US-Iran talks pause for now, disagreements remain

Negotiations between the United States and Iran appeared to have concluded for now, Iran's government has announced early on Sunday, after a series of talks in Pakistan to end the six-week war between Washington and Tehran.

The talks in Islamabad were the first direct US-Iranian meeting in more than a decade and the highest-level discussions since the 1979 revolution.

The outcome could determine the fate of the fragile two-week ceasefire and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint for about 20 per cent of global energy supplies that Iran has blocked since the war began. The conflict has sent global oil prices soaring and killed thousands of people.

In a post on X, Iran's government said that after 14 hours, the talks had concluded and technical experts from both sides would exchange documents.

"Negotiations will continue despite some remaining differences," the post added, though it did not say when they would restart.

An Iranian state TV reporter said the talks would continue on Sunday.

US Vice President JD Vance, special envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner met Iranian Parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi for two hours before a rest, according to a source from mediator Pakistan.

The Trump administration had not yet commented on whether the negotiations had concluded and what, if any, differences remain.

The Iranian delegation arrived on Friday dressed in black in mourning for late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and others killed in the war.

They carried shoes and bags of some students killed during the US bombing of a school next to a military compound, the Iranian government said.

The Pentagon has said the strike is under investigation, but Reuters has reported that military investigators believe the US was likely responsible for it.

"There were mood swings from the two sides and the temperature went up and down during the meeting," another Pakistani source said in reference to the first round of talks.

For the US-Iran talks, Islamabad, a city of more than 2 million people, was locked down with thousands of paramilitary personnel and army troops on the streets.

Pakistan's mediating role is a remarkable transformation for a nation that was a diplomatic outcast a year ago.

STRAIT OF HORMUZ

As the talks started, the US military said it was "setting the conditions" to start clearing the Strait of Hormuz.

The Strait of Hormuz is central to the ceasefire talks. The US military said two of its warships had passed through the strait, and conditions were being set to clear mines, while Iran's state media denied any US ships had transited the waterway.

"We're now starting the process of clearing out the Strait of Hormuz as a favor to Countries all over the World," Trump posted on social media.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps warned that any attempt by military vessels to transit the Strait of Hormuz would be met with "a strong response," saying only non-military vessels would be allowed to pass under specific regulations, the IRGC said in a statement carried by Iranian media.

Before the talks began, a senior Iranian source told Reuters the US had agreed to release frozen assets in Qatar and other foreign banks. A US official denied agreeing to release the money.

As well as the release of assets abroad, Tehran is demanding control of the Strait of Hormuz, payment of war reparations, and a ceasefire across the region, including in Lebanon, according to Iranian state TV and officials.

Tehran also wants to collect transit fees in the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump's stated goals have shifted, but as a minimum, he wants free passage for global shipping through the strait and the crippling of Iran's nuclear enrichment programme to ensure it cannot produce an atomic bomb.

"We will negotiate with our finger on the trigger," Iranian government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani said on state TV.

"While we are open to talks, we are also fully aware of the lack of trust; therefore, Iran's diplomatic team is entering this process with maximum caution."

US ally Israel, which joined the February 28 attacks on Iran that launched the war, has also been bombing Tehran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon and says that the conflict is not part of the Iran-US ceasefire.

DOZENS DEAD IN LEBANON

More than 90 people were killed in Israeli air strikes across Lebanon on Saturday, the Lebanese health ministry said, bringing the war's death toll to 2,020 people, including 165 children, nearly 250 women and 85 medics.

Hezbollah said it had conducted several military operations against Israeli positions on Saturday, both within Lebanese territory and in northern Israel.

Israeli and Lebanese officials plan talks in the US on Tuesday.