ISLAMABAD: Negotiating teams from the U.S. and Iran could return to Islamabad later this week, five sources said, days after the highest-level talks between the two countries in decades ended without a breakthrough, the Reuters reported.
Islamabad hosted direct Iran-US talks over the weekend, marking the highest engagement between the two sides since 1979. Both delegations departed the capital on Sunday following the talks ended without an agreement, but also without a breakdown.
Two Pakistani officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the proposal would depend on whether the two sides prefer an alternative venue, the Associated Press reported. They further added that the earlier negotiations in Islamabad were part of a continuing diplomatic process rather than a one-off engagement.
Two Pakistani sources with knowledge of the talks said Islamabad was communicating with the two sides about the timing of the next round and the meeting would likely take place on the weekend.
“We have reached out to Iran and we got a positive response that they will be open to a second round of talks,” a senior Pakistani government official was quoted as saying by Reuters.
Likewise, a Pakistani source told AFP that Islamabad was working to bring Iran and the US back together for a second round of talks and to secure an extended ceasefire to allow for diplomacy.
Reuters said that Pakistan’s foreign ministry, military and prime minister’s office did not respond to its request for comment. Also, White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Earlier, US Vice President JD Vance concluded talks in Islamabad with a senior Iranian delegation led by Parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.
The negotiations – the highest-level direct engagement between the two sides since the 1979 revolution – ended without a breakthrough, though Washington described its proposal as a “final and best offer”.
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