Peace efforts to end the US-Iran war have moved to Pakistan today. Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif is hosting delegations from both warring parties, with the US team led by Vice President JD Vance with assistance from Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif met US Vice President JD Vance on Saturday before the start of negotiations between the United States and Iran in Afghanistan, TASR reports, according to an AFP report.
- Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif met with JD Vance in Islamabad.
- Vance is accompanied in Islamabad by Ambassador Steve Witkoff and adviser Jared Kushner.
- Shahbaz Sharif received the members of the Iranian delegation even before the American delegation.
- Negotiations between the US and Iran to end the conflict will begin in the afternoon, the format remains unclear.
The prime minister received Vance
“On the day of commencement of talks in Islamabad, Prime Minister of Pakistan Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif met His Excellency JD Vance, Vice President of the United States,” the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement. Sharif, according to the statement, reaffirmed his interest in continuing to provide cooperation between the two sides in making progress towards sustainable peace in the region.
The meeting was also confirmed by the report of the press entourage (so-called pool report) of the US vice president, according to which US Ambassador Steve Witkoff and presidential adviser Jared Kushner are with Vance in Islamabad. Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishak Dar and Interior Minister Mohsin Nakvi also took part in the meeting.
Footage released by Pakistan showed Sharif welcoming Vance and then leading him to a room where seats had been prepared for both delegations. Pakistani and American flags were erected in the background.
Iranian delegation in Pakistan
Sharif also received members of the Iranian delegation before the Americans, the media in Tehran reported.
The start of negotiations between the US and Iran, aimed at ending the conflict in the Middle East, is scheduled for 14.00 CEST. The Iranian delegation, led by Speaker of Parliament Mohammad Baker Kalibaf, arrived in Pakistan in the early hours of Saturday morning. It also includes Minister of Foreign Affairs Abbas Arákčí, Secretary of the Defense Council Ali Akbar Ahmadián and Governor of the Central Bank Abdolnásir Hemmatí.
The format of the talks between the American and Iranian delegations remains unclear, writes AFP. In the past, Tehran and Washington used a method of indirect negotiations, in which mediators relayed messages between the two sides.
