Iranian delegation reaches Islamabad for peace talks with US as world waits for deal to end conflict
_vb_69.jpeg)
Islamabad(PTI): An Iranian delegation landed here in the wee hours of Saturday for talks with the US, as the world keeps its fingers crossed for an agreement to end the conflict between the two sides.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, while announcing a two-week ceasefire on Wednesday, had said that the US and Iran would hold talks in Islamabad, tagging the presidents of the US and Iran in his statement on X.
The Iranian delegation led by its Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, along with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, would participate in the Islamabad Talks slated to begin later Saturday, after the arrival of the US delegation led by Vice President J D Vance, which was on its way to Islamabad.
The Pakistan foreign office said the delegation from Iran was received upon its arrival by Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, along with National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq, Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of Army Staff, Field Marshall Syed Asim Munir, and Minister for Interior, Syed Mohsin Raza Naqvi.
“A high-powered delegation from the Islamic Republic of Iran led by Speaker of the Iranian Parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, along with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived in Islamabad today to participate in Islamabad Talks,” the foreign office said in a statement.
Expressing hope that the two sides would engage constructively, Dar reiterated Pakistan’s desire to continue facilitating the parties towards reaching a lasting and durable solution to the conflict in West Asia, according to the statement.
The delegation came amid speculation making rounds on social media, casting doubts on the visit by the Iranians due to the strikes by Israel in Lebanon.
There were some reports quoting Iranian media that the delegation would participate in talks if the conditions agreed in the ceasefire deal were fulfilled.
Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency had reported that negotiations would not begin until the “preconditions” were met, echoing a message from Ghalibaf before leaving for Islamabad.
“Two of the measures mutually agreed upon between the parties are yet to be implemented: a ceasefire in Lebanon and the release of Iran’s blocked assets prior to the commencement of negotiations,” Ghalibaf said in a post on X.
“These two matters must be fulfilled before negotiations begin.”
Meanwhile, the US delegation under Vice President Vance was expected to land soon in Islamabad.
President Donald Trump, as per reports, has given Vance “some pretty clear guidelines” on the negotiations.
“As the US president said, if the Iranians are willing to negotiate in good faith, we’re certainly willing to extend an open hand. If they’re going to try to play us, they’re going to find that the negotiating team is not that receptive,” Vance told the media before boarding his plane to Islamabad.
The talks are taking place amid a two-week halt in the US-Israeli war on Iran, which began with the former launching attacks on the latter on February 28.
Pakistan led the diplomatic push to bring the two sides to the table, which became possible after an appeal by Prime Minister Sharif earlier this week, leading to a pause in the fighting.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Araghchi, who held a telephone call with the country's ambassador to Lebanon Mohammad Reza Shibani, earlier asserted that the US must live up to its ceasefire commitments, which he said included ensuring the truce covers Lebanon.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian had said that the Israeli attacks on Lebanon blatantly violated the initial ceasefire and would render negotiations meaningless.
A thick security blanket covered Islamabad, which was on ‘red alert’ ahead of the talks.
More than 10,000 police and security personnel have been deployed to ensure multi-layered security for the visiting delegates, officials said.
The Red Zone, housing key buildings, is being protected by the army and the Rangers, and only authorised officials and residents are allowed to go through it.
The upcoming negotiations are being closely watched globally, as their success or failure could have far-reaching implications for West Asia's security, global energy markets, and international diplomacy.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Four astronauts return after historic lunar flyby, NASA now eyes landing on moon
Washington (PTI): Amid claps and cheers, four astronauts of NASA’s Artemis-II mission splashed down in the Pacific ocean after a historic flight to the moon – the first by humans in more than 50 years.
“The path to the moon is open but the work ahead is greater than the work behind,” Amit Kshatriya, Indian-origin NASA Associate Administrator told a press conference shortly after the Artemis-II crew returned to earth off the coast of San Diego at 8:07 eastern time on Friday.
The lunar flyby mission involving Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Canada's Jeremy Hansen was the first journey to the moon since the Apollo 17 mission in December 1972 when Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt spent three days exploring the lunar surface.
Rick Henfling, the flight director, said the Artemis II astronauts are “happy and healthy and ready to come home to Houston.”
Artemis II was the first crewed mission to utilise NASA’s Space Launch System rocket and Orion crew module — demonstrating that the agency’s equipment can propel astronauts out of Earth’s orbit and bring them safely home.
"Yesterday, flight director Jeff Radigan said we had less than a degree of an angle to hit after a quarter of a million miles to the moon," Kshatriya told reporters.
"And their team hit it. This is not luck; that is 1,000 people doing their job," he said.
The mission flew 700,237 miles; its peak velocity was 24,664 m.p.h.; and the flight had an entry range of 1,957 miles but landed within one mile of its target, Henfling said.
NASA now aims to land humans on the moon where the space agency also plans to set up a habitat that would be the launchpad for future missions to Mars and beyond.
It was a triumphant homecoming for the crew of four whose record-breaking lunar flyby revealed not only swaths of the moon's far side never seen before by human eyes but a total solar eclipse.
They emerged from their bobbing capsule into the sunlight one by one.
Henfling said his team 'breathed a sigh of relief' once the side hatch opened on the Orion Integrity after it splashed down in the Pacific Ocean.
"We all breathed a sigh of relief once the hatch opened up, that's when we brought the team in," he said.
"We said a few words to the flight controllers, and then we turned around to the families and waved and gave them a thumbs up, and we all watched as each of their four astronauts got out of the spaceship and were hoisted up onto the helicopters. It was a great day," he added.
Henfling said his team felt "anxiety" as the four astronauts re-entered the Earth's atmosphere, but felt confident in all their training leading up the history-making lunar mission.
NASA said the Artemis III mission is "right around the corner" following its history-making journey around the moon.
"The next mission is right around the corner, and you know, we'll take the lessons learned from Artemis II," Henfling said.
"We learned a bunch on how to fly people in space, both from vehicle operations, but also from how to run a control room with a deep space mission. And when the time is right, we'll get back into specific training, and we've got a core group of about 30 flight directors, and they're all extremely capable.
"I think anybody who's assigned to that next mission is going to be as successful as us," Henfling said.
Amit Kshatriya is serving as the highest-ranking civil servant and a senior advisor to the administrator at NASA. He leads NASA's 10 centre directors, as well as the mission directorate associate administrators. He is also the agency’s chief operating officer.
Kshatriya previously served as the deputy associate administrator for the Moon to Mars Program in the Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate (ESDMD) at NASA Headquarters in Washington.
LIVE: They are coming home.
— NASA (@NASA) April 10, 2026
Watch as the Artemis II crew returns to Earth, splashing down at around 8:07pm ET (0007 UTC April 11). https://t.co/n3vZE2rcFv
