HEADLINES IN BRIEF

• An Iranian government delegation met Pakistan's prime minister to discuss the terms of planned "make or break" negotiations to end the Middle East war with a US party led by Vice President JD Vance. READ MORE BELOW

• Pakistan's foreign minister called for the United States and Iran to "engage constructively" at talks in Islamabad, after both delegations arrived in the Pakistani capital. 

• Iran's parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said shortly after arriving in Pakistan's capital that previous experiences negotiating with the United States had led to a lack of trust. 

• Israel's US ambassador Yechiel Leiter told his Lebanese counterpart in Washington that he "refused to discuss a ceasefire with the Hezbollah terrorist organization," according to a statement after a meeting. READ MORE BELOW

• Digital monitor Netblocks said Iran's internet blackout has lasted more than 1,000 hours, in an X post. While Iran's domestic intranet remains operational - supporting local messaging apps, banking platforms and other services  - access to the global internet has been severely restricted since early February.

• US President Donald Trump vowed to have the Strait of Hormuz open "with or without" Iran's cooperation and said his top priority in peace talks was to ensure Tehran cannot have a nuclear weapon.

• Iran's parliament speaker demanded a truce in Lebanon and the release of his country's blocked assets as Vance warned Tehran not to "play" Washington in the Islamabad talks.

• Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem urged the Lebanese government to stop giving "free concessions" to Israel ahead of negotiations between the two governments due to begin in Washington next week.

IN DETAIL

Iran and US leaders arrive in Pakistan for talks

An Iranian government delegation met Pakistan's prime minister to discuss the terms of planned "make or break" negotiations to end the Middle East war with a US party led by Vice President JD Vance.

With the first talks underway at Islamabad's Serena Hotel, Iranian media reported that the Iranian side would decide at the end of the meeting with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif whether to go ahead with negotiations with the Americans.

Senior US and Iranian leaders were in the Pakistani capital Islamabad for negotiations to end their six-week-old war, although Tehran threw the talks into doubt by saying they could not begin without commitments on Lebanon and sanctions.

The US delegation, led by Vice President JD Vance and including President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner, landed in two US Air Force planes at an air base in Islamabad, where they were received by Pakistan's army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar.

The Iranian delegation, led by ‌parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, arrived on Friday.

Pakistan's Dar said he hoped the US and Iran would engage in constructive talks to reach a "lasting and durable solution to the conflict," according to a statement from Pakistan's foreign ministry.

These will be the highest-level US-Iran talks since the Islamic Revolution of 1979. If the two sides hold face-to-face negotiations as expected, they would be the first direct talks since 2015, when they reached a deal on Iran's nuclear program.

Tehran's agenda at the Islamabad talks also includes demands for major new concessions, including the end of sanctions that crippled its economy for years, and acknowledgment of its authority over the Strait of Hormuz, where it aims to collect transit fees and control access in what would amount to a huge shift in regional power.

Lebanon and Israel to hold 'formal peace negotiations'

Israeli and Lebanese officials will hold talks in Washington on Tuesday, both sides said, amid conflicting accounts on what those talks would cover.

Lebanon's presidency said officials from the two countries had spoken by phone and agreed to discuss announcing a ceasefire and setting a start date for bilateral talks under US mediation. But Israel's embassy in Washington said the talks would constitute the start of "formal peace negotiations" and that Israel had refused to discuss a ceasefire with Hezbollah.

Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah reiterated his group's rejection of direct negotiations between Lebanon and Israel.

The move is "a blatant violation of the (national) pact, the constitution and Lebanese laws... and it exacerbates domestic divisions at a time when Lebanon most needs solidarity and internal unity to face Israel's aggression", Fadlallah said in a statement.

Iran's parliamentary speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said on X that Washington had previously agreed to unblock Iranian assets and to a ceasefire in Lebanon, where Israeli attacks on Hezbollah fighters have killed nearly 2,000 people since the start of the fighting in March. He said talks would not start until those pledges were fulfiled.

Israel and the US have said the Lebanon campaign is not part of the Iran-US ceasefire.