Tehran demands Lebanon ceasefire and frozen assets before Islamabad negotiations begin

Iran’s negotiating team arrived in Islamabad on Friday for peace talks with the United States scheduled to begin on Saturday, even as Tehran insisted on the fulfilment of two stated preconditions before formal negotiations could commence, introducing last-minute uncertainty over what Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif described as a make-or-break moment.

Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf led the delegation to Islamabad, which also included Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, Supreme National Security Council Secretary Ali Akbar Ahmadian, Central Bank Governor Abdolnaser Hemmati, and several members of parliament. Iranian semi-official news agency Fars News Agency and state broadcaster IRIB reported the delegation’s arrival. Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed the Iranian delegation had been received in Islamabad by Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar. The delegation, numbering approximately 70 members including technical specialists across economic, security, and political portfolios as well as media personnel and support staff, arrived at the Nur Khan airbase and proceeded to the Serena Hotel, which Pakistani authorities designated as both the accommodation venue and the site of the negotiations.

In a post on the social media platform X on Friday, Ghalibaf stated that two measures previously agreed upon between Iran and the United States had not been implemented: a ceasefire in Lebanon and the release of Iran’s blocked assets held abroad. He stated that both conditions must be fulfilled before negotiations begin. IRIB reported that talks would proceed only if the opposing side accepted Iran’s preconditions. Speaking in Islamabad, Ghalibaf said Tehran held goodwill toward the negotiation process but no trust in the United States, and that Iran was prepared to reach an agreement if Washington offered what he characterised as a genuine deal that acknowledged Iran’s rights. Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Majid Takht Ravanchi said separately that the upcoming negotiations would be based on Tehran’s 10-point ceasefire plan, which Iran had put forward as the basis for discussions.

The White House did not immediately respond to the preconditions set by Ghalibaf. United States Vice President JD Vance, who is leading the American delegation to the Islamabad talks, departed from Joint Base Andrews in Maryland for Pakistan on Friday. The White House confirmed that the American team also includes United States Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, a senior adviser and son-in-law of United States President Donald Trump. Before departing, Vance told reporters the United States was looking forward to the negotiation and described the expected outcome as positive. He said if Iran was willing to negotiate in good faith, Washington was willing to extend an open hand, but warned that if Iran attempted to play the negotiating team, it would not find the delegation receptive. A senior American official said Washington was not currently concerned that ongoing Israeli strikes in Lebanon would jeopardize the Islamabad negotiations.

In his nationally televised address on Friday, Sharif called on Pakistani citizens to pray for a successful outcome from the talks. Sharif praised Pakistani army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir and Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar for their role in facilitating the process. Pakistani authorities declared April 9 and April 10 as public holidays in the federal capital, exempting essential services, and tightened security across the city, sealing the Red Zone and closing key entry points into Islamabad.

Why did Iran set preconditions for the Islamabad talks and what does Lebanon’s status mean for the negotiations?

The preconditions stated by Ghalibaf on Friday reflect a dispute that emerged on the first day of the ceasefire and has sharpened in the days since. When Sharif announced the Pakistan-brokered two-week ceasefire on April 7 between Washington and Tehran, he specified that the truce covered all fronts of the conflict, including Lebanon. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu immediately rejected that characterisation and stated the ceasefire did not include Lebanon. Trump subsequently described the fighting in Lebanon as a separate matter. Israel conducted what multiple reports described as its heaviest wave of strikes on Lebanon since the beginning of the war in the immediate hours after the ceasefire was announced, killing at least 303 people and injuring more than 1,150 according to Lebanese health data cited in reports.

Iranian Foreign Minister Araghchi said on social media that the United States must choose between a ceasefire and continued war through Israel, and warned that Iran could abandon the ceasefire entirely if Israeli strikes in Lebanon continued. Iran’s insistence that the ceasefire in Lebanon be implemented before talks begin reflects Tehran’s position that the Iran-backed Hezbollah network in Lebanon forms an inseparable part of the regional conflict and cannot be disaggregated from the broader settlement process.

What is the Strait of Hormuz dispute and how does it connect to the Islamabad negotiations?

The Strait of Hormuz connects the Persian Gulf to the Arabian Sea and is the transit route for approximately 20 percent of the world’s oil and gas supply during peacetime. Iran imposed a partial blockade of the strait following the coordinated United States and Israeli strikes on Iran that began on February 28, disrupting global energy supply chains and driving oil prices to record levels. The blockade prompted widespread concern among global markets and importing nations.

