The China Mail - Vance in Islamabad for Iran talks overshadowed by mutual mistrust

An Iranian delegation led by parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf arrived overnight at an airbase near the capital, disembarking from the commercial plane to embrace Pakistan's powerful army chief Asim Munir, who also shares a personal rapport with US President Donald Trump.

Munir also greeted Vance, escorting him down a red carpet at the Nur Khan air base, where US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner were already waiting.

The foes still appeared to be far apart on key issues, including the opening of the strategic Strait of Hormuz, and were quick to express their mutual suspicion.

"We have good intentions but we do not trust," Ghalibaf said shortly after landing, according to Iran's state broadcaster.

"Our experience in negotiating with the Americans has always been met with failure and broken promises."

Vance, who has been dispatched by Trump to lead the US delegation, stopped briefly in Paris for his plane to refuel before flying on to Pakistan.

"If the Iranians are willing to negotiate in good faith, we're certainly willing to extend the open hand," Vance said before leaving the United States.

But "if they're going to try to play us, then they're going to find the negotiating team is not that receptive", he added.

The ceasefire is already under strain, notably from Israel's continued strikes in Lebanon, where on Wednesday it carried out its heaviest bombardment since Hezbollah entered the Middle East war in early March, killing hundreds of people less than 48 hours after the truce came into force.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, whose country's down-to-the-wire mediation got both sides to the negotiating table this week, said talks would not be easy.

"An even more difficult stage lies ahead," he said, referring to efforts to permanently end fighting that began with US-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28, sparking Iranian retaliation against Israel and across the Gulf.

"This is that stage which, in English, is called the equivalent of 'make or break.'"

It was unclear what time the talks would get underway, though the Tasnim news agency reported Iran's delegation would meet with Sharif at 1:00 pm.

Iranian state television made only a brief mention of the talks in its first morning news programme, with its second report dedicated to volunteers signing up to defend Iran in the event the war resumed.

- Islamabad plays host -

Iran -- which brought a more than 70-member delegation to Pakistan -- has insisted on the truce covering Lebanon and on the unfreezing of its assets for the Islamabad talks to go ahead, neither of which has materialised so far.

On the US side, President Donald Trump demanded the opening of the Strait of Hormuz as a condition for the two-week ceasefire.

The strait, through which one-fifth of the world's crude passes, has not reopened to normal traffic, however, and Trump vowed on Friday to have it open soon "with or without" Iran's cooperation.

He added his top priority at the Islamabad talks was to ensure the Islamic republic had "no nuclear weapon. That's 99 percent of it."

Security was tight in the Pakistani capital on Saturday, with a heavy police and paramilitary presence on the streets and road diversions around the "red zone" where government and diplomatic buildings are located.

The city's main luxury hotel, which could host delegations, has been cleared of its normal well-heeled clientele.

It was not known whether the two sides would meet face-to-face, or whether they would mirror an indirect format used in Oman-mediated talks before the war.

Pakistan has formulated a team of subject matter specialists to facilitate the two sides in negotiations on navigation, nuclear and other key matters, a diplomatic source familiar with the matter told AFP.

The negotiations will be closely watched by other key regional players, with Egypt and Turkey having helped with mediation, along with China, all of which Pakistan was still coordinating closely with for the talks, the source said.

Beijing has been sought as a possible guarantor of any lasting agreement, official sources have said, with Trump confirming to AFP that China helped get Tehran to the negotiating table.

It was not clear whether China would have any direct presence during the talks or would be willing to take on a formal role.

- Violence in Lebanon -

Complicating the path to a permanent ceasefire was Israel's assertion that the current truce does not cover Lebanon, at odds with Iran and Pakistan's stance.

Israeli air strikes continued in Lebanon on Friday against Iran-backed Hezbollah despite the Iranian demand that they be halted as a condition of the truce with Washington.

Israel's ambassador to the United States, Yechiel Leiter, said his country will hold discussions with Lebanon's government in Washington next week but would not discuss a ceasefire with Hezbollah.

The militant group said overnight that it had carried out drone and rocket attacks on northern Israel, as well as on Israeli forces in southern Lebanon.

In Tehran, a 30-year-old resident told AFP he was skeptical negotiations would be successful, describing most of what Trump says as "pure noise and nonsense."

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K.Leung--ThChM