A second round of peace talks between the United States and Iran is expected to take place in Islamabad after Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi is set to travel to Pakistan tonight, a Pakistani government source has told Sky News.
The senior Iranian diplomat is expected to arrive with a small delegation, with a US logistics and security team already on the ground in the Pakistani capital ahead of the resumed negotiations. The development follows intense mediation efforts by Pakistan, whose government has been working to bring both sides back to the table after direct talks between Washington and Tehran collapsed earlier in the week.
Araghchi spoke with both his Pakistani counterpart and the country’s army chief earlier on Thursday, conversations that the Pakistani source said had contributed to the breakthrough. Reuters and AP separately confirmed the development.
The resumption of talks represents a significant step forward given how abruptly the earlier round of negotiations fell apart. Iran had been publicly resistant to returning to the table, with its Foreign Ministry stating at one point that it had “no plans for the next round of negotiations.” Pakistan’s willingness to act as a neutral intermediary between the two sides appears to have been central to breaking the impasse.
The talks come against a backdrop of acute economic pressure on Iran and a US military posture that remains on standby to resume operations should diplomacy fail.
