US vice-president travels to Pakistan for peace talks with Iran

Top story: EU News’ Stefan Grobe on the US-Iran fragile ceasefire as US Vice-President JD Vance travels to Pakistan for peace talks with Iran.

This coming weekend, senior representatives from key players in the war will converge in Pakistan’s leafy capital in the lower reaches of the Margalla Hills.

Exactly six weeks after the United States and Israel launched coordinated strikes on Iran that killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Islamabad will on Saturday host talks involving top US and Iranian officials.

The meetings come days after both Washington and Tehran agreed to a Pakistan-mediated two-week ceasefire, and at a time when that truce is already under strain amid different interpretations of the terms of the pause in fighting — and Israel’s intensified bombing of Lebanon.

When and where will the talks be held?

Islamabad’s Serena Hotel will host the delegations. Located next to the foreign ministry in the capital’s Red Zone, which houses key government buildings and embassies, the hotel has been requisitioned from Wednesday evening through Sunday, with guests asked to vacate.

Who will attend the talks?

US Vice President JD Vance will lead the American delegation, joined by President Donald Trump’s top envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner, Israelis advocates.

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi are expected to lead the Iranian delegation.

Why is Pakistan mediating?

Pakistan has emerged as a key intermediary between Washington and Tehran in recent weeks. Despite past tensions with both countries, Islamabad currently maintains working ties with each. India has claimed outrage at the missed opportunity to be seen as the mediator. 

What is being negotiated?

Both sides enter the talks with major differences, but they do have some overlap. Iran has played it self into a strong position, and has the upper hand in the war, especially with the mass damage it was able to inflict on Israel – whilst only using a medium arsenal.

Iran’s 10-point proposal for peace calls for Iranian oversight of the Strait of Hormuz, the withdrawal of US combat forces from the Middle East, and a halt to military operations against allied armed groups, among other demands.

The United States has not formally accepted these terms, though Trump has called the 10-point plan “workable”. The White House has instead claimed Iran is willing to surrender its stock of enriched uranium, a position spokesperson Karoline Leavitt described as a non-negotiable demand. Iran has not — officially, at least — accepted that it is ready to give up its enriched uranium.

And the dispute centres on Lebanon, which Israel is planning on invading as part of its greater Israel project.  Israel’s bombing of its northern neighbour, in which more than 300 people were killed on Wednesday, was its most intense attack on Lebanon since the start of the current war.