The U.S. and Iran haven’t stopped issuing warnings and threats against each other despite the two-week ceasefire announced on April 7. Several Gulf nations reported Iranian attacks against them even after the truce was issued and Israel continued its military campaign against Lebanon, claiming that part of the war was not included in the armistice.
Amidst these jarring statements and jibes from both side, Washington and Tehran are set to meet each in Pakistan’s Islamabad on Saturday, April 11, for what’s being dubbed the “Islamabad Accord”. The U.S. side will be led by Vice President JD Vance and the delegation will include Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, who is President Donald Trump’s son-in-law. The Iranian side will be led by Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
Regional newspaper Voice of Emirates described the delegation as the “biggest surprise” and quoted Iranian Students’ News Agency (ISNA) about Ghalibaf’s and Araghchi attendance signifying “a direct mandate and broad authority to make sovereign decisions” while Vance, Steve, and Kushner’s delegation denoting “Trump administration’s seriousness in reaching a comprehensive settlement that transcends traditional diplomatic frameworks.”
Narrow window for talks
Saturday’s talks will happen while both sides continue to issue threats and warnings despite the two-week ceasefire. Both have their own narratives of war and both claimed victory.
The White House issued a statement after the ceasefire was announced on Wednesday, April 8, titled: “Peace through Strength: Operation Epic Fury Crushes Iranian Threat as Ceasefire Takes Hold.”
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“This is a victory for the United States of America that the President and our incredible military made happen. From the very beginning of Operation Epic Fury, President Trump stated this would be a four-to-six-week military operation to dismantle the military threat posed by the radical Islamic Iranian regime,” said White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt in the statement.
The US statement said Iran can no longer arm terrorist proxies; its air force has been neutered and its navy and space program has been eradicated; its 85 percent of defense industrial base, including the maximum of its ballistic missiles and launcher vehicles have been destroyed. The White House termed Iran that agreed to a ceasefire as a regime which is “desperate, dejected, and in denial.”
Meanwhile, the Iranian National Security Council claimed that the U.S. and its powerful ally Israel had been forced to the negotiation table through overwhelming “collapse” of their military assets.
“They [Iranian forces] have so crushed their [U.S. and Israeli] forces, facilities, infrastructure, and all their political, economic, technological, and military assets that the enemy is now plunged into collapse and desperation, seeing no path before it other than surrender to the will of the great nation of Iran and the honourable Axis of Resistance,” Iran’s National Security Council said in a statement after the ceasefire, as published by Middle East eye.
The statement defined the upcoming meeting in Islamabad as an attempt to “consolidate” what it defined as its victory.
“And considering Iran and the Resistance’s upper hand in the battlefield, the enemy’s inability to carry out its threats despite all claims, and the formal acceptance of all the rightful demands of the Iranian people—it was decided that negotiations be held in Islamabad to finalise the details,” the Iranian National Security Council continued.
“This is so that within a maximum of 15 days, with the finalisation of details, Iran’s victory on the field shall also be consolidated in political negotiations.”
While the US and Iran continued to engage in a louder narrative war despite the ceasefire, Israel continued its military campaign against Hezbollah, with operations killing over 250 people in Lebanon on Wednesday. Meanwhile Iran also continued to strike several locations in the Gulf countries after the truce with reports about attacks in Kuwait, Bahrain, and the UAE and on a huge pipeline in Saudi Arabia used to bypass the closed Strait of Hormuz.
Pakistan’s strategic role–and limits
Pakistan, which borders Iran, took center stage as a truce mediator between the U.S. and Iran–a situation encouraged by its geostrategic location vis-a-vis Iran with which it shares a long, complex border and supported by its active diplomatic channels with not only the U.S. and Iran but with the Gulf nations as well as with China. However the same factors also make it a very delicate situation for Pakistan to deal with.
Pakistan was thanked by both President Trump and the Iranian Foreign Minister, Araghchi in their statements while the ceasefire was announced. However the mediator described Israel as the “Israel Occupying Power” in its official releases and condemned it for its “aggression” in Lebanon on Thursday and there was no official announcement of Israel’s direct participation in the talks scheduled for April 11.
While the nation appears to take a spotlight for its mediation, reports highlight why this mediation is not without reason but rather is in Pakistan’s own best interest.
Pakistani analyst Jahangir Javed wrote in Defense Journal, a Karachi-based outlet, about the “US-Iran War and its Impact on Pakistan.” He said other than the economic costs and the crippling energy crisis and trade disruptions, the war complicates its talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a bailout package.
Pakistan had 24 IMF bailouts since its creation — the latest of $7 billion came in 2024 to help it stabilize its economy. Javed said the war complicates Pakistan’s talks with the IMF.
“As energy subsidies become unsustainable and fiscal deficits widen. The IMF is likely to demand stricter reforms, including removal of subsidies and tax increases, which could fuel public discontent,” Javed said.
He said Pakistan also fears border instability and terrorism spillover as it has the largest Shia population outside Iran and the war could inflame sectarian divides wherein Sunni extremist groups target Shia minority groups, should the conflict drag on or expand.
“Groups such as ISIS-Khorasan and Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) may exploit regional chaos to expand their activities. Pakistan’s security forces, already stretched thin, face the risk of renewed terrorist campaigns in urban centers,” he said, adding that if Pakistan aligns too closely with any internal or external force it risks its neutrality which it needs for its border management and intelligence operations.
The Pakistan Foreign Ministry on its official Facebook account has made announcements of conversations for dialogue and diplomacy for peace in the region between Pakistan’s Foreign Minister, Ishaq Dar and his counterparts from Kuwait, Canada, Spain, Qatar, Morocco, Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Norway, Bahrain, and representatives from China, the European Union since the announcement of the ceasefire.
Javed mentioned in his analysis that the U.S.-Iran war has made diplomatic balance a very “precarious” task for Pakistan because it has to align multiple and conflicting interests in the conflict including navigating relations with Iran, Saudi Arabia, the United States, and China.
“Between Iran and Saudi Arabia, Pakistan risks alienating one ally if it sides with the other. The US may push for cooperation against Iran, while China prefers Pakistan to remain neutral to protect CPEC,” he wrote.
