US envoys arrived in Pakistan’s capital on Saturday, hoping to revive peace talks with Iran as a fragile ceasefire continues to hold. However, it remains unclear whether the two sides will engage in direct discussions.
According to the White House, representatives Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are expected to hold an in-person meeting with Iranian officials. But Iranian state media has suggested that direct talks are unlikely at this stage.
Meanwhile, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi reached Islamabad on Friday.
This is the geometry of a war that has been reshaping the world since February 28, 2026, when the United States and Israel launched military strikes on Iran. What happens in Islamabad over the next 48 hours could determine whether that war moves toward an ending or toward a second, more dangerous chapter.
How Araghchi Ended Up in Pakistan
Araghchi himself posted on X: "I am on my way to Pakistan, Oman and Russia on a trip focused on bilateral matters and regional developments. Our neighbours are our priority."
That wording — "bilateral matters" — is standard diplomatic language for: we're not officially here to talk to the Americans. But everyone knows what this trip is really about.
Foreign Office spokesperson Tahir Andrabi confirmed that Araghchi was received at Nur Khan air base in Rawalpindi by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir, and other senior officials.
The presence of Asim Munir at the receiving party is what makes this moment unusual. Foreign ministers typically meet foreign ministers. The fact that Pakistan's most powerful military figure was standing on the tarmac — not at a subsequent formal meeting, but at the arrival — signals something about who is actually driving this diplomatic push.
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Where US-Iran Talks Stand — and Why They Stalled
To understand the significance of Islamabad right now, you need to go back a few weeks. The US and Iran agreed to a ceasefire after 40 days of war. Pakistan brokered the first round of talks in Islamabad. Those talks ended in deadlock. The two sides couldn't agree on the core issues: the US insisted on keeping its naval blockade; Iran insisted the blockade must be lifted before any further talks.
Iran insisted that the US needed to lift the blockade before it would return to the table. Trump so far refused to lift the blockade — even after Araghchi said that Iran would reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Then the situation in the Strait itself deteriorated. Iran kept its stranglehold on traffic through the strait, attacking three ships earlier this week, while the United States maintained its blockade of Iranian ports and ordered the military to "shoot and kill" small boats that could be placing mines.
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Iran seizing ships in Hormuz sent the fragile truce hanging in balance. The Strait of Hormuz is the waterway through which approximately one-fifth of the world's oil and natural gas passed during peacetime. With that artery constricted, energy markets worldwide have been under severe pressure. Crude oil climbed past $100 a barrel. Brent traded between $105 and $106. The West Asian crisis has a direct effect on everything from petrol prices in Delhi to inflation in Germany.
Elevated energy prices have heightened inflation risks and bolstered expectations of potential central bank rate hikes, weighing on the appeal of non-yielding bullion, as per Trading Economics. With the delay in resolution between US-Iran, Israel-Lebanon and Israel-Iran, the global economic conditions are uncertain and the energy crisis situation worsens. The US Federal Reserve is expected to keep key fund rates unchanged in 2026, compared to earlier expectations of two rate cuts.
US Envoys on Their Way
Then came the confirmation that changed everything.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that US Special Envoy on the Middle East Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump's adviser Jared Kushner would be leaving for Pakistan on Saturday for a second round of talks with Iran. "I confirm special envoy Witkoff and Jared Kushner will be off to Pakistan again tomorrow morning to engage in talks — direct talks — intermediated by the Pakistanis, who have been incredible friends and mediators throughout this entire process, with representatives from the Iranian delegation," she told Fox News.
Witkoff and Kushner had been in Islamabad for the first round alongside Vice President JD Vance. The Trump administration's decision to send them again — with Leavitt describing Islamabad as "incredible friends" — reflects just how central Pakistan has become to this geopolitical moment.
For Pakistan, this is a delicate but potentially historic role. A country that has long struggled to find strategic relevance in American foreign policy — beyond being a transit route for Afghanistan operations — is now sitting at the centre of the most consequential diplomatic negotiation of 2026.
One Pakistani official said there was now a "high likelihood of a breakthrough" between the US and Iran, after days of escalating brinkmanship.
