{"id":207327,"date":"2026-04-11T17:36:45","date_gmt":"2026-04-11T17:36:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/vance-pakistan-pm-hold-bilateral-meeting-as-us-iran-negotiators-prepare-for-ceasefire-talks-fox-news\/"},"modified":"2026-04-11T17:36:45","modified_gmt":"2026-04-11T17:36:45","slug":"vance-pakistan-pm-hold-bilateral-meeting-as-us-iran-negotiators-prepare-for-ceasefire-talks-fox-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/vance-pakistan-pm-hold-bilateral-meeting-as-us-iran-negotiators-prepare-for-ceasefire-talks-fox-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Vance, Pakistan PM hold bilateral meeting as US, Iran negotiators prepare for ceasefire talks – Fox News"},"content":{"rendered":"

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. \u00a92026 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Market data provided by Factset<\/a>. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions<\/a>. Legal Statement<\/a>. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper<\/a>.
A White House official told Fox News Digital that the United States, Pakistan and Iran are holding a trilateral face-to-face meeting in Islamabad, Pakistan on Saturday. The meeting comes after the Trump administration reached a ceasefire with Iran during Operation Epic Fury.
Covered by: Greg Norman-Diamond<\/a>, <\/span>Michael Sinkewicz<\/a>, <\/span>Morgan Phillips<\/a>, <\/span>Preston Mizell<\/a> and <\/span>Robert McGreevy<\/span>
Vice President JD Vance, U.S special envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump\u2019s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, are in Islamabad, Pakistan, on Saturday for planned talks with Iran.<\/a> The U.S. is currently in a 2-week ceasefire with Tehran after launching Operation Epic Fury on Feb. 28.
Vance held a bilateral meeting Saturday with Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in Islamabad ahead of the negotiations with Iran,<\/a> the White House announced. Sharif played a key role in brokering the U.S.-Iran ceasefire that President Donald Trump announced earlier this week. However, Iran\u2019s lead negotiator on Friday warned that talks in Pakistan would not begin unless Lebanon also sees a ceasefire.
U.S. Central Command announced Saturday that its forces began setting conditions for clearing mines in the Strait of Hormuz.<\/a> The announcement came after President Donald Trump said that \u201cWe\u2019re now starting the process of clearing out the Strait of Hormuz as a favor to Countries all over the World, including China, Japan, South Korea, France, Germany, and many others.\u201d 
An Israeli intelligence official<\/a> told Fox News on Friday that Iran is demanding fees from ships to travel through the Strait of Hormuz. \u201cThe Strait is effectively under full Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps control,\u201d the official said.
President Donald Trump<\/a> announced Saturday that \u201cWe\u2019re now starting the process of clearing out the Strait of Hormuz as a favor to Countries all over the World, including China, Japan, South Korea, France, Germany, and many others.\u201d\u00a0
\u201cIncredibly, they don\u2019t have the Courage or Will to do this work themselves. Very interestingly, however, empty Oil carrying ships from many Nations are all heading to the United States of America to LOAD UP with Oil,\u201d Trump wrote on Truth Social.\u00a0
The announcement comes as negotiations between the U.S. and Iran<\/a> are set to unfold Saturday in Pakistan, involving Vice President JD Vance.\u00a0
\u201cThe Fake News Media has lost total credibility, not that they had any to begin with. Because of their massive Trump Derangement Syndrome (Sometimes referred to as TDS!), they love saying that Iran is \u2018winning\u2019 when, in fact, everyone knows that they are LOSING, and LOSING BIG!\u201d Trump also said on Truth Social.\u00a0
\u201cTheir Navy is gone, their Air Force is gone, their Anti Aircraft apparatus is nonexistent, Radar is dead, their Missile and Drone Factories have been largely obliterated along with the Missiles and Drones themselves and, most importantly, their longtime \u2018Leaders\u2019 are no longer with us, praise be to Allah!\u201d he added. \u201cThe only thing they have going is the threat that a ship may \u2018bunk\u2019 into one of their sea mines which, by the way, all 28 of their mine dropper boats are also lying at the bottom of the sea.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

