Islamabad, April 11: US Vice President J D Vance arrived in Pakistan on Saturday to hold crucial peace talks with an Iranian delegation led by Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, aimed at ending the conflict in West Asia.
Vance was received at the airport by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and Army chief Asim Munir at the Nur Khan Air Base.
He was accompanied by the US President’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.
Before he departed for Pakistan, Vance said he was looking forward to the negotiation and hoped that it would be “positive”.
“As @POTUS said, if the Iranians are willing to negotiate in good faith, we’re certainly willing to extend the open hand. If they’re going to try to play us, then they’re going to find that the negotiating team is not that receptive,” Vance had said before boarding the plane.
The Iranian delegation, led by its Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, along with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, arrived early on Saturday.
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.
Earlier, expressing hope that the two sides would engage constructively, Ishaq 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 issued by the Foreign Office.
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.
