Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has told the US and Iranian negotiating teams that the talks they were going to hold in Islamabad are not going to be easy as he held separate meetings with them on Saturday, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.
Firstly, the Iranian government delegation met Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to discuss the terms of planned “make-or-break” negotiations to end the Middle East war with a US team led by Vice-President JD Vance.
With the first talks underway at Islamabad’s Serena Hotel, Iranian media reported that the Iranian side would decide at the end of the meeting with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif whether to go ahead with negotiations with the Americans.
Iran has previously said that any agreement on a permanent end to fighting must include the unfreezing of sanctioned Iranian assets and include an end to Israel’s war on Hezbollah in Lebanon, which Vance has said will not be up for discussion in Islamabad.
But both parties had arrived at the talks venue when the Iranian delegation led by parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf met PM Shehbaz Sharif, having arrived overnight at an airbase near the federal capital and disembarked to embrace Pakistan’s powerful Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir.
Field Marshal Asim Munir, who shares a personal rapport with US President Donald Trump, also greeted Vance, escorting him down a red carpet at the Nur Khan Airbase, where US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner were waiting.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said talks would not be easy. “An even more difficult stage lies ahead,” he said, referring to efforts to permanently end fighting that began with US-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28, sparking Iranian retaliation against Israel and across the Gulf.
“This is that stage which, in English, is called the equivalent of ‘make or break’.”
Iran’s state broadcaster reported that the Iranian delegation had previously met with Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir after arriving in Islamabad overnight.
Noting Pakistan’s previous efforts as an intermediary, Iran’s Fars news agency reported that after the meeting with “Asim Munir messages were again exchanged between Iran and the United States”.
Later, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif held a meeting with His Excellency JD Vance, Vice-President of the United States of America.
The US Vice-President was assisted by Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.
The Prime Minister was assisted by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar and Interior Minister Senator Syed Mohsin Raza Naqvi.
Commending the commitment of both delegations to engage constructively, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed the hope that these talks would serve as a stepping stone toward durable peace in the region.
The Prime Minister reiterated that Pakistan looks forward to continue its facilitation of both sides in making progress towards sustainable peace in the region.
