Iran, two US Navy ships cross Hormuz. Talks continue in Islamabad

"The high-level Iranian delegation in Pakistan will defend Iran's interests with all its might and, with this in mind, will conduct negotiations with courage. In any case, our service to the people will not stop for a single moment and whatever the outcome of the negotiations, the government will stand by the people." This was assured by the Iranian President, Massoud Pezeshkian, in a post on X.

Officials from the Islamic republic and the Americans started direct negotiations today in Islamabad to try, despite numerous uncertainties, to achieve a lasting truce to the war.

"Over the past few days, the issue has been clearly defined and since yesterday, when we arrived, continuous communication has been established between Islamabad and Beirut. We are also in contact with our ambassador in Beirut, who reports to us regularly. We are also in contact with the relevant parties in Lebanon to ensure that the ceasefire obligations are met on all fronts,' Baghaei was quoted by Snn television as saying.

The spokesman added that the talks 'basically' started the moment the Iranian delegation arrived in Islamabad. Baghaei said that the Iranian delegation's meeting with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif lasted over two hours. During the meeting, the delegation tried to unambiguously set out Iran's positions regarding its ten-point plan.

The first round of talks in Pakistan between Iran and the United States lasted just under two hours. This was claimed by the Arab satellite TV al Jazeera, according to which there was later a break for dinner before the talks resumed.

Both sides,' al Jazeera emphasised, 'started from maximalist positions, but some progress has reportedly been made on the issues of Israeli attacks in Lebanon, the unblocking of urgently needed assets in Iran, the Strait of Hormuz, and several other points.

Emmanuel Macron called on the Iranian president to 'seize the opportunity' of the talks in Pakistan for a 'lasting de-escalation'. This was announced by the French president, who explained in a post on X that he had spoken with Massoud Pezeshkian.

"I spoke with Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian," Macron said, "I invited him to seize the opportunity presented by the negotiations launched in Islamabad to pave the way for a lasting de-escalation and a demanding agreement that would provide solid guarantees for security in the region, with the involvement of all the countries concerned."

"We have the best, the most sosfistic demining equipment in the world, we know it, we're just putting it in place." This is how Donald Trump, interviewed by a News Nation reporter, expressed his belief that the Strait of Hormuz will be free 'in the not too distant future', also suggesting that the US knows where the submarine mines in the strait have been placed by Iran. He added, however, that the closure in recent weeks has made 'people see that there are alternatives to crossing the strait'.

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said he has postponed his trip to the United States, scheduled for next week. "In light of the current internal situation, and in order to fully fulfil my duty to safeguard the security of the Lebanese and their unity, I have decided to postpone my trip to the United Nations and the United States to follow the work of the government from Beirut," Nawaf Salam said on X.

The Iraqi parliament elected Nizar Amidi, a member of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, as the new president after months of political deadlock following elections without a majority. The election comes in a context of strong instability: Iraq is caught up in the tensions between the United States, Israel and Iran, with attacks by pro-Iranian militias and air raids that have also hit Iraqi forces. The crisis is aggravated by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which has reduced oil exports, the mainstay of the national economy. Amidi defeated a shortlist of candidates that included current Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein, candidate of the Kurdistan Democratic Party. By convention, the president of Iraq is always Kurdish, while the prime minister is Shia and the president of the parliament is Sunni. Originally from the province of Dohuk, Amidi previously worked as an assistant to two other presidents, Jalal Talabani and Fouad Massoum. No candidate obtained the required two-thirds majority in the first round of voting although Amidi had a clear lead over the other candidates.

French PresidentEmmanuel Macron and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman agreed in talks to "keep in close contact" to "contribute to de-escalation" in the Middle East and to reaching an agreement. This was announced by Macron on X. "With the start of talks in Islamabad, we agreed to stay in close contact to contribute to de-escalation, freedom of navigation and the conclusion of an agreement that will ensure lasting peace and security in the region," the French leader wrote, after speaking with Bin Salman. "I reiterated my support for the ceasefire, which must be fully respected and extended immediately to Lebanon. We discussed the need to restore full freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz as soon as possible," he added.

