US-Iran war talks in Pak highlights: ‘No plans’ for next round of talks with US, says Tehran; Vance departs without deal

US-Iran war talks in Pakistan LIVE: A fresh drama unfolded on Saturday after reports emerged of a US destroyer moving from Fujairah port towards the Strait of Hormuz even as the US and Iranian delegation began peace talks in Islamabad.

The news of the movement of the American vessel was met with an immediate warning from Iran: Any US military vessel crossing the Hormuz Strait will be attacked within 30 minutes. However following the warning, the ship reportedly turnd back.

US-Iran war talks in Pakistan LIVE: The US vessel was earlier spotted near Fujairah port, has reportedly returned after Iran warned to strike it within 30 minutes if it crosses the Strait of Hormuz.

Earlier Iranian armed forces observed one US destroyer sailing from near Fujairah port in the UAE toward the strait, and sent a warning to the US via the Pakistani mediators

US-Iran war talks in Pakistan LIVE: Iranian armed forces observed one US destroyer sailing from near Fujairah port in the UAE toward the strait, and sent a warning to the US via the Pakistani mediators in Islamabad that it would be targeted if it continued.

Following the warning, the vessel turned around, Bloomberg reported, citing the semi-official Fars news agency.

US-Iran war LIVE: US President Donald Trump on Saturday posted that the United States military has started to clear the Strait of Hormuz and that all of Iran's minelaying ships have been sunk.

"We're now starting the process of clearing out the Strait of Hormuz," Trump wrote in a social media post.

US-Iran war LIVE: Iranian media said on Saturday that negotiations with the United States to end the Middle East war had begun in Islamabad, though the format of the talks remained unclear.

The Fars and Tasnim news agencies said "it was decided to begin negotiations" following "progress made during preliminary talks and the reduction of attacks by the Zionist regime in southern Beirut in Lebanon", referring to Israel.

US-Iran war LIVE: Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday posted on X that he met with Iranian delegation led by the Honorable Speaker of the Iranian Consultative Assembly, Mr. Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf at Islamabad.

US-Iran war LIVE: Iran, US, Pakistan trilateral talks began in Islamabad on Saturday, Iranian Fars news agency reported. Earlier delegations from both sides met Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

US-Iran war LIVE: People in Iran’s capital say they’re hopeful that a deal can be struck in peace talks that began Saturday. Iranians told the Associated Press that they kept ‘guarded optimism’ on both sides realizing that no one would gain from more war.

People said they’ve been worn down by weeks of airstrikes and warn that even if a deal is reached, the road to recovery will be long. Amir Razzai Far, 62, said a peace deal isn’t enough “because we’ve been hit very hard, there have been huge costs, and the people have to pay for that.”

US-Iran war LIVE: Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson told state TV that Iran is in touch with Lebanon to make sure the commitments on the ceasefire are respected on all fronts.

As peace talks unfolded in Pakistan's Islamabad, Israel continued to attack Lebanon. While Iran has maintained that the ceasefire includes Lebanon, Israel has denied the inclusion, with Israeli PM Netanyahu recently saying that the country will hold talks with Lebanon.

US-Iran war LIVE: Lebanon's health ministry said 10 people including three emergency workers were killed by Israeli strikes on south Lebanon on Saturday, as state media reported raids on more than a dozen locations, AFP reported.

The ministry said three deadly strikes hit locations in the Nabatiyeh district, with the dead including a member of the Lebanese civil defence and two paramedics from the Hezbollah-affiliated Islamic Health Committee, decrying what it said was Israel's "systematic" targeting of emergency workers.

US-Iran war LIVE: US Vice President JD Vance has reportedly been “walking on eggshells” with President Donald Trump as he leads high-stakes peace talks with Iran in Pakistan on Saturday.

Before the two-week ceasefire, Vance largely stayed out of the spotlight during the US-Israeli war on Iran. Trump said Vance was “philosophically a little bit different” and “less enthusiastic” about military action, though he ultimately supported the strikes, which the president described as necessary, as per ABC News. Read more here

US-Iran war LIVE: The luxury property, located in the national capital’s high-security Red Zone next to the foreign ministry, has been transformed into a tightly-controlled diplomatic zone after the government requisitioned it for the event and asked all guests to vacate, news agency AFP reported on Saturday.

The Serena Hotel, a sprawling five-star property frequently used for diplomatic engagements, has long been considered one of Islamabad’s most secure and prestigious venues.

Managed by Tourism Promotion Services Ltd and part of the global Serena Hotels chain, it has hosted international delegations and major events since its inauguration in 2002. Read more here.

US-Iran war LIVE: "We will negotiate with our finger on the trigger," Iranian government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani said on state TV. “While we are open to talks, we are also fully aware of the lack of trust; therefore, Iran's diplomatic team is entering this process with maximum caution.”

