ISLAMABAD (AP) \u2014 U.S. and Iranian officials held separate talks with Pakistan\u2019s prime minister on Saturday amid a ceasefire made fragile by deep disagreements and unabated fighting in Lebanon.<\/p>\n
A U.S. delegation led by Vice President JD Vance<\/a> and an Iranian delegation led by Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf<\/a> each met with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, according to Sharif\u2019s office and Iranian media. No direct U.S.-Iran talks in Islamabad had been announced as of mid-afternoon. <\/p>\n Iran doubled down on parts of its earlier proposal, with its delegation telling Iranian state television it had presented some of the plan\u2019s ideas as red lines in meetings with Sharif.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Israel pressed ahead with strikes in Lebanon even as Iran conditioned talks on a pause in fighting there. The Lebanese state-run news agency reported that Israeli strikes on Saturday killed at least three people.<\/p>\n The war has killed at least 3,000 people in Iran, 1,953 in Lebanon, 23 in Israel and more than a dozen in Gulf Arab states. It has largely cut off the Persian Gulf from the global economy, sending energy prices soaring<\/a> and damaging infrastructure in half a dozen countries in the region.<\/p>\n In Tehran, residents told The Associated Press they were skeptical yet hopeful about the talks after weeks of airstrikes carved a path of destruction across their country. Shahab Banitaba questioned whether the United States could be trusted to uphold any agreement.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we get concrete and final results, there is still a chance that the deal falls through,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Officials posture over key issues ahead of talks<\/p>\n U.S. and Iranian officials claimed leverage and issued new demands and preconditions as talks approached. President Donald Trump posted repeatedly on social media leading up to Saturday, saying Iranian officials \u201chave no cards\u201d to negotiate with.<\/p>\n \u201cThe only reason they are alive today is to negotiate!\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n In separate posts, he accused Iran of using the Strait of Hormuz<\/a>, a key artery for global energy supplies, for extortion and said it would be opened \u201cwith or without them.\u201d<\/p>\n Islamabad was deserted Saturday as security forces sealed roads and authorities urged residents to stay inside, leading the normally bustling Pakistani capital to look like it was under curfew.<\/p>\n Vance said on Friday the U.S. was optimistic about the talks, but warned: \u201cIf they\u2019re going to try and play us, then they\u2019re going to find that the negotiating team is not that receptive.\u201d<\/p>\n Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran was entering negotiations with \u201cdeep distrust\u201d stemming from prior strikes<\/a> on Iran during previous rounds of talks. Araghchi, who is part of Iran\u2019s delegation in Pakistan, said on Saturday that his country was prepared to retaliate if it was attacked again. <\/p>\n Iran and the United States outlined competing proposals ahead of the weekend talks reflecting the wide gulf between the two sides on key issues. Iran published a 10-point proposal that included a guaranteed end to the war and no future attacks, an end to economic sanctions and control over the Strait of Hormuz. The United States submitted a 15-point proposal that includes restricting Iran\u2019s nuclear program and reopening the strait.<\/p>\n Israel and Lebanon will have direct negotiations<\/p>\n Negotiations between Israel and Lebanon are expected to begin Tuesday in Washington, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun\u2019s office said Friday.<\/p>\n Israel wants the Lebanese government to assume responsibility for disarming Hezbollah, much like was envisaged in a November 2024 ceasefire<\/a>. But it is unclear whether Lebanon\u2019s army can establish a monopoly on arms or confiscate weapons from the militant group, which has survived efforts to curb its strength for decades.<\/p>\n Israel\u2019s insistence that the ceasefire in Iran does not include a pause<\/a> in its fighting with Hezbollah has threatened to sink the deal. The militant group joined the war in support of its backer, Iran, in the opening days of the war.<\/p>\n The day the truce was announced, Israel pounded Beirut with airstrikes<\/a>, killing more than 300 people in the deadliest day in the country since the war began Feb. 28, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.<\/p>\n Trump said Thursday he had asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to dial back the strikes.<\/p>\n Strait of Hormuz remains a sticking point<\/p>\n