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What Both Sides Want — And Where The Gap Remains
Iran's core demand: the US must lift its naval blockade of Iranian ports. Iran is willing to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and resume normal shipping. But Tehran's calculation is that agreeing to open the Strait before the blockade is lifted simply allows the US to walk away with its gains intact.
America's position: a formal, verifiable nuclear deal with defined terms. Trump, who pulled out of the JCPOA in 2018, wants something he can brand as tougher and more comprehensive. His social media post on Thursday was characteristic: he said he wanted a "great deal" but was "not in a rush."
That phrase — "not in a rush" — unsettles the Iranians. Every day without a deal is another day of economic strangulation through the blockade. Iran's internet had been down for weeks. Its civilian infrastructure was damaged in February's strikes. Its people are bearing the cost.
The US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the White House has warned countries and private companies they could face sanctions for doing business with Tehran.
Iran's internet blackout had reached eight weeks, entering its 57th day with international connectivity largely cut. Iran reopened Tehran's Imam Khomeini Airport, with the first flights departing to Istanbul and Muscat on domestic airlines.
Reopening the airport is itself a significant signal — it says something about Iran's willingness to normalise even while the war's formal closure remains unresolved.
Pakistan's Extraordinary Position
Field Marshal Asim Munir's role in this diplomatic process is, by any measure, remarkable. Pakistan's army chief has personally shuttled to Tehran, received Araghchi at the airport, spoken to Araghchi by phone, and engaged with American envoys — all in the span of less than two weeks.
Iran's state news agency IRNA reported a call between Araghchi and army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, though Pakistani authorities neither confirmed nor denied it. That ambiguity — confirming enough to send a message, denying enough to preserve deniability — is the language of back-channel diplomacy.
Pakistan has a particular advantage in this context. It has relations with Iran that go back decades and are rooted in geography, trade, and a shared neighbourhood. It is also a Muslim-majority country with significant standing in the Islamic world. And it has a military leadership that has demonstrated to Washington it can deliver Iranian interlocutors to the table — something no other actor in the region has managed.
The Bigger Picture: A War That Reshaped Everything
Step back from the diplomatic mechanics, and the context is extraordinary. This is a war that began with American and Israeli strikes on Iranian soil on February 28 — strikes that targeted nuclear facilities but also killed civilians, hit hospitals, and included the assassination of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei. Iran's response under "Operation True Promise 4" involved waves of ballistic and hypersonic missile strikes on American military bases across West Asia.
This was not a proxy conflict. This was a direct military confrontation between the world's most powerful military and the dominant power of the Persian Gulf. Thousands have died. Energy markets have been convulsed. Global supply chains have adjusted under emergency conditions.
The ceasefire — fragile, disputed, contested — is the only thing holding back a resumption of hostilities.
Whether Araghchi's visit to Islamabad leads to a second round of talks, and whether those talks lead to a durable agreement, is still uncertain as of April 25, 2026. But for the first time in days, the word "breakthrough" is being used — and not just by optimists.
The helicopters circle above Islamabad. The checkpoints are in place. Somewhere in the Red Zone, a negotiation is beginning that could determine the shape of the next decade.
FAQs:
Q: When did the US-Israel-Iran war begin? A: The war began on February 28, 2026, when the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran, including attacks on nuclear facilities.
Q: Why is Pakistan mediating between the US and Iran? A: Pakistan has longstanding ties with both Iran (geography, trade, shared Muslim heritage) and the United States. Pakistan's army chief Asim Munir has been actively shuttling between Tehran and Washington's envoys.
Q: What happened in the first round of talks? A: The first round in Islamabad ended in deadlock, with Iran demanding the US lift its naval blockade and the US refusing to do so before formal terms were agreed.
Q: What is the Strait of Hormuz and why does it matter? A: It is a strategic waterway through which roughly one-fifth of the world's oil and gas was shipped during peacetime. Iran's actions in the Strait are a core point of the current standoff.
Q: Is there a ceasefire currently in place? A: Yes. A ceasefire is in effect, extended indefinitely at Trump's direction. But tensions remain very high, with both sides continuing actions in and around the Strait.