New tensions emerge before US-Iran war ceasefire talks in Pakistan

The United States delegation has departed for Saturday’s planned ceasefire negotiations in Islamabad, Pakistan, and Iran’s government has confirmed that its representatives have already arrived. However, new tensions emerged between the two sides on Friday, casting doubt on the upcoming talks, which are already overshadowed by deep distrust. The ceasefire, announced on Tuesday, temporarily halted the war between the US, Israel, and Iran. However, since the deal was struck, conflicts have erupted over Iran’s 10-point proposal to pause the fighting. Both sides have offered differing accounts of its terms after initially agreeing to them. A critical point of discord has been whether the ceasefire applies to Israel’s invasion and ongoing offensive in Lebanon. On Friday, Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf stated that this disconnect could derail negotiations before they even begin. Ghalibaf, in a post on the social media platform X, stated, “Two of the measures mutually agreed upon between the parties have yet to be implemented: a ceasefire in Lebanon and the release of Iran’s blocked assets prior to the commencement of negotiations.” “These two matters must be fulfilled before negotiations begin.” Ghalibaf is among the Iranian officials expected to attend the talks in Pakistan, alongside Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. Hours after his post on Friday, Iranian state media reported that the delegation had arrived in Pakistan, adding that negotiations would only commence if Washington accepted Tehran’s “preconditions.” Meanwhile, the Iranian military’s joint command warned that it has its “fingers on the trigger” due to repeated “breaches of trust” by the US and Israel. For his part, Trump reiterated his threats against Iran, telling the New York Post, “We’re loading up the ships with the best weapons ever made, even at a higher level than we used to do a complete decimation.” “And if we don’t have a deal, we will be using them, and we will be using them very effectively,” he added. Afterwards, in a pair of Truth Social posts, Trump signaled his administration’s intention to take a hard line going into the negotiations. Referring to Iran’s control over the Strait of Hormuz, he wrote, “The Iranians don’t seem to realize they have no cards, other than a short-term extortion of the World by using International Waterways.” “The only reason they are alive today is to negotiate!” Meanwhile, fighting continues in Lebanon. The Trump administration has credited Tuesday’s ceasefire agreement with averting a major US escalation in the conflict. The US president had threatened that “a whole civilization will die tonight” just hours before the deal was reached. Still, the Trump administration has not yet released a clear picture of the initial framework it agreed to with Iran, though it maintains that it differs from the 10-point plan published by Iran. Analysts have pointed to yawning gaps between the two sides over issues related to Iran’s future control of the Strait of Hormuz, frozen Iranian assets, the future of Iran’s nuclear program, and Israel’s invasion of Lebanon. The US and Israel have argued that a ceasefire in Lebanon was not part of the deal, contradicting claims from Iran and Pakistan. Nevertheless, the US has signaled that Israel may reduce its attacks. On Thursday, Trump told an Israeli reporter that he encouraged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to make Israeli military operations against Hezbollah more “low-key” in the run-up to the ceasefire talks. Trump’s remarks followed Israeli attacks on Wednesday that killed at least 300 people nationwide, marking one of the deadliest days of the offensive. Despite this, Israeli attacks continued on Friday. Al Jazeera correspondent Obaida Hitto reported from the city of Tyre that there is “no sign of any dialback or slowdown here in southern Lebanon.” Meanwhile, Kuwait reported that it had “dealt with” seven drones fired from Iran into its airspace over the past 24 hours. Vance Predicts ‘Positive’ Outcome from Talks. Despite the latest threats, US Vice President JD Vance stated he expected “positive” results from the talks as he departed for Pakistan on Friday morning. Although he is leading the US delegation, Vance added that he had received “pretty clear guidelines” from Trump. “If the Iranians are willing to negotiate in good faith, we are certainly willing to extend an open hand, that’s one thing,” he said. “If they’re going to try to play us, they’re going to find that the negotiating team is not that receptive.” Vance, who is considered a representative of the non-interventionist branch of Trump’s “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) movement, was chosen to lead the US delegation amidst Iran’s distrust of US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. Witkoff and Kushner had previously led two rounds of indirect talks on Iran’s nuclear program. The first round of negotiations was derailed when Israel initiated a 12-day war on Iran in June 2025, which concluded with the US striking three of Iran’s key nuclear sites. The second round was scuttled when the US and Israel launched the latest war on February 28. #USIranTalks #CeasefireNegotiations #PakistanDiplomacy #MiddleEastConflict #LebanonWar #StraitOfHormuz #IranNuclearProgram #TrumpAdministration #InternationalRelations #Geopolitics