An American destroyer that was about to pass through the Strait of Hormuz after receiving a warning from an Iranian navy unit that if it continued on its course within 30 minutes it would be hit, turned back, according to Iranian television station Irib.

L'11 aprile 2026, a Islamabad, in Pakistan, il primo ministro pakistano Shehbaz Sharif incontra il presidente del Parlamento iraniano Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, mentre le delegazioni degli Stati Uniti e dell'Iran si preparano a tenere colloqui di pace. Ufficio del presidente del Parlamento iraniano/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Foto fornita tramite REUTERS ATTENZIONE REDATTORI - QUESTA FOTO È STATA FORNITA DA UNA TERZA PARTE. MIGLIORE QUALITÀ DISPONIBILE.

According to a Pakistani source, trilateral face-to-face talks are taking place in Islamabad between US Vice-President JD Vance, US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, Trump's brother-in-law Jared Kushner, Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and the head of the Pakistani army. This was reported by Al Arabiya quoting Reuters. If confirmed, according to CNN, they would be the first direct talks between the US and Iran since the founding of the Islamic Republic.

The Israeli Air Force struck around 200 Hezbollah targets in Lebanon in the last 24 hours, according to the Israeli Defence Forces (Idf), as reported by the Times of Israel. According to the Idf, the targets included Hezbollah infrastructure and rocket launchers. "The Air Force continues to strike Hezbollah terrorist organisation infrastructure and support the activity of ground forces operating in South Lebanon. In addition, the IDF continues to strike rocket launchers to prevent fire at Israeli civilians,' the IDF said.

"It is clear that there is no trust in the US, however Iranian negotiators are cautious and will not be fooled in the talks," a member of the Iranian delegation to the Iran-US talks in Pakistan, Mohammad Marandi, said on Saturday. "If the other side does not fulfil its commitments, Iran will continue to retain control of the Strait of Hormuz," he added. "Iran's biggest achievement in the current war with the US and Israel has been the strengthening of the country's sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz as never before in the past 100 years," Mohammad Marandi, an Iranian government adviser, was quoted by Fars as adding.

Iranian state TV: warning to US military ship. 'Will be attacked within 30 minutes if it crosses the Strait of Hormuz'

"Several ships" of the US Navy have crossed the Strait of Hormuz in recent hours: this is what Barack Ravid, a journalist for Axios, indicates on X, citing a US official. The move, he adds, "was not coordinated with Iran", and is the first time such a move has taken place since the beginning of the war.

"Iran's only remaining asset is the threat that a ship might 'run into' one of their sea mines; mines that, incidentally, have been orphaned, as all of their 28 minelaying vessels also lie on the seabed." Donald Trump writes this on Truth in a long post on the war against Tehran.

"We are now starting the process of cleaning up the Strait of Hormuz, as a favour to countries around the world, including China, Japan, South Korea, France, Germany and many others. Incredibly, they have neither the courage nor the will to carry out this task themselves'. Donald Trump wrote this on Truth, returning to attack US allies.

Negotiations between Iran and the US have begun in Islamabad. This was reported by several Iranian media including Irna and Mehr.

French President Emmanuel Macron reportedly held talks today with Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan, during which the two leaders addressed key regional and international dossiers, from the Middle East to Ukraine to the South Caucasus. In a message posted on X, Macron explained that the confrontation first and foremost concerned the situation in the Middle East, with an appeal for the ceasefire to be respected and enforced in Lebanon, for freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz to be maintained, and for the need for a 'solid and lasting' diplomatic solution. The two presidents then also discussed the situation in Ukraine and the joint work within the Coalition of the Willing to contribute to the search for a "just and lasting" peace, which according to Macron will have to be "in accordance with the principles of the United Nations Charter" and supported by "robust security guarantees" for Kiev.

