live Trump Would Welcome ‘End Of Hostilities’ In Lebanon, US Official Says

Talks between US and Iranian negotiators have begun in Islamabad, according to media reports.

It's not immediately clear if the talks are face-to-face or if the US and Iranian teams are in separate rooms, with Pakistani mediators relaying messages between them.

Either way, these are the highest-level negotiations between the two countries since the Islamic Revolution in 1979.

The US delegation is led by Vice President JD Vance, accompanied by President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner. The Iranian team is led by parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi.

The talks are aimed at securing peace following the announcement of a two-week cease-fire by Trump on April 8.

There are many sticking points. Tehran says Israel's ongoing strikes in Lebanon against its proxy force, Hezbollah, is a cease-fire violation. Washington says the same about Iran's near-total blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.

Video showed smoke rising over locations in southern Lebanon on April 11, after the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) published new footage of strikes on Iran-backed Hezbollah, which is designated a terrorist organization by Israel and the United States.

Iran has said that Israel's continuing strikes in Lebanon are a violation of the cease-fire agreement with the United States. Israel says it is not covered by the truce. The issue has threatened to disrupt the talks in Pakistan.

Lebanese state media reported that the IDF and Hezbollah were exchanging fire on April 11. Several deaths were reported in the south of the country.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has begun a meeting with US Vice President JD Vance, following talks with the Iranian delegation, kicking off a day of diplomacy in Islamabad aimed at ending the US-Israeli conflict with Iran.

There were no immediate details about the talks with Vance, who is leading a delegation that includes President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner.

Meanwhile, Iran's Fars news agency -- which is close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) -- cited Iranian government sources as saying Tehran's delegation, following its talks with Sharif, was now discussing direct or indirect talks with the US team later on April 11.

The Iranian delegation has begun a meeting with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, according to Iranian state TV.

The report said negotiators were initially scheduled to discuss the United States' "breach of promise," an apparent reference to Israel's ongoing attacks in Lebanon against Hezbollah, which Israel and the United States have designated a terrorist organization.

Tehran says the attacks are violations of the cease-fire. Washington says the same about Iran's ongoing near-total blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.

David Schenker, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near Eastern Affairs, told Current Time that all options are on the table for President Donald Trump as the US and Iran remain "very far" apart as they head into negotiations in Pakistan.

In an interview on April 10, Schenker, who served as assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs from 2019 to 2021, said he viewed the US operation in Iran as a significant conventional military success.

However, he said that some of the most significant issues in the conflict, such as Iran's uranium enrichment program and control of the Strait of Hormuz, have yet to be resolved. He also said Iran's leadership may be "less flexible" than it was before he war.

To read the full interview, click here.

Images from the sixth week of the US-Israeli war with Iran and the beginning of a fragile temporary cease-fire.

To view the full gallery, click here.

A delegation of US officials led by Vice President JD Vance and including President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner landed on the morning of April 11 at an air base in Islamabad.

They were received by Pakistani army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar.

The Iranian delegation, led by parliamentary ⁠Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, arrived on April 10.

These will be the highest-level US-Iran talks since the Islamic Revolution of 1979 and the first official negotiations between the two sides since 2015, when they reached a deal on Iran's nuclear program.

UN chief António Guterres on April 10 called on the US and Iran to make a serious effort to reach a lasting settlement of the conflict during upcoming talks in Pakistan.

Guterres urged Washington and Tehran to see the sessions in Islamabad as an opportunity "to engage in good faith toward a lasting and comprehensive agreement, with a view to de-escalation and preventing a return to hostilities," UN spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said.

US Vice President JD Vance is leading the American delegation in the Islamabad talks, scheduled to begin on April 11. Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf are to lead the Iranian side.

There remained doubt as to whether the talks would actually kick off on time. Iran has threatened to withdraw from cease-fire negotiations unless Israel ends its attacks on the pro-Tehran Hezbollah militia in Lebanon.

A fragile cease-fire between the United States and Iran has been in place, initially set to last two weeks.

Talks are likely to include reopening the Strait of Hormuz shipping lane, Iran's nuclear program and uranium enrichment, its development of ballistic missiles, and the release of frozen Iranian assets in the West.

Iran is reportedly demanding the lifting of all sanctions and reparations to rebuild following US and Israeli air attacks.

With reporting by dpa

US President Donald Trump on April 10 said the Strait of Hormuz will be opened "with or without" the cooperation of Iran, hours before crucial talks were scheduled to take place in Islamabad, the Pakistani capital.

"We're going to open up the Gulf with or without them...or the strait as they call it. I think it's going to go pretty quickly, and if it doesn't, we'll be able to finish it off," Trump told reporters.

"We will have that open fairly soon."

A crucial demand by Trump as part of the two-week cease-fire deal is the free flow of shipping through the strait, which Iran effectively closed in the immediate aftermath of the US-Israeli strikes on February 28 as a retaliatory measure.

Israeli and Lebanese officials are scheduled to meet in Washington on April 14 to discuss ways to end fighting in Lebanon that has killed hundreds of people since renewed battles on March 2.

Lebanon's presidency ⁠said ⁠Israeli and Lebanese delegations made their first contacts on April 10 ahead of the talks through a telephone call between their ambassadors in ⁠Washington, with the US envoy to Lebanon participating in the call.

"During the call, it was agreed to hold the first meeting next Tuesday [April 14] at the State Department to discuss declaring a cease-fire and the start date for negotiations between Lebanon and Israel under US auspices," a statement said.

The US-brokered talks could play a major role in the search for a lasting cease-fire in the wider Middle East war involving US-Israeli forces against Iran.

The United States and Israel say Lebanon was not included in the agreed two-week cease-fire with Iran. Tehran, meanwhile, insists that it was and has threatened to halt the peace process unless Israel ceases its massive military campaign against Iran-allied Hezbollah forces in Lebanon.

Hezbollah, which has been deemed a terrorist organization by Israel and the United States, has suffered massive losses while also firing projectiles into Israeli territory. Israel said it will not be meeting with Hizbollah representatives in Washington.

Lebanon's Health Ministry said the one-day toll from Israel's air strikes on April 8 has risen to 357 people killed and 1,223 injured, with the totals expected to rise as rubble is cleared from buildings.

Lebanese authorities say 1,953 people have been killed since the fighting began on March 2.