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Iran delegation arrives in Islamabad ahead of US peace talks

The Iranian delegation has arrived in Islamabad ahead of scheduled peace talks with the United States later on Saturday, as Pakistan steps into the spotlight as a key diplomatic intermediary in one of the world's most closely watched geopolitical standoffs.

Pakistan has spent the last several weeks quietly shuttling between Tehran and Washington, leveraging its historic ties with Iran to lay the groundwork for the talks. The effort has won rare public praise from US President Donald Trump, who noted that the head of Pakistan's armed forces, General Asim Munir, knows Iran "better than most."

The talks follow what Trump described as a significant diplomatic signal from Tehran. The U.S. president said Washington had received a 10-point proposal from Iran, which he called "a workable basis on which to negotiate" — language that has raised cautious optimism on both sides.

US vice-president JD Vance has flown to Islamabad to lead the American side of the discussions. Before his departure, Trump offered a characteristically brief send-off. "I wished him luck," the president told reporters while boarding a plane bound for Charlottesville, Virginia.

Trump tempered expectations around a swift resolution, saying he was uncertain whether the talks would conclude in a single round or stretch across several weeks. When pressed on whether the administration had a contingency plan should the discussions fail, the president was dismissive. "You don't need a back-up plan," he said.