The war in Iran, for now only suspended, has confronted the world with consequences that go beyond the economic impact of the energy supply difficulties in Europe and Asia. What is different from previous wars, which have already seen the United States, together with various allies, engaged in military adventures in the Middle East (Iraq) or in Central Asia (Afghanistan), is that this war is taking place in a context in which what was defined as the world order had already been challenged over the past year, in various ways, by the country that was the pillar of this order. The tariffs war opened by President Trump was explicitly justified with the claim that the existing global trade and economic order no longer corresponded to American interests. On the contrary, this order was blamed for allowing the robbery of American resources through the international free market. There is little point in easily disputing this crude explanation of the internal and external imbalances of the American economy. The fact of the matter is that the United States has declared that the US public debt and trade imbalances are, and will be, a problem of the rest of the world, not just the US. The wars and acts of force by the major military power are now linked to the overall rejection of the existing order and international law as hitherto, with various and loose interpretations, pretended to be respected in international relations, both economic and geopolitical. The real problem is that the United States has played the role of hegemonic power in the world from the post-war period until today, not only because of its economic and military power but because it was essentially the guarantor of the existing order and thus of its stability. Throughout history, all hegemonic powers have been so because they offered a de facto global public good: a stability that could maintain international relations such that the world could function. This order may be unjust, contested and unbalanced in its guaranteed interests, but it is still an order. It was so in the cold war. It has been so in the years since, even if contested by the developing and emerging countries that demanded a reform of international institutions and the international role of the dollar with its exorbitant privilege (copyright Giscard d'Estaing). But it was within this order that China became the world's leading manufacturing power and the world's economic balances changed with the rise of Asia as a continent that in addition to demographic supremacy is set to regain economic supremacy. And it is the order in which Europe has also prospered.

But the new situation is that the US seems no longer able to provide the world with the public good of stability. The war in its physicality of destruction and human lives lost, no greater, moreover, than the killings perpetrated by the Iranian theocratic regime affected by the bombing, is unlikely to have more serious economic consequences, from the point of view of the world order, than the weakening of the dollar as a pillar of American hegemony. But it is a further step towards the exit from the old order. Trump was probably only an accelerating factor in a process that will not stop after Trump, even if it may take on forms more acceptable to the rest of the world. None of this would be a big deal if there were another hegemonic power that could offer stability to a new order on its own. China is not and, for different reasons, Europe manifestly is not. The insistence on the value of multilateralism should therefore not be interpreted today as a tired appeal to old democratic values hypocritically practised in international institutions with substantial American leadership. Today, on the contrary, it means recognising that only a negotiation between the United States, Europe and Asia, with China at the centre, can guarantee a new economic and geopolitical stability, or rather an orderly transition, at a time when the search for a new unilateral hegemony would only mean war again. The subjects of negotiation are clear: trade rules and currency on the one hand, and geopolitical security on the other. What does Europe, or rather the European states that now move independently of each other, have to say?

Standing at anchor in the middle of the Persian Gulf is the Grande Torino, the large car carrier of Grimaldi Lines that has been stranded for the past month and a half due to the war in Iran, along with hundreds of other ships. Yesterday the ship had called at a port in Abu Dhabi to replenish its supplies of water, food and medicine and then set sail again to return to the open sea, waiting to safely cross the Strait of Hormuz and complete the unloading of the new cars crammed into its garages and still to be delivered. On board the Grande Torino are 21 seafarers, three of whom are Italian nationals. Yesterday, the Neapolitan shipping company let it be known that they are waiting to concretely understand the terms of the agreement between the US and Iran for the truce and the passage of the ships through Hormuz in order to definitively unblock the situation.

US President Donald Trump called Iran 'a failing nation' and claimed that talks between the two sides are already underway. Asked by Newsnation about Tehran's bona fides in the negotiations, Trump said, "I will let you know in a very short period of time, it won't take long." The president also claimed that the Strait of Hormuz will be back in operation 'in the not too distant future', adding that there are 'other alternatives' for global energy routes. 'Look at the great seas of the world: many ships are going to the US to load oil, we have plenty of it,' he concluded.

