Pakistan hosts U.S.-Iran peace talks after weeks of frantic diplomacy
(NPR) ISLAMABAD – Pakistan's capital, Islamabad, is set to host peace talks today with negotiators from Iran and the US, including Vice President J.D. Vance. It's the culmination of weeks of frantic diplomacy by Pakistan's leaders, who pitched the city as the venue for talks even before they took the lead as a key mediator that both the U.S. and Iran credited for helping broker a two-week ceasefire.
The meeting has put Pakistan at the center of the biggest story in the world, spotlighting its normally sleepy capital that has been preparing for days for high-profile delegations to arrive. Ahead of the talks, many in Islamabad were still trying to get their heads around the fact that their country's diplomatic efforts actually worked. "I'm a bit surprised," says 19-year-old Khizra Zaheer, standing in a parking lot of a shopping area near the center of the city. "When did Pakistan get so influential?"
That has been a central question in the past three weeks as Pakistan transitioned from a quiet go-between to an active participant in negotiations between the US and Iran, pulling in leaders from Egypt, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and China to support its peace efforts before putting forward a ceasefire plan. The true significance of Pakistan's intervention only became clear when both sides agreed to a pause shortly after a down-to-the-wire plea from the country's prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif.
President Trump and Iran's foreign ministry went on to name Sharif and Pakistani army chief Asim Munir, in their ceasefire announcements. "That was a very rare concurrence, because no other country enjoyed the same kind of trust from both parties," says Rasheed Wali Janjua, director of research at the Islamabad Policy Research Institute, a national security think-tank. "It's a fair assessment to say that both parties are looking for a way out."
https://www.npr.org/2026/04/11/nx-s1-5781760/pakistan-hosts-peace-talks-us-iran