Iranian negotiator in Pakistan, American envoys expected

A possible resumption of talks between the United States and Iran to end the war looms Saturday, with negotiators from both sides headed to Islamabad, though there is no guarantee of direct discussions, two weeks after a previous attempt failed.

Meanwhile, the truce in Lebanon, another conflict zone, appears as fragile as ever.

Triggered by a U.S. and Israeli attack on Iran on Feb. 28, the Middle East war has killed thousands, mainly in Iran and Lebanon, and shaken the global economy.

Islamabad, Pakistan’s capital, has been awaiting for days the resumption of U.S.-Iranian talks that began two weeks ago but were halted after about 15 hours, even though the cease-fire has since been unilaterally extended indefinitely by the United States.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived in Islamabad late Friday for talks with senior Pakistani officials.

But ‘’no meeting is planned between Iran and the United States,’’ Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said on X, adding that his country’s positions would be communicated to the American side via Pakistani mediators.

However, President Donald Trump’s envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, will travel to Pakistan on Saturday for talks ‘’with representatives of the Iranian delegation,’’ White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said earlier, asserting that the meeting was requested by Tehran.

Vice President JD Vance, who led the U.S. delegation two weeks ago, is not expected to join the trip this time but could join later if progress is made, Leavitt added.

After Pakistan, Araghchi is scheduled to continue a regional tour that will take him to Oman and Russia.

Meanwhile, maritime traffic remains halted in the Strait of Hormuz, where 20 percent of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas once passed before the conflict, and which is now under a dual Iranian and American blockade.

Global markets have greeted the prospect of new negotiations between Washington and Tehran with little enthusiasm. The barrel of U.S. WTI crude fell 1.51 percent to $94.40, while Brent, the international benchmark, pared gains to close at $105.33, up 0.25 percent.

In Lebanon, the cease-fire, whose three-week extension was announced Thursday night by Donald Trump after talks between Israeli and Lebanese representatives in Washington, is already under severe strain.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry reported six dead and two wounded Friday from Israeli strikes in the south of the country.

The Israeli military said its soldiers killed six Hezbollah members during a skirmish, after reporting that the group had downed one of its drones.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Hezbollah of trying to ‘’sabotage’’ the ‘’process to achieve a historic peace between Israel and Lebanon.’’

The group, which dragged Lebanon into the war by reopening hostilities with Israel on March 2, in turn called on the Lebanese state to ‘’withdraw from direct negotiations with Israel’’ and said extending the truce ‘’made no sense’’ given Israel’s ongoing ‘’hostile acts.’’

The Israeli military also issued an evacuation call Friday for a village in southern Lebanon, the first of its kind since the ceasefire was extended. Lebanon’s official news agency NNA later reported an Israeli strike on Deir Aames.

Direct negotiations with Israel ‘’would mean recognizing the enemy,’’ Ahmad Choumari, 74, told AFP. After hesitating, he decided to leave the city of Saida, where he had taken shelter, and return to his village following the truce extension.

’’We are going home,’’ he said, surrounded by bags and mattresses, expressing hope ‘’that the cease-fire will become permanent.’’

Elsewhere, U.N. peacekeeping force UNIFIL announced Friday the death of one of its Indonesian peacekeepers who was wounded March 29 in the south.