The substantial blockade of transit in the Strait of Hormuz continues. In the last 24 hours, seven ships have transited, while at 2pm (Italian time), three ships were in transit. On an ordinary day, an average of about 140 were in transit. This is stated on the Hormuz Strait Monitor website according to which, in fact, the sea passage is closed, with Iran restricting the passage of ships and imposing tolls of more than USD 1 million per vessel, despite the ceasefire announcement on 8 April.

Iran's delegation at today's talks in Islamabad conveyed its demands and 'red lines' to Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif at today's meeting. This was reported by an Iranian state television journalist from Islamabad, according to the Reuters news agency.

The 'red lines' indicated by Tehran include the Strait of Hormuz, the payment of war reparations, the release of frozen Iranian assets, and a region-wide ceasefire.

"A huge number of completely empty oil tankers, some of the largest in the world, are heading to the US right now to load up on the world's best and 'sweetest' oil (and gas!). We have more oil than the world's two largest oil economies combined, and of superior quality. We are waiting for you. Fast delivery time!" Donald Trump writes this on Truth, signing himself 'President DJT'.

An Artificial Intelligence Laboratory for Defence that will be operational at the end of 2026. And which will not just be a study and policy structure but, as Defence Minister Guido Crosetto explained at the question time held in the Senate on Thursday 9 April, "a permanent operational platform for testing and integrating courses of action at the scale and applications most relevant to Defence". Here, then, in the minister's indications, is how the government intends to operationalise the Artificial Intelligence Defence Strategy (2026 edition), the policy document approved by Crosetto himself on 16 January.

The Lebanese Shia armed group Hezbollah said its fighters hit Israeli army infrastructure in the settlement of Adamit with a salvo of rockets and launched a swarm of attack drones at a concentration of Israeli soldiers and vehicles in Metula. This was reported by al Jazeera. The movement also announced that its fighters targeted a Merkava tank on the al-Awayda hill in the border town of Odaisseh with a guided missile and a drone. It added that it launched another drone near Israeli soldiers in the area of the al-Ishraq school in Bint Jbeil.

The Lebanese Ministry of Health said that ten people, including three emergency service workers, were killed in Israeli raids in southern Lebanon today, with state media reporting raids on more than a dozen locations. The ministry said that three deadly attacks hit locations in the Nabatiyeh district and claimed the lives of, among others, a Lebanese civil defence member and two paramedics from the Hezbollah-affiliated Islamic Health Committee, denouncing what it called a 'systematic' Israeli attack on emergency service workers.

Islamabad, Apr 11 (Adnkronos/afp) - Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met with US Vice President JD Vance in Islamabad. This was reported by the prime minister's office, announcing that peace talks to end the Middle East conflict had 'begun'. "On the occasion of the start of the talks in Islamabad, the Prime Minister of Pakistan met His Excellency JD Vance," the note read. Sharif also reiterated that Islamabad is ready to continue facilitating dialogue between the parties "to foster progress towards sustainable peace in the region".

The US has not agreed to the release of any frozen Iranian assets. This was stated by a senior US official to CBS News. Meetings with Iran have not yet begun, so no agreement has been discussed, the official said, as reported by CBS reporter Jennifer Jacobs, who is accompanying the US delegation in Islamabad for talks with Tehran.

Direct negotiations between the delegations of the United States and Iran, which arrived in Pakistan between last night and this morning, will get underway in Islamabad at five o'clock this afternoon (two o'clock in Italia), the Saudi television station Al Hadath reports, citing informed sources. Indirect contacts have already taken place, the sources specify. Iranians and Pakistanis are defining the format and timing of the negotiations. The meeting is expected to be attended by Pakistani Chief of Staff Asim Munir and Foreign Minister Ishaq Daq, two protagonists of the mediation work that led to the start of the negotiations.

