Iran-US war latest: US negotiators land in Pakistan after Trump threatens to ‘finish’ war if peace talks fail

When a ceasefire was announced on Wednesday, US president Donald Trump said he had received a 10-point proposal from Iran.

Mr Trump called the plan “a workable basis on which to negotiate” and said that almost all of the points have been agreed – but did not reveal what they are.

Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, the country’s top security body, then published a list of points it said Washington had agreed to and “in principle, committed to”. These included:

• non-aggression
• continued Iranian control over the Strait of Hormuz
• acceptance of enrichment
• lifting all primary and secondary sanctions
• termination of all resolutions passed by the UN Security Council and the board of governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency
• withdrawal of US combat forces from the region
• cessation of war on all fronts, including against the Islamic resistance in Lebanon

There was uncertainty, however, as President Trump suggested there were “numerous” bogus lists circulating. He said there was “only one group of meaningful “POINTS that are acceptable to the United States”, which the US would be discussing behind closed doors with Iran in Pakistan.

Donald Trump has declared that Iran agreeing not to pursue a nuclear weapon would be the mark of a successful peace talks with Tehran in Pakistan this weekend.

US vice president JD Vance and Iranian negotiators have arrived in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad for the talks, which are scheduled to begin on Saturday and are aimed at bringing an end to the six-week conflict.

“No nuclear weapon number one,” Trump said when asked what a good deal looks like for the White House. “I think it’s already been regime change, but we never had that as a criteria. No nuclear weapon, that’s 99 per cent of it.”

Tehran denies it is pursuing a nuclear weapon.

James C. Reynolds and Alex Croft report:

The US president is cobbling together a ceasefire he doesn’t seem to understand and somehow making the brutal Iranian regime look positively charismatic while they choke the global economy, Jon Sopel writes

Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto will visit Russia ⁠in the coming days to discuss the potential for purchasing Russian oil.

He is expected to ⁠meet ​President Vladimir ⁠Putin during the visit, Indonesia’s ⁠foreign minister ​said ⁠on Saturday, citing the Iran conflict and the need to source alternative oil.

Asked previously about ‌a possible visit, ​the Kremlin ‌said contacts ⁠between the two ⁠leaders were being ‌prepared.

Sending British warships to police the Strait of Hormuz is a “fantasy” because the UK’s armed forces are already so depleted, former defence secretary Ben Wallace has warned.

Mr Wallace, who served as defence secretary under three Tory prime ministers, said such a move, which armed forces minister Luke Pollard refused to rule out on Friday, risked “leaving our troops dangerously unprotected and overstretched”.

He urged the government to stop ducking tough decisions and properly fund Britain’s defence, as he accused ministers of “taking the public for fools” after the current defence secretary, John Healey, insisted the UK is ready to defend itself.

Pakistan’s foreign minister has said he hopes the US and Iran will engage “constructively” in peace talks.

The country is set to host high-stakes discussions in its capital Islamabad.

In a statement, Ishaq Dar also ‌reiterated Islamabad’s desire ⁠to continue facilitating the parties to reach a “lasting and durable solution to the conflict”.

Pakistan has set up a media centre in Islamabad to support coverage of talks between the US and Iran, information minister Attaullah Tarar said.

The facility at the Jinnah Convention Center includes high-speed internet and workstations with laptops and charging points for journalists. Tarar said shuttle services have been arranged to transport reporters between the venue and designated hotels.

Pakistan has also introduced visa-on-arrival for journalists and official delegations travelling for what it has called the “Islamabad talks”.

The centre includes areas for live stand-ups and press briefings and screens broadcasting domestic and international news channels.

Israel’s ambassador to the US, Yechiel Leiter, and Lebanon’s envoy Nada Hamadeh Moawad will meet in Washington on Tuesday, Israeli and Lebanese officials said.

Lebanon’s presidency said the two had agreed in a phone call on Friday to discuss announcing a ceasefire and setting a start date for negotiations under US mediation. Israel’s embassy in Washington, however, said the meeting would mark the start of “formal peace negotiations” and that it would not discuss a ceasefire with Hezbollah.

Israeli strikes continued across Lebanon on Friday. A strike on a government building in Nabatieh killed 13 members of Lebanon’s state security forces, President Joseph Aoun said. Hezbollah said it fired rockets into northern Israel in response.

Lebanese authorities said Israel’s largest attack of the war, launched hours after the ceasefire was announced, killed more than 350 people.

Iran and the US have deployed sizeable delegations to Islamabad ahead of the start of today’s talks, underlining the scale and complexity of the negotiations.

Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency said its delegation includes around 70 officials, including technical experts in economic, security and political fields, along with media and support staff.

A Pakistani government source said about 100 members of an advance US team were already in the city.

“We’re very positive,” a source close to the discussions said, but cautioned it was “too early to say” whether a deal could be reached on Saturday, adding negotiators had instructions to “close a deal or walk away”.

The talks come amid a fragile ceasefire that has halted airstrikes but not eased tensions over the Strait of Hormuz or fighting in Lebanon.