With Pakistan involved, direct trilateral talks between the United States and Iran are now underway, a source from the Pakistani government told the BBC; previously, discussions were taking place indirectly through Pakistani mediators. A BBC Persian correspondent in Islamabad said that if confirmed, this would mark the first time in the history of Iran-US negotiations that delegations from both countries have sat face-to-face in a trilateral meeting in the presence of a Pakistani delegation; he added that the meeting is being chaired by Pakistan’s army chief. The Iranian delegation arrived in Islamabad on Friday night to participate in the talks, while the US delegation arrived there on Saturday morning. Notably, on the morning of April 8, US President Donald Trump announced on his social media platform Truth Social that, based on his conversations with Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir, he was suspending bombing and attacks on Iran for two weeks; at that time, only 1 hour and 28 minutes remained before the deadline he had set for Iran to comply with sanctions, and he had warned that “tonight the entire civilization would come to an end.” Trump has repeatedly demanded that Iran reopen the Strait of Hormuz and has threatened to “send the country back to the Stone Age” if it fails to do so. In this context, Shehbaz Sharif said in a message that he was pleased to announce, with deep humility, that Iran and the United States, along with their allies, had agreed to an immediate ceasefire everywhere including Lebanon; he said he warmly welcomed this wise decision and thanked the leadership of both countries, and also invited their negotiating teams to Islamabad on Friday, April 10, 2026, for further talks aimed at a final resolution of all disputes. The Iranian delegation has stated that talks cannot begin until a ceasefire in Lebanon is implemented and Iran’s frozen assets are returned. Source: BBC
US-Iran to meet face-to-face after indirect talks
