While the world’s eyes turn to the expected talks between Iran and the United States on Saturday, which aim to reach a final agreement to end the war, after announcing a two-week temporary truce between the two parties, Pakistani officials revealed that the negotiations will take place at a military site in Islamabad amid intense security measures.
The officials explained, according to Anatolia Agency, that the Pakistani army will undertake the task of securing the negotiations, noting that the Iranian and American delegations will hold direct discussions that may take more than a day to reach a “permanent” ceasefire.
In a related context, the Pakistani authorities declared Thursday and Friday an official holiday in Islamabad without giving reasons, noting that basic services will remain available, especially police stations, hospitals, and electricity and gas companies. Such measures are usually taken for security reasons before important diplomatic events.
Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf will head his country’s delegation, and will be accompanied by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, as previously announced by the Iranian side. On the other hand, US Vice President J.D. Vance will lead the US delegation, which will also include Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.
However, the past few hours have witnessed many fluctuations regarding the ceasefire agreement. After the Prime Minister of Pakistan confirmed in a post on “X” that the truce included Lebanon, US President Donald Trump and his deputy Vance denied this.
Trump and Vance also spoke of “inaccurate and false” versions of the 10-item document presented by Tehran, which, they said, included the proposed conditions for agreeing to the negotiations.
On the other hand, Qalibaf, in a post on “X,” reiterated his emphasis that the ceasefire agreement includes Lebanon, warning that “any violation will be met with a strong response.”
For his part, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian believed that the continuation of the Israeli attack on Lebanon makes negotiations with America useless, stressing that “the hands of the armed forces will remain on the trigger,” and that Iran “will not abandon its Lebanese brothers and sisters.”
In a notable development, the Iranian ambassador to Pakistan, Reza Amiri Moghadam, deleted a post in which he indicated that his country’s delegation was heading to Islamabad, without explaining the reasons, which raised questions about the possibility that the delegation would not go to the talks.