Iranian state TV said Tehran's delegation had set out its red lines to Sharif, adding that these concerned the Strait of Hormuz, the release of Iran's blocked assets, the payment of war reparations, and a ceasefire to be enforced across the region.

US-Iran war LIVE: According to the reports by Iran state media, Iran's proposal to Pakistan prime minister includes Strait of Hormuz, payment of war reparations, release of Iran's blocked assests and ceasefire across the region.

Earlier in the day Iranian delegation including foreign minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi, Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, met with Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif.

US-Iran war LIVE: Iran's proposal for peace talks have been forwarded to Pakistan prime minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday, Iran state media reported.

Iran's red lines that have been forwarded includes Strait of Hormuz, payment of war reparations, the release of Iran's blocked assests and ceasefire across the region, reports said.

US-Iran war LIVE: The Iranian delegation, headed by Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and including Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, met and held talks with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

With the first talks underway at Islamabad's Serena Hotel, Iranian media reported that the Iranian side would decide at the end of the meeting with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif whether to go ahead with negotiations with the Americans, Reuters reported.

US-Iran war LIVE: Pakistan prime minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday comended the commitment of both delegations to engage “constructively.” The Prime Minister expressed the “hope that these talks would serve as a stepping stone toward durable peace in the region,” prime minister's office said in a post on X.

“The Prime Minister reiterated that Pakistan looks forward to continue its facilitation of both sides in making progress towards sustainable peace in the region.”

US-Iran war LIVE: A US official on Saturday denied reports that Washington has agreed to unfreeze Iranian assets.

Reuters reported earlier in the day that the US had agreed to release Iranian frozen assets held in Qatar and other foreign banks, citing a senior Iranian source.

US-Iran war LIVE: Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met US Vice President JD Vance in Islamabad on Saturday, the former's office said, adding that peace talks to end the Middle East war had "commenced".

"As the Islamabad Talks commenced today, the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif held a meeting with His Excellency JD Vance, Vice President of the United States of America," the statement said.

US-Iran war LIVE: The $6 billion, originally frozen in 2018, had been due for release in 2023 as part of a US-Iranian prisoner swap but the funds were again frozen by the administration of President Joe Biden following the October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel by Iran's ally, the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

US officials said at the time that Iran would not be able to access the money for the foreseeable future, stressing that Washington retained the right to completely freeze the account.

The funds stem from Iranian oil sales to South Korea and had been blocked in South Korean banks after President Donald Trump reimposed sanctions on Iran in 2018 - during his first term in the White House - and scrapped a deal between world powers and Tehran over its nuclear programme.

Under the September 2023 US–Iran prisoner swap mediated by Doha, the money was transferred to Qatari bank accounts. The prisoner swap involved the release of five US citizens detained in Iran in exchange for the funds’ release and the release of five Iranians held in the United States.

US officials said at that time that the money was restricted to humanitarian use only, to be disbursed to approved vendors for food, medicine, medical equipment and agricultural goods shipped into Iran under US Treasury oversight.

via Reuters

US-Iran war LIVE: Suspense continues over the status of high-level diplomatic talks between Iran and the US even as delegations from both sides have arrived in Islamabad. The Iranian delegation also met Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, yet there is no update on when the talks will actually begin.

The uncertainty comes in the backdrop of both the sides indicating mistrust towards each other. Earlier, Iran set two preconditions to start negotiations with the US. One, it called for a ceasefire in Lebanon. Two, it also demanded to remove ban on Iranian assets.

US-Iran war LIVE: 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 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.”

via AP

US-Iran war LIVE: A drone crashed near a group of US diplomats inside the grounds of Baghdad's airport earlier this week as they were escorting an American journalist freed after a recent kidnapping, AFP reported quoting an Iraqi official.

Earlier on Thursday, the US State Department had said it had summoned Iraq's ambassador to Washington to express "strong condemnation" of attacks by pro-Iran groups on US interests, "including the April 8 ambush of US diplomats in Baghdad".

US-Iran war talks in Pakistan LIVE: US has agreed agreed to release Iranian frozen assets that were held in Qatar and other foreign banks, Reuters reported, citing Iranian sources. The move comes as a breakthrough ahead of the talks between Iran and US as the former was adamant on US to agree to its preconditions to start the negotiations in Islamabad. However, there is no official confirmation on this from the American side.

The report quoted the source saying that unfreezing the assets was "directly linked to ensuring safe passage through Strait of Hormuz", which is expected to be a key issue in the talks.

Iran had put forward two conditions to start talks with the US. Apart from the defreezing the assets, Iran had also called for a ceasefire in Lebanon.

US-Iran war talks in Pakistan LIVE: Iran foreign minister Abbas Araghchi who is in Islamabad as part of the Iranian delegation for talks told his German counterpart, Johann Wadephul, that Tehran is entering the talks with ‘complete mistrust of US’, Iran's Mehr news agency reports.

Araghchi also said Iran “will fight with full authority to secure the interests and rights of the Iranian people".