Iran points the finger at Israel and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu guilty of wanting to obstruct peace talks with the US in Islamabad. This was reported by the Iranian news agency Tasmin. Since last night, and immediately after the arrival of the Iranian delegation, intensive consultations and several rounds of talks with Pakistani officials have been held to ensure that the American side fulfils its commitments. According to Tasmin's information, some progress has been made in this regard, but Israel and Netanyahu continue to obstruct the work and try to prevent negotiations from taking place and an agreement from being reached. From the point of view of the Iranian delegation, the US is responsible for this incident, and Iran considers the Zionist regime a partner of the US and continues to ask Washington to intervene in this matter.

The United States has agreed to unfreeze Iranian assets frozen and deposited in Qatar and other foreign banks. A senior Iranian source told Reuters online, welcoming the move as a sign of "seriousness" in reaching an agreement with Washington in the Islamabad talks. The US has made no public comment on the issue of asset release. The source told Reuters that the release of assets is "directly linked to securing safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz", which is expected to be a key point in the talks.

"If we negotiate in Islamabad with the representatives of 'America First', it is likely that a mutually beneficial agreement will be reached for both sides and for the whole world. However, if we face the representatives of 'Israel First', there will be no agreement; inevitably we will continue our defence with even greater vigour than before, and the world will face even greater costs." This was written in a post on X by Iranian Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref.

Israeli air raids in the Palestinian territory killed 7 people overnight, despite the ceasefire in force since last October. This was announced by the Gaza Civil Defence Relief Service. Mahmoud Bassal, spokesman for the group, which operates under Hamas authority, said an Israeli drone fired two missiles near a police post in the Al-Bureij refugee camp. In addition to the seven dead, he added, several other people were injured, four of them seriously. The Israeli army said it was working to verify the information.

According to reports in the Washington Post, US officials intend to demand the release of American citizens detained in Iran as part of negotiations between Islamabad and the regime to end the war. The article points out that it is unclear what importance this demand will have during the negotiations, and many speculate that it could fall by the wayside if the negotiations prove more difficult than expected. This is the first time the issue of releasing US citizens detained in Iran has been raised; the main demands so far have been the opening of the Strait of Hormuz and an end to the regime's missile and nuclear programmes, among other options.

Iran's new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, lost a leg and suffered facial injuries during the US and Israeli attacks. This was reported by Al Arabya quoting the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth. According to the information, Khamenei is conscious and is expected to come out of hiding soon.

A Pakistani Foreign Ministry source told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that a Chinese delegation will arrive in Islamabad today to assist the Pakistani mediator in the US-Iran negotiations. Beijing could offer guarantees should the two sides reach an agreement, writes the London-based pan-Arab media outlet. Earlier in the week, the New York Times had reported - citing three anonymous Iranian officials - that Tehran had agreed to the ceasefire thanks in part to a last-minute intervention by China, which urged the Islamic Republic to show flexibility and de-escalate tensions to prevent the situation in the Middle East from getting out of hand. Chinese officials have not publicly described Beijing's involvement in the dialogue efforts: asked on Wednesday about whether China had helped persuade Iran to accept the deal, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning neither confirmed nor denied its involvement, saying only in general that China would continue to "maintain communication with all parties and work to ease tensions and reach a comprehensive ceasefire".

US President Donald Trump, in an interview with the New York Post, said he had ordered the rearming of US warships with "the best ammunition" to resume attacks against Iran if peace talks in Pakistan fail. Trump spoke in a telephone interview with the New York Post shortly after US Vice President JD Vance departed aboard Air Force Two bound for Islamabad, where he is joined by special envoy Steve Witkoff and the president's son-in-law Jared Kushner to negotiate a final peace after the two-week ceasefire reached on Tuesday. "We'll know in about 24 hours. We'll know soon," Trump said in response to a question about the talks' chances of success.

"We have a reset in progress. We're loading the ships with the best ammunition, with the best weapons ever made, even better than we've used before, and we've torn them apart," the US president said. "But we are loading the ships. We are loading the ships with the best weapons ever made, at an even higher level than we used to use for a complete decimation. And if we don't get a deal, we will use them, and we will use them very effectively," he added. "We're dealing with people about whom we don't know whether they're telling the truth or not," Trump said again. "In front of us they say they're going to eliminate all nuclear weapons, that it's all going to go away. Then they come out in front of the press and say, 'No, we would like to enrich.' So we'll see."