The two-week ceasefire announced by Trump on Tuesday was contingent on Iran agreeing to the complete, immediate, and safe opening of the Strait of Hormuz. Iranian Foreign Minister Araghchi confirmed Iran’s agreement to the ceasefire and stated that safe passage through the strait would be possible through coordination with Iran’s armed forces. As of April 9, however, data from vessel tracking systems showed minimal traffic transiting the strait. Trump said he anticipated progress on opening the strait with or without a deal, and separately warned Iran against attempting to charge ships a fee to cross the waterway, saying that was not part of any agreed arrangement. The strait’s status is expected to be among the agenda items for the Islamabad talks.

What is Iran’s 10-point proposal and how does it frame the starting position for the Saturday negotiations?

Iran’s Supreme National Security Council presented a 10-point proposal as the basis for talks. The proposal calls for Iranian oversight of the Strait of Hormuz, the withdrawal of all United States combat forces from bases in the Middle East, a halt to military operations against allied armed groups across the region, full compensation for war damages, the lifting of all sanctions imposed by the United States and the United Nations Security Council, the release of frozen Iranian assets abroad, and the ratification of any final agreement in a binding United Nations Security Council resolution. The United States has indicated it views the proposal as a workable basis for negotiation while describing the two sides as still far apart on the core terms.

What role is Pakistan playing as host and mediator for the United States-Iran peace talks in Islamabad?

Pakistan’s role in facilitating the Islamabad talks has been central to the ceasefire process. Sharif’s invitation to both delegations followed weeks of Pakistani diplomatic engagement, including the delivery of a United States proposal to Iran in late March and Pakistan’s co-sponsorship, alongside China, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt, of a five-point peace initiative on March 31. Pakistan’s army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir has been credited with building the channel of communication with the Trump administration that made the ceasefire and the Islamabad negotiations possible.

Pakistan itself has a precedent of hosting high-stakes proximity talks. In 1988, Islamabad participated in the Geneva Accords negotiations on the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan, where United Nations-mediated indirect talks produced a landmark agreement. Pakistani officials have described the realistic goal for the Saturday session as not a final settlement, but an agreement between the United States and Iran to continue substantive dialogue. Pakistan’s former ambassador to the United Nations, Zamir Akram, told Al Jazeera that the metric of success should be an agreement to continue the process in search of a solution, and that resolution would not be achieved in a couple of days.

According to a United States official and a regional source, the Saturday negotiations in Islamabad are expected to involve both indirect and direct components. The two sides are expected to first agree on an agenda through Pakistani mediators before potentially moving to direct discussions later in the day. Previous rounds of engagement between Washington and Tehran had largely been conducted indirectly through Omani mediators.

What is the broader regional and global context for the United States-Iran ceasefire and Islamabad talks?

The Islamabad talks take place against the backdrop of a conflict that began on February 28 with coordinated United States and Israeli airstrikes on Iran targeting military and government sites. The strikes followed months of escalation involving the Strait of Hormuz, Iran’s nuclear programme, and regional proxy engagements. The conflict killed thousands of people across multiple countries, disrupted global energy supply chains, and drew condemnation from European governments, Gulf states, and international institutions concerned about a broader escalation.

The ceasefire announced on April 7 represented the first formal pause in hostilities after more than five weeks of active conflict. World leaders moved quickly in the days between the ceasefire announcement and the arrival of delegations in Islamabad to express support for the diplomatic process. France, European Union member states, and Gulf powers had separately criticised Israel’s continued strikes in Lebanon during the ceasefire period. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he discussed military capabilities and logistics for moving vessels through the Strait of Hormuz when he spoke with Trump on Thursday.

The Islamabad talks are the highest-level meeting between the United States and Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Whether the session produces a formal agenda for continued talks or collapses under the weight of unresolved disputes over Lebanon, frozen assets, the Strait of Hormuz, and Iran’s nuclear programme will determine the trajectory of the next phase of the two-week ceasefire window.

Key takeaways on what the Iranian delegation’s arrival in Islamabad and Tehran’s preconditions mean for the US-Iran peace talks, the ceasefire in Lebanon, and the broader regional conflict

• Iran’s negotiating team, led by Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, arrived in Islamabad on Friday for talks with the United States scheduled for Saturday, making this the highest-level United States-Iran engagement since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
• Ghalibaf stated on Friday that two previously agreed measures remain unfulfilled: a ceasefire in Lebanon and the release of Iran’s blocked assets abroad, and that both conditions must be met before formal negotiations can begin.
• The United States delegation, led by Vice President JD Vance and including Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, departed for Islamabad on Friday; Vance expressed optimism about the talks while warning Iran against bad-faith engagement.
• The status of Lebanon under the ceasefire remains contested, with Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif stating it is included, Israel and the United States asserting it is not, and Israel continuing strikes in Lebanon during the ceasefire period.
• Pakistan’s immediate objective for the Islamabad session is not a final settlement but an agreement between Washington and Tehran to continue structured negotiations within the two-week ceasefire window.