Iran’s negotiating team arrived in Islamabad yesterday for peace talks with the United States, even as Tehran insisted on measures it said needed to be addressed first, throwing last-minute doubt over the meetings scheduled in Pakistan.
This comes as US President Donald Trump warned that American warships were being prepared for a potential strike on Iran if ongoing talks fail to deliver a deal. Emphasising military readiness, Trump said the ships are also being equipped with advanced weapons.
Trump had announced a two-week ceasefire in the six-week war on Tuesday, just hours before a deadline after which Trump had threatened to destroy Iran’s civilisation.
The ceasefire, according to Reuters, had halted U.S. and Israeli airstrikes on Iran. But it has not ended Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, which has caused the biggest-ever disruption to global energy supplies, or calmed a parallel war between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Iran’s parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, said on X that Washington had previously agreed to unblock Iranian assets and to a ceasefire in Lebanon, and added that talks would not start until those pledges are fulfilled.
Iranian state media reported that Qalibaf arrived in Islamabad yesterday, and the delegation included senior political, military and economic officials, including Iran’s foreign minister, defence council secretary, central bank governor and several members of parliament.
While there was no immediate comment from the White House on the Iranian demands, Trump said in a social media post that the only reason the Iranians were alive was to negotiate a deal.
“The Iranians don’t seem to realise 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!” he said.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance, who will lead the U.S. delegation, said he expected a positive outcome as he headed to Pakistan, but added: “If they’re going to try to play us, then they’re going to find the negotiating team is not that receptive.”
Iran has been unable to obtain tens of billions of dollars of its assets in foreign banks, mainly from exports of oil and gas, due to U.S. sanctions on its banking and energy sectors.
Meanwhile, Trump has said the US was reinforcing its naval strength and equipping warships with top-grade weaponry.
“We have a reset going. We are loading up the ships with the best ammunition, the best weapons ever made even better than what we did previously and we blew them apart. And if we don’t have a deal, we will be using them, and we will be using them very effectively,” the New York Post quoted Trump to have said.
Earlier, Trump posted a brief and cryptic message on his social media platform Truth Social, hinting at a major strategic shift. Referring to a “WORLD’S MOST POWERFUL RESET!!!”, the message has added to speculation over Washington’s next move in the region.
