The two-week ceasefire between the United States and Iran took effect Tuesday
By Bernie,
The two-week ceasefire between the United States and Iran took effect Tuesday, but the path toward a lasting agreement remains deeply uncertain, with Iran now conditioning its attendance at the first round of peace talks on a halt to Israeli strikes in Lebanon.
Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister told a foreign broadcaster Thursday that Tehran's delegation will travel to Islamabad only if Israel stops its attacks on Lebanon, saying any regional peace must include Lebanon. He said Iran held back from retaliating overnight after the United States "urged Israel to halt strikes." Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf went further, declaring that three clauses of Iran's ceasefire proposal have already been violated and calling further negotiations "unreasonable" under current conditions.
Should the talks proceed, Vice President JD Vance will lead the U.S. delegation alongside envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. CENTCOM Commander Brad Cooper will also join, marking the first time senior military officials have been included in the negotiations. Delegations are expected in Islamabad on Friday, with formal talks set to begin Saturday morning at the Serena Hotel, where Pakistani authorities have cleared a three-kilometer security zone.
Even if both sides sit down, the gap between them is wide. President Trump has insisted there will be no uranium enrichment and that all enriched material will be removed. Iran's 10-point proposal demands the opposite, including continued enrichment, the lifting of all sanctions, and Iranian control over the Strait of Hormuz. Trump called the proposal "a workable basis on which to negotiate," but the White House said the original version was discarded and that a condensed follow-up relayed by Pakistan was what moved talks forward.
The reopening of the Strait of Hormuz was a core condition of the ceasefire, but the waterway remains effectively closed. Ship-tracking data showed only four vessels transited on Wednesday, compared to roughly 130 per day before the war. Iranian media issued conflicting signals on whether tanker traffic was permitted, and IRGC-affiliated outlets published a chart Thursday suggesting the Guard laid sea mines along the strait's main shipping lane. With the ceasefire's central precondition unmet and its terms disputed by both sides, the two-week window for diplomacy is narrowing before it has fully opened.
Topics: Iran, Strait of Hormuz, Lebanon & Hezbollah
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