After lengthy negotiations in Pakistan, Vance says there is no agreement with Iran.

Direct negotiations between the US and Iran to terminate the conflict are underway in Pakistan.

 

The failure to come to an agreement casts doubt on the ceasefire and raises concerns about reopening the Strait of Hormuz when global oil supplies are still being restricted.

 

 After separate bilateral discussions with the prime minister of Pakistan, talks between US and Iranian representatives start.

Days after a precarious ceasefire was reached, the United States and Iran are having face-to-face negotiations in Pakistan to put an end to their six-week-old conflict.

Following prior bilateral meetings between each side and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, the White House confirmed that face-to-face talks between the two sides started in Islamabad on Saturday afternoon.

According to Iranian official media, three-party negotiations had started following the fulfillment of Iranian demands, such as a decrease in Israeli attacks on Lebanon.

Originally intended to be "proximate talks," Al Jazeera's Abid Hussain reported from Islamabad that "our sources close to the mediation say the two teams are [now] involved in direct negotiations, with the Pakistani mediators also present" in the room.

President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and special envoy Steve Witkoff are part of the US delegation, which is headed by US Vice President JD Vance.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf are leading Iran's delegation of almost 70 individuals.

Earlier on Saturday, Vance and Ghalibaf had separate meetings with Sharif of Pakistan. According to Sharif's office, Islamabad was eager to continue assisting both parties.

According to a statement from Sharif's office, "the Prime Minister expressed the hope that these talks would serve as a steppingstone toward durable peace in the region."

Despite Tehran's earlier claims that the talks would not move without promises over Lebanon's involvement in the truce and US sanctions, the negotiations went forward.

Ghalibaf earlier stated on X that Washington has already consented to a truce in Lebanon, where Israeli attacks on Iran-backed Hezbollah forces have killed around to 2,000 people since the battle began in March, as well as to unblock Iranian assets.

Tehran and Pakistan claim the Lebanon campaign is a part of the Iran-US ceasefire, although Israel and the US have denied this.

According to sources cited by Osama Bin Javaid of Al Jazeera, who reported from Islamabad, "there has been some progress made on basic conditions, including on the need for a ceasefire in Lebanon."

He claimed there are reports of a potential agreement to restrict strikes to southern Lebanon, even though no truce has been reached in Lebanon.

According to sources, "there could be some movement on the unfreezing" of Iranian assets, Bin Javaid added. Though "it is still early hours and a lot of this needs to be confirmed," he added, Pakistan remains optimistic about the prospect of a resolution.

Iranian state media said that Ghalibaf had before stated that Iran was prepared to make a deal provided Washington delivered what he called a genuine agreement and gave Iran its rights.

 Shortly after arriving in Pakistan, Ghalibaf declared, "Our experience in negotiating with the Americans has always been met with failure and broken promises."

Trump claimed on social media that the Iranian officials were just present to make a deal.
The Iranians appear to be unaware that their only option is to use international waterways to blackmail the world in the short run. He declared, "The only reason they are still alive today is to negotiate."

Speaking on his way to Pakistan, Vance stated that he anticipated a favorable result but added, "If they're going to try to play us, then they're going to find the negotiating team is not that receptive."

US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran have stopped since Trump called a two-week ceasefire in the conflict on Tuesday.

However, neither a truce in the parallel conflict between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon nor an end to Iran's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, which has caused the greatest disruption to world energy supply ever, have been achieved.