Vance walks on the red carpet with Pakistan’s Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir, Pakistani Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar, Chaarge d’Affaires of the US Embassy in Islamabad Natalie A Baker, and Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Raza Naqvi. (Source: Reuters)
Islamabad: In a major development, direct negotiations have begun between the United States and Iran after progress in indirect discussions, Iran’s IRNA news agency said on Saturday, April 11.
The country’s state-run news agency said three-party talks with the US, Iran, and Pakistan had begun after a reduction in Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon and after other preconditions had been met.
The US president posted on social media that Iran’s military has been destroyed and that America is beginning to open up the Strait of Hormuz, the waterway chokepoint used by Iran to restrict the shipping of 20 per cent of the world’s oil supplies.
It was unclear from the post if Trump was referring to the possible use of mines in the Strait of Hormuz or Iran’s broader ability to control the area.
“We’re now starting the process of clearing out the Strait of Hormuz as a favor to Countries all over the World, including China, Japan, South Korea, France, Germany, and many others,” Trump posted. “Incredibly, they don’t have the Courage or Will to do this work themselves.”
The Trump administration has revoked the green cards of more long-term Iranian residents of the United States who are related to current or former senior Iranian officials.
The State Department said Saturday it had taken action against Seyed Eissa Hashemi, a Los Angeles-area psychology teacher, his wife and son, all of whom were Iranian-born lawful permanent residents of the US.
The department said in a statement released as talks to end the war with Iran were getting underway in Pakistan that they had been taken into custody by immigration authorities and are slated for deportation.
Hashemi, it said, is the son of Masoumeh Ebtekar who served as a spokeswoman for the attackers who took over the US Embassy in Tehran in 1979 and was later promoted to be Iran’s first female vice president.
Just last week, the State Department revoked the green cards of the niece and grand-niece of former Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps chief Qasem Soleimani, who was killed in a US airstrike in Baghdad in early 2020.
The Palestinian group Hamas is backing the talked to nd the US-Israeli war on Iran.
“We look forward to the success of the efforts exerted by Pakistan, the sponsor of these negotiations, and the other mediating countries, in creating hope for positive outcomes that will strengthen stability, foster unity among Arab and Islamic nations,” its statement read.
The Saudi Defence Ministry said Pakistani forces, including fighter and support aircraft, arrived at a Saudi airbase on Saturday as part of a defense deal between the two countries.
The Ministry said the forces were deployed at the King Abdulaziz Air Base, which was repeatedly attacked with drones and missiles during the Iran war.
The deployment aims at “enhancing joint military coordination … and supporting security and stability at both regional and international levels,” it said.
The pact that was signed in September defines any attack on either nation as an attack on both.
Both the White House and Pakistan announced Saturday’s meeting between US Vice President JD Vance and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
Vance was accompanied by President Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, and Jared Kushner.
Sharif’s office said the prime minister told the US delegation that Pakistan looks forward to continuing its facilitation efforts to help both sides make progress toward sustainable peace.
Civil defense crews used cranes on Saturday to search through partially collapsed apartments, three days after Israeli strikes hit a six-story building in Beirut’s seaside neighborhood of Caracas.
The Israeli military struck some 100 sites that it said were connected to Hezbollah in the capital and other parts of Lebanon on Wednesday, killing more than 300 people, including more than 100 women and children.
Civil defense officials said six people were killed in the Caracas building and a missing teenager was believed to be buried under a collapsed roof.
Najib Merhi, the owner of a snack shop on the bottom floor, said the strike came as a shock because “this is a touristic area, a safe area, an area that is shared between all the social fabric of this country.”
An Israeli air attack on the town of Kfar Sir in Lebanon’s Nabatieh district killed four individuals, including a paramedic, and left four others injured.
Another Israeli strike on the town of Zefta in the same district killed three, including a Lebanese Civil Defence member, and wounded two.
In the town of Toul, the third Israeli attack killed three people and injured three.
Officials from the region said on Saturday that Egyptian, Saudi, Chinese and Qatari officials are in Islamabad to indirectly facilitate the talks.
The officials were speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the matter.
United States Vice President JD Vance arrived in Islamabad on Saturday, April 11, for talks with Iran. He will be heading the US delegation that includes President Donald Trump‘s special envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner.
The US delegation was received by the Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, and the Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi.
The ministry said in a statement that Dar commended the US commitment to achieving lasting regional and global peace and stability.
The Iranian delegation, led by Parliament Speaker Mohammed Bagher Ghalibaf, was already in Islamabad. Before departing for Pakistan, Vance warned Iran not to “play” the US.
He expressed hope that the parties would engage constructively and reiterated Pakistan’s desire to continue facilitating efforts toward a lasting, durable resolution of the conflict.
Hours later, Ghalibaf said discussions would only take place if there is an Israeli ceasefire in Lebanon and the release of blocked Iranian assets.
Negotiations between Israel and Lebanon are expected next week in Washington, according to The Associated Press. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday, April 9, said he had approved direct talks, while the Lebanese government has not yet responded. Attacks intensified on Friday, April 10, between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.
At least 1,953 people in Lebanon have been killed by Israeli strikes, according to Lebanon’s health ministry. At least 303 people were killed on Wednesday, April 8, alone.
Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, leading the Iranian delegation for peace talks, said the US should accept Iran’s rights if it wants a deal.
He made the remarks late Friday after arriving in Islamabad, on the agreement to end the six-week war.
Although Iran does not trust the United States, it has come to Islamabad in good faith, Ghalibaf told reporters, according to the IRNA agency.
Tasnim news agency, which is close to the powerful Revolutionary Guard, reported that the Iranian delegation is scheduled to meet with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif at noon Saturday.
Iran’s negotiating team, chaired by Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf and including Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, met late Friday with Pakistan’s army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir.
The meetings come ahead of high-stakes talks between Iran and the US in Islamabad, which aim at reaching a permanent end to the war in the Middle East.
Pakistan’s government has set up a state-of-the-art media center to facilitate Pakistani and foreign journalists covering the talks between the United States and Iran, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said.
Tarar told reporters the facility at the Jinnah Convention Center offers high-speed internet and a range of free services to support media coverage. Shuttle services have been arranged to transport journalists between the media center and a hotel in the city’s main shopping mall.
Pakistan has announced visa-on-arrival for journalists and official delegations traveling from the United States and Iran for the talks, which have been dubbed the “Islamabad talks.”
Inside the media center, rows of workstations equipped with laptops and charging points allow reporters to file stories. Large screens broadcast major domestic and international television channels. The facility also has designated areas for live stand-ups, press briefings, and interviews.
Hezbollah continued its attacks by targeting an Israeli tank in Al-Adisa town in southern Lebanon with a guided missile and a drone, which it said was a “confirmed hit.”
Meanwhile, the Israeli military launched two raids on the outskirts of southern Lebanon in the towns of Taybeh and Asshit.
(With inputs from AP)
This post was last modified on April 11, 2026 8:04 pm