Il presidente degli Stati Uniti Donald Trump osserva la scena dopo essere sceso dall'Air Force One a Charlottesville, in Virginia (Stati Uniti), il 10 aprile 2026. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein

Iran has been unable to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to more maritime traffic because it cannot locate all the mines it has laid in the channel and does not have the capacity to remove them. The New York Times writes this, citing US officials, pointing out that this situation is one of the reasons why Tehran has been unable to comply quickly with the Trump administration's demands to allow more ships to pass through the strait. It is also - writes the US newspaper - a potential complicating factor ahead of the meeting in Pakistan between Iranian negotiators and a US delegation for peace talks. Iran used small boats to mine the strait last month, leaving a passage open for transit to ships paying a toll. The Pasdaran have issued warnings of possible collisions between ships and sea mines, and semi-official media outlets have published nautical charts showing safe routes, largely restricted because Iran has mined the strait haphazardly, US officials said. It is unclear whether Iran recorded the position of each individual mine. And even when the position was recorded, some mines were positioned so that they could drift or shift, officials said.

The energy shock triggered by the conflict with Iran risks effectively postponing the recovery of the Italian economy until 2027. Even assuming a lasting truce and a gradual return of energy prices, it would still take at least seven to eight months to return to full normalisation. According to Confesercenti-CER estimates, the impact of the energy crisis halves, in just two months of conflict, the Italian economy's growth expectations for 2026. GDP would still lose 0.3 points of growth, equal to EUR 9.7 billion less than in the previous scenario, while consumption would slow down by EUR 3.9 billion, with part of the impact being absorbed by households through a reduction in household savings (-EUR 3.9 billion). Investments would suffer the sharpest slowdown, down by EUR 7.7 billion compared to the pre-conflict forecast.

A silent march for the young victims of Gaza passed through the streets of Rome from Piazza Vittorio to the Verano cemetery, carrying the banner 'Do not forget a single name'.

The protesters then unrolled a shroud containing the more than 18,000 names of girls and boys killed in Palestine from October 2023 until the end of 2025.

( The Iranian negotiating delegation led by Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf arrived in Islamabad carrying photographs and objects stained with the blood of dead children in Minab 'as proof of American war crimes'. This was written by the Iranian news agency Tasnim on X. Ghalibaf on his X account publishes a photo in which he can be seen inside a plane silently observing photos of four children placed on four backpacks in a row of seats. Next to each image is a white flower. 'My flying companions #Minab168' writes Ghalibaf, referring to the 168 victims who died in the bombing of the girls' school in Minab, Iran.

Further reading

Massacre of girls at Minab school: human error or artificial intelligence behind Tomahawk missile

12 March 2026

The new Iranian supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei is still recovering from the aftermath of the Israeli raid on 28 February in which his father Ali Khamenei, among others, was killed, and whose position he later took over. But he is vigilant, present, attends meetings where critical issues are discussed via audio conference and makes decisions, including on the war and negotiations with the US. According to Reuters on the basis of information from three different sources close to Khamenei's inner circle, relayed by the Israel Times Moktaba is disfigured after suffering serious injuries to his face and one or both legs. However, the 56-year-old supreme leader is recovering and remains alert and present.

: Il nuovo leader supremo dell'Iran, Mojtaba Khamenei, secondogenito del defunto leader supremo dell'Iran, l'Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, partecipa a una riunione a Teheran, in Iran, il 13 ottobre 2024. Hamed Jafarnejad/ISNA/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS

The Iranian media reported that the talks in Islamabad will not go beyond today. Tasnim's correspondent in Islamabad pointed out that, as things stand, the plan is for any talks between the parties 'to take place within a single day, should they actually begin'. Iran would still be in a phase of assessing the other side and, should the talks start, they could begin as early as this afternoon.

