On Tuesday morning, Islamabad sat poised and ready to host a second round of talks – even as uncertainty reigned over whether both sides would even turn up. Pakistani officials remained optimistic that the second round of negotiations would happen, even as Iranian ministers said they would refuse to come to the table under the threat of “force” and it remained unclear exactly when US vice-president JD Vance planned to depart Washington for Islamabad.
Roads were shut down around Islamabad’s five-star Serena hotel, where the first round of negotiations took place over a tense 21 hours, but failed to strike any deal. Over the past few days, Islamabad and other major cities have been grappling with blackouts lasting more than seven hours, as the country faces a grave energy shortage due to the ongoing blockade of the strait of Hormuz – bringing home the economic gravity of these talks for south Asian countries.
Neighbouring Bangladesh warned this week that its mobile network would soon face a shutdown as they were running out of fuel to run the power stations. Islamabad’s electricity board released a statement on Monday night making assurances there would be enough electricity to ensure that US and Iranian negotiators were not plunged into darkness for the duration of their meeting.
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of events in the Middle East. Iran is considering attending peace talks with the US in Pakistan, a senior Iranian official said on Monday, after moves by Islamabad to end a US blockade of Iran’s ports – a key obstacle to Tehran rejoining peace efforts as the end of a two-week ceasefire nears.
But the official also stressed to the Reuters news agency that no decision had been made, while Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araqchi said “continued violations of the ceasefire” by the US were a major obstacle to continuing the diplomatic process. On Monday night, Iranian chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf accused Donald Trump on social media of increasing pressure on Tehran through the blockade and ceasefire violations, saying Iran rejected negotiating under threat and warning that “we have prepared to reveal new cards on the battlefield”.