U.S. Central Command announced Saturday that its forces began setting conditions for clearing mines in the Strait of Hormuz as negotiations are ongoing between the U.S. and Iran<\/a> in Pakistan.\u00a0
\u201cUSS Frank E. Peterson (DDG 121) and USS Michael Murphy (DDG 112) transited the Strait of Hormuz and operated in the Arabian Gulf as part of a broader mission to ensure the strait is fully clear of sea mines previously laid by Iran\u2019s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps,\u201d CENTCOM said in a statement.\u00a0
\u201cToday, we began the process of establishing a new passage and we will share this safe pathway with the maritime industry soon to encourage the free flow of commerce,\u201d added Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of CENTCOM.\u00a0
This is the first time U.S. guided-missile destroyers have crossed the Strait of Hormuz since the war with Iran began.\u00a0\u00a0
The USS Frank E. Peterson and the USS Michael Murphy were previously in the Arabian Sea before crossing the Strait.\u00a0
CENTCOM described the Strait of Hormuz Saturday as \u201c an international sea passage and an essential trade corridor that supports regional and global economic prosperity.\u201d\u00a0
\u201cAdditional U.S. forces, including underwater drones, will join the clearance effort in the coming days,\u201d it said.\u00a0
Fox News\u2019 Liz Friden contributed to this report.\u00a0<\/em>
The Israel Defense Forces<\/a> said Saturday that it has struck more than 200 Hezbollah terrorist targets in Lebanon over the last 24 hours.
\u201cThe Israeli Air Force continues to strike Hezbollah infrastructure and aid the ground forces operating in southern Lebanon,\u201d it said. \u201cIn addition, the IDF continues to strike launchers in order to thwart fire toward Israeli citizens.\u201d
The Israeli military released a video Saturday showing an airstrike targeting loaded launchers in southern Lebanon.
The IDF has continued to strike Hezbollah during Operation Roaring Lion, despite the ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran.
President Donald Trump said Saturday that the Strait of Hormuz \u201cwill soon be open,\u201d as he slammed the \u201cfake news media\u201d for their coverage of the Iran conflict.<\/a>
\u201cThe Fake News Media is CRAZY, or just plain CORRUPT! The United States has completely destroyed Iran\u2019s Military, including their entire Navy and Air Force, and everything else,\u201d Trump wrote on Truth Social.
\u201cTheir Leadership is DEAD! The Strait of Hormuz will soon be open, and the empty ships are rushing to the United States to ‘load up.’ But, if you listen to the Fake News, we\u2019re losing!\u201d he added.
Trump made the remark as Vice President JD Vance and a U.S. delegation are holding talks Saturday with an Iranian delegation in Pakistan.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Saturday that the relatives of a 1979 Iran hostage crisis figure are now in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after he revoked their legal status.<\/a>
\u201cMasoumeh Ebtekar — also known as \u2018Screaming Mary\u2019 — was the spokeswoman for the Islamic terrorists who stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran in 1979 and held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days — subjecting them to beatings, starvation, and mock executions,\u201d he wrote on X.
Rubio said Ebtekar’s son<\/a> and his family were granted visas by the Obama administration to enter the U.S. in 2014 and in June 2016, they were given \u201clawful permanent resident status via the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program.\u201d
\u201cThis week, I terminated their lawful permanent resident status and today, Seyed Eissa Hashemi, Maryam Tahmasebi, and their son are now in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement pending their removal from our country,\u201d Rubio announced. \u201cHer family should never have been allowed to benefit from the extraordinary privilege of living in our country.\u201d
Rubio also said, \u201cAmerica can never become home for anti-American terrorists or their families — and under the Trump Administration, it never will.\u201d<\/p>\n

A White House official told Fox News Digital on Saturday that the United States, Pakistan and Iran <\/a>are now holding a trilateral face-to-face meeting in Islamabad, Pakistan.\u00a0
Vice President JD Vance, U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are representing the American delegation.\u00a0
The delegation also includes Andrew Baker, a Deputy National Security Advisor to the President and National Security Advisor to the Vice President, and Michael Vance, Special Advisor to the Vice President for Asian Affairs, a U.S. official said.
The official noted that a full suite of U.S. experts on relevant subject areas are present in Islamabad as well, with additional experts providing support from Washington.<\/p>\n

