The Iranian delegation arrived in Islamabad early on Saturday morning after a last-minute hurdle over Israeli strikes in Lebanon eased. Tehran had conditioned its participation on a halt to attacks in Lebanon, a point Pakistan said was included in the US-Iran ceasefire.
The US delegation, led by Vance, includes US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff.
Officials from the US National Security Council, State Department and Department of Defence are accompanying Vance, while advance security, technical and communications teams reached Islamabad earlier in the day.
The Iranian delegation is led by Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and also includes Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
According to Iran’s Tasnim news agency, other negotiators include Supreme National Defence Council Secretary Ali Akbar Ahmadian and central bank governor Abdolnaser Hemmati.
The talks would be the first direct high-level engagement between Washington and Tehran since 1979.
They had come close to being derailed as Iran insisted it would not join negotiations unless Israeli strikes in Lebanon stopped.
Ghalibaf made clear on Friday evening that Tehran’s participation hinged on two conditions — a ceasefire in Lebanon and the release of Iranian assets frozen abroad, estimated at about $7 billion. He said these steps “must be fulfilled before negotiations begin”.
An Iranian official told Dawn: “We forced a pause in attacks in Beirut and Dahieh by making it a red line in negotiations and also made it clear that if Israel crosses it again, talks would be off.”
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