Arriving in Pakistan, Iran’s top negotiator demands US accept ‘preconditions’ before talks start

As his VP Vance heads to Islamabad negotiations, Trump claims ‘the Iranians don’t seem to realize they have no cards,’ insists Strait of Hormuz to soon reopen ‘with or without them’

An Iranian negotiating delegation led by Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqher Ghalibaf arrived in Islamabad Friday ahead of Saturday’s peace talks with the United States, which Ghalibaf demanded accept Iran’s “preconditions” before talks could begin.

Speaking from Islamabad, Ghalibaf claimed Iran had goodwill toward negotiations but no trust in the United States, adding that the Islamic Republic was ready to reach a deal if Washington offered what he described as a genuine agreement and granted Iran its rights, Iranian state media reported.

Ghalibaf stated earlier that Tehran’s demands include a ceasefire in Lebanon, which Iran and mediating Pakistan have stated was supposed to be part of the ceasefire with the US to begin with. The US and Israel have said otherwise. Ghalibaf has also called for the release of billions of dollars in frozen assets belonging to Iran.

Ghalibaf’s delegation includes senior political, military and economic officials, including the Iranian foreign minister, defense council secretary, central bank governor and several members of parliament.

A US delegation led by Vice President JD Vance also departed Friday, with Vance warning Tehran not to “play” the US during the negotiations.

Ahead of the talks, Pakistani Prime Minister ​Shehbaz ​Sharif called the negotiations being hosted in his country’s capital “make or break.”

“In response to my sincere invitation, the leaderships of both countries are coming to Islamabad. There, negotiations will be held for the establishment of peace,” Sharif said in an address to the nation.

Pakistan added that it hopes the parties would engage constructively, and reiterated its desire to “continue facilitating the parties towards reaching lasting and durable solution to the conflict.”

Trump: Strait of Hormuz to reopen soon ‘one way or the other’

As his vice president was on his way to Pakistan, US President Donald Trump comment several times on the upcoming talks.

“The Iranians don’t seem to realize they have no cards, other than a short-term extortion of the world by using international waterways,” he wrote on social media.

“The only reason they are alive today is to negotiate!” he claimed in another post about the Iran conflict on his Truth Social platform.

“The Iranians are better at handling the fake news media and public relations than they are at fighting!” he said.

In an interview with the New York Post published Friday, Trump said US warships were being reloaded with weaponry to strike Iran if the Pakistan talks fail to produce a deal.

“We have a reset going. We’re loading up the ships with the best ammunition, the best weapons ever made — even better than what we did previously and we blew them apart,” Trump was quoted as saying.

“And if we don’t have a deal, we will be using them, and we will be using them very effectively,” he said.

In a brief and cryptic message on his Truth Social network earlier, Trump had spoken of the “WORLD’S MOST POWERFUL RESET!!!”

Later, talking with reporters, Trump expressed his confidence that the Strait of Hormuz will soon reopen to uninhibited ship flow.

“We’re going to open up the (strait) with or without them, but that’ll be open,” Trump said. “I think it’s going to [be opened] pretty quickly, and if it doesn’t, we’ll be able to finish it off one way or the other.”

The US has claimed that the strait was opened up already on Wednesday, denying reports that Iran was holding up much of the traffic and charging toll. In the past day, Trump appeared to acknowledge that Iran was in fact blocking ships from using the channel, with the president issuing a series of Truth Social posts threatening Iran.

Asked Friday if he would allow Iran to charge tolls for ships in Hormuz, Trump said he would not. “It’s international water.”

He then clarified that he has not verified Iran is actually charging tolls.

Asked what he was looking for in a deal with Iran ahead of Saturday’s talks. Trump responded, “No nuclear weapon.”

As for a backup plan if Iran refuses to reopen Hormuz, Trump insisted that he did not need one and claimed Iran already was “militarily defeated.”