Pakistani officials said Tuesday that Islamabad has proposed a second round of talks to the US and Iran, as a fragile ceasefire in the Middle East still holds.
US Vice President JD Vance said negotiations with Iran “did make some progress”, and US President Donald Trump said Monday, “we’ve been called by the other side” and “they want to work a deal”, raising hopes that a long-term truce can be agreed to end the war in the region.
The Pakistani officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss the matter with the press, but it comes after the collapse of indirect talks between US and Iranian officials over the weekend, with Israel’s continued war on Lebanon a key point of difference between the two sides.
Lebanese and Israeli representatives are scheduled to meet in Washington on Tuesday for US-mediated talks on ending the war on Lebanon, but the prospects of an agreement appear slim.
Naim Qassem, the leader of Hezbollah, called for the talks to be scrapped before they even began, describing them as “futile”, while there are suspicions that Israel wants to continue the war.
The meeting mediated by Secretary of State Marco Rubio will include the Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors to Washington and the US ambassador to Beirut.
There are also deep concerns about shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, with the US beginning its blockade of the vital waterway on Monday.