Photos emerged Saturday showing streets in Islamabad, Pakistan,<\/a> mostly empty amid heightened security ahead of planned U.S.-Iran negotiations in the city.
Images depicted mostly empty sidewalks, with few passersby, at a market that was closed in Islamabad. Officials there declared a two-day public holiday ahead of U.S.-Iran negotiations.
Another photo showed what appears to be a Pakistani military vehicle Saturday outside the Serena Hotel, where the negotiations are expected to take place.
Vice President JD Vance made a short stop at the U.S. embassy in Pakistan before arriving at the Serena Hotel, according to his office. The vice president met with Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, the White House said.
The U.S. delegation includes included U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. The Pakistan delegation included Sharif, Pakistan Minister for the Interior Mohsin Naqvi and Foreign Minister \/ Deputy Prime Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar.
Vance, Witkoff and Kushner are expected to meet with the Iranian delegation for negotiations.
President Donald Trump said Saturday that \u201cI am watching fertilizer prices CLOSELY during our FIGHT FOR FREEDOM in Iran.\u201d\u00a0<\/a>
\u201cThe United States will not accept PRICE GOUGING from the fertilizer monopoly! American Farmers, we have your back!\u201d Trump added.\u00a0
The reduction of maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz has been driving up fertilizer prices.\u00a0
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins told FOX Business on Monday that \u201c80% of our farmers locked in their fertilizer last fall for this planting season, we are concerned with the 20% that didn\u2019t.\u201d\u00a0
\u201cWe waived the Jones Act, we\u2019ve opened up lines from other countries. We have another couple big announcements coming on that soon,” Rollins said. “We have had some great fertilizer companies that have said \u2018we\u2019re not going to raise prices for our American farmers.\u2019 I\u2019m talking to the others that haven\u2019t quite done that yet. But we are very, very focused on that. Food security is national security and the president completely backs us up on everything we can do to make sure that our farmers are supported.\u201d<\/p>\n

U.S. Central Command said Saturday that sailors are keeping the USS Abraham Lincoln at \u201cpeak readiness\u201d in the Middle East during the ceasefire with Iran.\u00a0
The ship is one of several stationed in the region in support of Operation Epic Fury.\u00a0<\/a>
\u201cDaily operations continue aboard Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) as thousands of sailors ensure the ship maintains peak readiness while sailing regional waters in the Middle East,\u201d CENTCOM wrote on X alongside images of sailors working to maintain the ship.\u00a0
The U.S. military struck more than 13,000 targets since the beginning of Operation Epic Fury against Iran on Feb. 28, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Air Force Gen. Dan Caine announced Wednesday.\u00a0
\u201cCENTCOM forces destroyed approximately 80% of Iran’s air defense systems, striking more than 1,500 air defense targets, more than 450 ballistic missile storage facilities, 801 one-way attack drones storage facilities,\u201d Caine added. \u201cAll of these systems are gone.\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n

