By Mukesh 
Iranian officials arrived in Pakistan for peace talks with the United States as Tehran insisted on a truce in Lebanon and unfreezing of its assets for the negotiations to go ahead.
U.S. President Donald Trump vowed meanwhile to have the Strait of Hormuz open “with or without” Iran’s cooperation and said his top priority at the Islamabad talks was to ensure the Islamic republic cannot have a nuclear weapon.
Mr. Trump has dispatched Vice President J.D. Vance to Pakistan to meet with the Iranians in a bid to reach a peace deal in the West Asia war following a two-week ceasefire that was agreed on Tuesday (April 7, 2026).
Mr. Vance warned Iran not to “play” Washington as he headed to Islamabad to represent the United States at the high-stakes meeting along with Mr. Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and special envoy Steve Witkoff.
– AFP