Le bandiere pakistane sventolano nei pressi del Parlamento, mentre le delegazioni degli Stati Uniti e dell’Iran si preparano a tenere colloqui di grande importanza, a Islamabad, in Pakistan, l’11 aprile 2026. REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro

The Iranian delegation in Islamabad, led by Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, will meet Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif today at 1pm local time (10am in Italia) to discuss the upcoming talks between Iran and the United States aimed at ending the war. According to the Tasnim news agency, should the preconditions set by Iran be accepted by the Americans, the talks will be held on Sunday afternoon at the Serena hotel in Islamabad. The delegation met last night with the commander of the Pakistan Army General Staff, Asim Munir.

Further reading

Iran truce: here are the unresolved points of the agreement

08 April 2026

The United States and the Lebanese government have asked Israel for a "pause" in its attacks against Hezbollah before the start of direct negotiations between Israel and Lebanon, scheduled for Tuesday in Washington under the auspices of the State Department. Axios reports. The request, made through US mediators, aims to encourage de-escalation and create the conditions for a possible ceasefire. Beirut proposes to return to the November 2024 arrangements, limiting Israeli operations to imminent threats only. Washington supports this line and is pressing Israel to accept it.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is considering the proposal, while Israeli sources emphasise that at the moment 'there is no ceasefire', although they do not rule out a brief tactical pause in the raids. Israel says it is willing to negotiate an agreement with Lebanon, but rejects the idea of discussing a ceasefire with Hezbollah. The first talks will be led by the ambassadors of the two countries in the US and should be followed by more in-depth negotiations.

The American delegation in charge of negotiations with Iran has landed in Islamabad, Pakistan. This was reported by several international media citing the Reuters news agency.

NEW DELHI - Distant positions, binding conditions, explicit threats, a mediator more accustomed to the role of a net exporter of instability, and two countries firmly determined to present the outcome of an eventual agreement as a triumph to their respective public opinions, no matter how many concessions they have to make to their adversary.

Not to mention the unpredictability of the Israeli government, which never more than in these weeks seems determined to pursue its own strategic objectives even when they conflict with those of, among others, its American ally.

The Iranian delegation that arrived in Islamabad for talks with the US consists of 71 members. This was reported by Iranian state media. Leading the delegation is Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf. Prominent figures also include Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, central bank governor Abdolnaser Hemmati and security chief Ali Akbar Ahmadian. Also present were Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi, ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei and political official Ali Bagheri Kani, along with parliamentarians and advisors, including Mahmoud Nabavian, Abolfazl Amouei and strategic advisor Mehdi Mohammadi.

The talks between Iran and the United States in Islamabad are likely to be postponed. Contrary to earlier reports, the talks are expected to start in the afternoon, according to the Iranian Tasnim agency. This was reported by the Mehr news agency on X. Also according to Mehr, the Iranian and American delegations should initially hold separate meetings with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. Once these initial diplomatic formalities have been completed, the main phase of indirect negotiations will begin.

Tension on the eve of the US-Iran talks scheduled for today in Islamabad. Trump attacks Tehran over the standoff in Hormuz, accusing the regime of not respecting agreements, and threatens new raids if no agreement is reached: 'We are loading ships with better weapons and ammunition than before,' he warns. "We will not allow a toll on Hormuz." Vice-President Vance, head of the US delegation, urges: 'They are not fooling us'. But Tehran also sets its stakes by demanding a ceasefire in Lebanon, where Israeli bombs continue to fall, and the release of stranded Iranian assets "before negotiations begin". The delegation led by Parliament Speaker Ghalibaf arrived in an armoured Pakistani capital last night. Meanwhile Israel warns: 'We will not discuss truce with Hezbollah in talks with Lebanon'.

"I will not allow" Iran to "take a toll on the Strait of Hormuz". Donald Trump said this before leaving for Virginia while also wishing "good luck" to Jd Vance for the talks in Pakistan.

Middle East war news of 10 April