President Donald Trump said Saturday that \u201cmassive numbers\u201d of empty oil tankers are heading to the United States, a day after Fox News Digital reported<\/a> that oil traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains effectively halted.\u00a0
\u201cMassive numbers of completely empty oil tankers, some of the largest anywhere in the World, are heading, right now, to the United States to load up with the best and \u2018sweetest\u2019 oil (and gas!) anywhere in the World,\u201d Trump wrote on Truth Social. \u201cWe have more oil than the next two largest oil economies combined — and higher quality. We are waiting for you.\u201d\u00a0
A backlog of roughly 3,200 vessels \u2014 among them 800 tankers and cargo ships \u2014 built up west of the strait as of Friday, with ships idling as operators wait for clarity on whether it is safe to pass.\u00a0
Trump also told reporters on Friday that the Strait of Hormuz \u201cwill open fairly soon.\u201d\u00a0
Fox News Digital\u2019s Morgan Phillips contributed to this report.\u00a0<\/em>
A Kuwait ministry of defense spokesperson said Friday that some of its National Guard members were wounded from Iranian drone attacks.<\/a>
\u201cThe Armed Forces monitored and dealt with 7 hostile drones within Kuwaiti airspace during the past 24 hours, and they were handled in accordance with established procedures,\u201d Ministry of Defense Brig. Gen. Saud Abdulaziz Al-Otaibi said.\u00a0
\u201cThe Iranian aggression resulted in targeting several vital facilities affiliated with the National Guard, leading to injuries among some of its members, who are currently receiving treatment with stable conditions, in addition to significant material damage,\u201d he added.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The U.S. has not agreed to release frozen Iranian assets,<\/a> a senior U.S. official said Saturday, noting that negotiations between U.S. and Iranian teams in Pakistan had not yet begun.
Citing a senior Iranian source, Reuters reported on Friday that the U.S. had agreed to release Iran\u2019s frozen assets held in Qatar and other foreign banks.
\u201cFalse. The meetings have not even started yet,\u201d the senior U.S. official said Saturday, refuting Reuters\u2019 report.
Vice President JD Vance, U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner arrived in Islamabad, Pakistan, on Saturday for planned talks with Iranian negotiators as a fragile ceasefire holds.
Iranian parliament speaker and negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said Friday that talks with the U.S. would not begin until Iranian assets were unfrozen and Lebanon also sees a ceasefire. Israel has continued strikes against Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon this week, arguing the ceasefire agreement between the U.S. and Iran did not apply there.
Vice President JD Vance arrived in Pakistan early Saturday,<\/a> where he will lead high-stakes negotiations with Iran aimed at preserving a fragile ceasefire and preventing a broader regional war.
Vance was welcomed by a Pakistani honor guard on the tarmac in Islamabad.\u00a0
The group welcoming the vice president included Field Marshal of Pakistan Asim Munir and Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Pakistan Mohammad Ishaq Dar.
Federal Minister of Interior, Narcotics Control of Pakistan Mohsin Naqvi and U.S. Charg\u00e9 d’Affaires to Pakistan Natalie A. Baker also greeted Vance.
Vance is joined by U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump\u2019s son-in-law, as part of a senior delegation engaging Iranian officials in Islamabad.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Speaker of Parliament Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf will be negotiating for Iran.
The talks, scheduled for Saturday, come over a month after the U.S. launched Operation Epic Fury Feb. 28 \u2014 a sweeping military campaign targeting Iran\u2019s military infrastructure following the collapse of nuclear negotiations.
That operation pushed the U.S. and Iran to the brink of a ground war before a tenuous diplomatic breakthrough in recent days.
Trump announced a two-week ceasefire Tuesday, agreeing to suspend further U.S. strikes on the condition that Iran reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a critical global shipping route.
While Iran signaled it would allow passage through the strait as part of the agreement, traffic remains severely disrupted, with shipping companies hesitant to resume normal operations amid ongoing security concerns and uncertainty over enforcement.
Vance struck a cautious tone before departing, warning Iran not to test the U.S. negotiating posture.
“If they\u2019re gonna try and play us, then they\u2019re gonna find that the negotiating team is not that receptive,” Vance said, adding he still expects the talks to be “positive.”<\/p>\n

Vice President JD Vance held a bilateral meeting Saturday with Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in Islamabad ahead of negotiations with Iran,<\/a> the White House announced.
The American delegation at the meeting included U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, while the Pakistan delegation included Sharif, Pakistan Minister for the Interior Mohsin Naqvi and Foreign Minister\/Deputy Prime Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar.
Sharif played a key role in brokering a U.S.-Iran ceasefire that President Donald Trump announced earlier this week. <\/a>
Iran\u2019s lead negotiator on Friday warned that talks would not begin unless Lebanon also sees a ceasefire. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said earlier this week that the ceasefire agreement between the U.S. and Iran did not include Lebanon, and Israeli forces said they launched their largest attack yet against Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorists there since Operation Roaring Lion began in February.
\u201cBased on conversations with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir, of Pakistan, and wherein they requested that I hold off the destructive force being sent tonight to Iran, and subject to the Islamic Republic of Iran agreeing to the COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE, and SAFE OPENING of the Strait of Hormuz, I agree to suspend the bombing and attack of Iran for a period of two weeks. This will be a double sided CEASEFIRE!\u201d Trump had announced on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

The Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the arrival of the U.S. delegation in Islamabad on Saturday morning, reaffirming its commitment to facilitating a peace deal.
Vice President JD Vance landed in Pakistan just before 10:30 a.m. local time, where he will lead negotiations with Iran.<\/a> He was joined by U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump\u2019s son-in-law, as part of a senior delegation set to engage in talks with Iran later in the day.
Vance was welcomed by a Pakistani honor guard on the tarmac, including Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of Army Staff Asim Munir.
The foreign ministry said in a statement that it commends \u201cthe U.S. commitment to achieving lasting regional and global peace and stability.\u201d
It added that the deputy prime minister and foreign minister hope all parties will \u201cengage constructively.\u201d
The foreign ministry said Pakistan will work to facilitate a \u201clasting and durable solution\u201d to the conflict.
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