Islamabad, April 11, 2026 — In a dramatic diplomatic breakthrough that could reshape the trajectory of the six-week-old US-Iran conflict, the United States and Iran have begun direct face-to-face peace negotiations in Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad. The talks, brokered by Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, represent the highest level of direct contact between Washington and Tehran in years and signal a genuine opening toward a negotiated settlement to a war that has shaken global energy markets and upended regional geopolitics.

US Vice President JD Vance is leading the American delegation, which includes senior State Department officials and Pentagon representatives. The Iranian side is represented by senior foreign ministry officials and military advisers. Both delegations held separate preliminary meetings with Prime Minister Sharif before sitting down together for talks that began on Saturday afternoon local time.

President Donald Trump, speaking from Washington before the talks commenced, issued a stark warning to Tehran: if a peace deal was not reached, the United States would resume its military campaign against Iran with even greater intensity than before. “We want a real deal, a fair deal,” Trump said. “But if they play games, we will hit them harder than they have ever been hit before.”