the adjoining city of Rawalpindi. The location of the negotiations was kept secret, described by The Express Tribune as being held "away from the spotlights." A senior Pakistani official cited by the same outlet stated: „This is not a media spectacle. The objective is not images, but results.” — Senior Pakistani official via The Express Tribune Pakistan Today described the country's role as a "poisoned chalice," given the enormous stakes involved in hosting the talks.

Lebanon strikes, Hormuz closure cast shadow over talks The most immediate point of contention entering the negotiations is whether the two-week ceasefire extends to Lebanon, where Israeli strikes on Wednesday, April 8, killed more than 300 people and injured more than 1,000, according to a provisional toll from the Lebanese Ministry of Health. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian declared on Thursday that "negotiations [were] meaningless" following the bombardments, and Iran has conditioned its full participation on a halt to Israeli strikes in Lebanon. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced he had ordered his cabinet to engage in "direct negotiations" with Beirut, but the Lebanese government responded that it required a ceasefire before any discussions could begin. The Strait of Hormuz remains a second flashpoint: Iran has effectively closed the passage to most traffic and is collecting transit fees, and only a handful of vessels have passed through since the ceasefire was announced, while hundreds remain blocked. Foreign policy advisor Maneli Mirkhan, speaking on franceinfo, assessed that "Iran has had the upper hand since the Strait of Hormuz issue surfaced in this war." The ceasefire was intended to secure the strait's reopening, but Iran reportedly closed it again following the Israeli strikes on Lebanon.

Competing peace plans leave negotiators far apart The two sides enter the talks with sharply divergent frameworks for a permanent settlement. Iran has published a 10-point plan that includes proposals described as unacceptable to Washington, among them reparations for war damages, the lifting of all sanctions, recognition of Iranian control over the Strait of Hormuz, and the right to enrich uranium. The United States, for its part, has referenced a separate 15-point document that has not been made public. White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt was forced to clarify that when President Donald Trump described Iran's ten points as "a viable basis for negotiation," he was referring to a different document entirely. The question of the Iranian nuclear program also features prominently in the agenda alongside the Hormuz and Lebanon files. Vance, departing Washington on Friday, warned Iran against attempting to "play" the United States while simultaneously expressing hope for productive talks. „As the President of the United States said, if...” — JD Vance via Mediapart Analysts cited by RFI noted that the presence of Vance — described as an avowed isolationist who had privately expressed skepticism about the military intervention — carries a deliberate signal from the White House both to Tehran and to domestic audiences.

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