A US delegation left for ceasefire talks in Islamabad, Pakistan, scheduled for Saturday, and the Iranian government confirmed that a representative had already arrived.
But new tensions arose between the two countries on Friday, casting doubt on future talks already shrouded in deep mistrust.
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The ceasefire announced Tuesday temporarily halts the U.S. and Israel’s war against Iran. However, since the deal was signed, conflict has erupted over Iran’s 10-point proposal for a cessation of hostilities.
Both sides have given different explanations of the terms since the agreement was reached. One key point of contention is whether the ceasefire applies to the Israeli invasion and ongoing offensive in Lebanon.
On Friday, Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Berger Ghalibaf said the rift could derail negotiations before they even begin.
“Two of the mutually agreed measures between the parties have not yet been implemented: the ceasefire in Lebanon and the release of Iran’s blockaded assets before negotiations begin,” Ghalibaf said in a post on social media X.
“These two things must be met before negotiations can begin.”
Ghalibaf is one of the Iranian officials expected to attend the Pakistan talks, along with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
Hours after his post on Friday, Iranian state media reported that a delegation had arrived in Pakistan, adding that negotiations would only begin if the United States accepted Tehran’s “preconditions.”
Meanwhile, Iran’s military’s Joint Command warned that Iran has its “finger on the trigger” due to repeated “betrayals” by the United States and Israel.
Meanwhile, President Trump renewed his threat against Iran, telling the New York Post: “We’re loading ships with the best weapons ever made, even if it’s at a higher level than we would have done for total destruction.”
“And even if there is no agreement, we intend to use them and we intend to use them very effectively,” he added.
Trump has since indicated in two posts on Truth Social that his administration plans to take a hard line in negotiations.
Referring to Iran’s control over the Strait of Hormuz, he wrote, “The Iranians do not seem to realize that they have no cards in their cards other than a short-term global heist using international waterways.”
“The only reason they are alive today is to negotiate!”
Fighting continues in Lebanon
The Trump administration credits Tuesday’s ceasefire agreement with avoiding a major U.S. escalation of the war.
Hours before the deal was reached, the US president had threatened that “the entire civilization will perish tonight.”
Still, the Trump administration has yet to release a clear picture of the initial framework agreed to with Iran, which it insists is different from the 10-point plan announced by Iran.
Analysts said there were deep rifts between the two countries over issues related to Iran’s future control of the Strait of Hormuz, the freezing of Iranian assets, the future of Iran’s nuclear program and Israel’s invasion of Lebanon.
The United States and Israel say a ceasefire in Lebanon is not part of the deal, contradicting Iran and Pakistan.
Still, the US has indicated that Israel may scale back its attacks. On Thursday, President Trump told Israeli reporters that he had encouraged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to be more “modest” in Israel’s military operations against Hezbollah in preparation for ceasefire negotiations.
President Trump’s comments came after at least 300 people were killed across the United States on Wednesday, the deadliest Israeli attack.
Still, Israeli attacks continued on Friday. “Here in southern Lebanon there is no sign of dialing back or slowing down,” Al Jazeera correspondent Obaida Hitt reported from the city of Tire.
Meanwhile, Kuwait said it had “addressed” seven drones launched into its airspace by Iran in the past 24 hours.
Vance expects ‘positive’ outcome from talks
Despite the recent threats, US Vice President J.D. Vance said as he departed for Pakistan on Friday morning that he expected a “positive” outcome from the talks.
Mr. Vance, who is leading the U.S. delegation, added that he had received “pretty clear guidelines” from Mr. Trump.
“If the Iranians are willing to negotiate in good faith, we are certainly willing to help. That’s a different story,” he said.
“If they try to play us, they will find that the negotiating team is not very welcoming.”
Vance, considered the non-interventionist figurehead of President Trump’s Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement, was chosen to lead the U.S. delegation amid Iran’s distrust of U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.
Witkoff and Kushner previously led two rounds of indirect talks about Iran’s nuclear program.
The first round of negotiations stalled when Israel launched a 12-day war against Iran in June 2025, and the war ended when the United States attacked three of Iran’s major nuclear facilities.
The second round sank when the US and Israel began their latest war on February 28th.
