Islamabad Talks

The Islamabad Talks, also known as the Islamabad Peace Talks, were held in Islamabad, Pakistan, on 11 and 12 April 2026. Aimed at stabilizing the 2026 Iran war ceasefire and negotiating a potential resolution to the war, the talks were moderated by Pakistan, which played a central role in brokering the ceasefire and facilitating the talks. The 300-member U.S. negotiating team was led by Vice President JD Vance, alongside special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner; while the 70-member Iranian team was led by parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, alongside foreign minister Abbas Araghchi. The Pakistani mediating team was led by prime minister Shehbaz Sharif, field marshal Asim Munir, and deputy prime minister and foreign minister Ishaq Dar. The talks lasted 21 hours between 11 and 12 April 2026, and consisted of three rounds with the first one being indirect and the second and third ones being direct. The day of the meeting, Trump told reporters that he did not care about whether an agreement would come out of the talks. The teams were reportedly able to agree on the main points of the 10-points ceasefire, with the exception of the issues regarding the Strait of Hormuz and the Iranian nuclear program. The talks ended with no agreement reached, and no memorandum of understanding (MoU) being issued. Following the failure of the talks, U.S. president Donald Trump imposed a naval blockade on Iran on 13 April, interdicting any ships entering or departing Iranian ports. The United States and Iran reached a final agreed-upon text for a peace deal to end the war on 12 June 2026. On 17 June, Donald Trump and Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian signed remotely the memorandum of understanding to end the war, which established a 60-day extension of the ceasefire to negotiate the final terms of...