The United States delegation has departed for ceasefire negotiations with Iran scheduled for Saturday in Islamabad, Pakistan, but new tensions emerged on Friday between top US and Iranian officials, casting further doubt on the already fragile diplomatic process. The talks, aimed at halting the US-Israel war with Iran, are shrouded in deep distrust, with both sides offering conflicting accounts of the terms agreed upon earlier this week.
Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf stated on social media platform X that two mutually agreed measures—a ceasefire in Lebanon and the release of Iran's blocked assets—must be implemented before negotiations commence. He warned that failure to do so could derail the talks before they begin. Ghalibaf is among the Iranian officials expected to attend the Pakistan talks, alongside Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. Simultaneously, the Iranian military's joint command warned it has its "fingers on the trigger" due to repeated "breaches of trust" by the US and Israel.
For his part, Donald Trump purportedly re-upped threats against Iran, telling the New York Post that his regime is "loading up the ships with the best weapons ever made" and would use them "very effectively" if no deal is reached. In Truth Social posts, he allegedly claimed Iran has "no cards" other than "short term extortion" via control of the Strait of Hormuz, signaling a hardline approach ahead of the negotiations. The Trump administration has credited Tuesday's ceasefire agreement with averting a major escalation but has not released a clear framework, maintaining it differs from Iran's published 10-point plan.
Analysts highlight yawning gaps between the two sides over critical issues, including Iran's future control of the Strait of Hormuz, frozen Iranian assets, the future of Iran's nuclear programme, and Israel's invasion of Lebanon. The US and Israel have argued that a ceasefire in Lebanon was not part of the deal, contradicting Iran and Pakistan. Despite this, Trump allegedly encouraged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to make military operations against Hezbollah more "low-key" ahead of the talks, even as Israeli attacks killed at least 300 people nationwide on Wednesday and continued unabated in southern Lebanon on Friday.
US Vice President JD Vance, leading the delegation, claimed he expected "positive" results from the talks as he departed for Pakistan on Friday morning. He stated he had received "pretty clear guidelines" from Trump, adding that if Iranians negotiate in "good faith," the US is willing to extend an "open hand," but if they "try to play us," the negotiating team will not be receptive. Vance, seen as a representative of the non-interventionist wing of Trump's MAGA movement, was tapped amid Iran's distrust of US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, who previously led indirect talks on Iran's nuclear programme that were derailed by US-Israeli military actions.
Source: www.aljazeera.com