US and Iranian negotiators set to arrive in Pakistan for new talks as ceasefire nears expiry (PHOTOS, VIDEOS)
Iranian and US negotiators are set to arrive in Pakistan for a second round of talks as a shaky ceasefire is due to expire.
According to sources cited by both US and Iranian media, the delegations are due to arrive simultaneously in Islamabad on Tuesday evening. Vice President J.D. Vance will reportedly lead the US side, joined by President Donald Trump’s envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, while Iran’s team will be headed by Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.
A two-week ceasefire brokered by Pakistan earlier this month is set to expire on Wednesday, after a first round of talks in Islamabad produced no breakthrough and Trump moved ahead with a US military blockade of Iranian ports – a step Tehran has labeled a violation of the truce.
On Monday, Trump resumed his trademark saber-rattling, telling PBS that “lots of bombs [will] start going off” if no deal is reached and making clear he has no intention of extending the ceasefire. He also insisted the blockade will remain in place until Tehran folds.
Iran has struck a defiant tone. Ghalibaf warned Tehran is ready to “reveal new cards on the battlefield,” rejecting any negotiations conducted “under the shadow of threats.” He accused Trump of trying to turn talks into “a table of surrender,” adding Iran has spent the past two weeks preparing new military options. President Masoud Pezeshkian echoed the message, calling US conduct “non-constructive and contradictory” and insisting Iranians “will not bow to coercion.”
Despite the rhetoric, Axios reported that Pakistani, Egyptian, and Turkish mediators pushed Tehran to attend, with Iran’s team reportedly receiving a green light from the supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, late on Monday.
Here are the latest developments:
- Tensions escalated further after the US Navy seized an Iranian cargo ship, the Touska, for allegedly breaching the blockade – a move Tehran branded “armed maritime piracy” and threatened to retaliate over.
- Iran’s IRIB state broadcaster said none of its negotiators had yet departed for Islamabad.
- Talks between Israel and Lebanon are reportedly set for Thursday to discuss extending their ceasefire, due to expire on Sunday.
- The Middle East conflict has triggered what IEA chief Fatih Birol called “the biggest” energy crisis in history.
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21 April 2026
15:43 GMTNo delegation from Iran has been sent to Pakistan, a diplomatic source has told the IRNA news agency, noting that neither official nor unofficial information has been received regarding any Iranian involvement in the negotiations.
The source added that security considerations are a top priority for any potential delegation traveling to Pakistan.
- 15:34 GMT
White House sources have told CNN that US Vice President J.D. Vance is set to attend a policy meeting in Washington on Tuesday and is apparently yet to depart for Islamabad, adding to uncertainty over whether US-Iran talks will take place.
Vance was expected to take part in the negotiations and was reportedly scheduled to travel to Pakistan in the morning.
- 15:00 GMT
Iran has yet to issue a formal response on whether it will attend the next round of talks with the US in Islamabad, Pakistani Minister of Information Attaullah Tara has said. He noted that Pakistan is still pursuing “the path of diplomacy and dialogue.”
- 14:30 GMT
Iran’s football team is still preparing for the upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup, set to take place in the US, but will participate only if its safety is ensured, the country’s Sports Minister Ahmad Donyamali has said.
“We must be prepared,” the minister stressed, noting that it is still possible that the team may not travel to the event. He added that the final decision on participation will be made by the Iranian government and the country’s Supreme National Security Council based on the evolving security and political conditions.
Last month, Iran was in talks about relocating its matches to Mexico but its request appears to have been denied, as it is still scheduled to play all of its matches on US soil.
- 13:46 GMT
Russia’s ambassador to Tehran, Aleksey Dedov, has accused the US and Israel of committing war crimes after visiting a hospital in the Iranian capital damaged in recent strikes.
Speaking to RT during a tour of affected areas with other foreign diplomats, Dedov described the destruction as “a horrible thing to see,” calling it “evidence of an inhumane approach” and “very clearly a war crime.”
According to RT correspondent Saman Kojouri, the hospital was hit without warning while patients and staff were inside, though the number of casualties remains unclear.
- 13:41 GMT
Iran’s armed forces are ready to deliver an “immediate and decisive response” to any renewed attacks, Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters commander Ali Abdollahi has said, as cited by Tasnim.
He claimed Tehran holds the military upper hand, including over the Strait of Hormuz, and would not allow Trump to “create false narratives.” Iran briefly reopened the strait on Friday but shut it again to “hostile” countries a day after the US refused to lift its counter-blockade.
- 13:19 GMT
Iran will not engage in talks while the US blockade of the Strait of Hormuz remains in place, Tehran’s envoy to Beijing, Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli, has told RT, accusing Washington of undermining negotiations with threats and pressure.
“What they are showing is actually the closure of the Hormuz Strait… and they are threatening Iran militarily,” he said, adding the US approach is “affecting the atmosphere of the talks” and signals it seeks “not dialogue, but surrender.”
Fazli stressed Iran’s nuclear program is peaceful and compliant with IAEA rules, while calling uranium enrichment a “red line,” and accused Washington of previously breaking promises when talks were progressing.
- 13:08 GMT
Trump’s recent attacks on Pope Leo XIV – which escalated in April after the pontiff criticized the Iran war and called for peace – also appear to have landed poorly with the public.
The poll indicates Americans hold a far more favorable view of the pope than the president, with 60% rating Leo positively compared to just 36% for Trump. The pontiff also outpolls prominent Democrats, including Gavin Newsom and Kamala Harris.
- 13:04 GMT
A Reuters/Ipsos poll shows Trump’s approval rating remains at a low 36%, with many Americans questioning his temperament amid the Iran war.
The six-day survey found support for US strikes on Iran at 36%, while only 26% of respondents described Trump as “even-tempered,” and 51% said his mental sharpness had worsened over the past year.
- 12:17 GMT
US insistence on maintaining the blockade of Iranian ports is “self-sabotaging the diplomacy,” Trita Parsi, co-founder of the Washington-based Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, has told RT.
“Trump is addicted to the optics of winning rather than actually making sure that the deal is secure. When the Iranians have shown some restraint or taken some de-escalatory steps, he’s declared victory and humiliated the Iranians,” he said, adding that “coercive measures” such as the blockade “will only backfire” and jeopardize the negotiation process.
Parsi described the war with Iran as a “disaster” for the US driven largely by Israeli interests, arguing it has weakened Trump. He added that Washington is “not even winning,” calling the conflict a major miscalculation that undermines global trust in the US.
