- US, Iranian delegations to arrive in Islamabad for second time.
- Level of Iranian delegation will be decided after Khamenei’s funeral.
- Development came days after “positive” indirect talks in Doha.
Islamabad is expected to host a fresh round of US-Iran technical talks on July 14 and 15, said government sources on Sunday.
The sources privy to the matter revealed that Iranian and American experts on technical matters will participate in the third round of talks aimed at lasting peace in the Middle East.
Pakistan will participate in Iran-US technical talks as a mediator, the sources added.
Earlier, two rounds of technical talks between the US and Iran have been held in Switzerland’s Burgenstock and Qatar’s Doha.
According to Al Arabiya, the upcoming round of talks will focus on US sanctions on Iran, Iranian frozen assets, and the Iranian nuclear file.
The level of representation of the Iranian delegation will be decided after the funeral of late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the publication said, citing sources.
The sources familiar with the Doha discussions said that the negotiators for the two countries spent two days in Doha discussing maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz and unfreezing Iran’s funds, two critical issues under the initial agreement.
According to Qatar’s Foreign Ministry, the Doha discussions produced “positive progress” on issues related to the memorandum that halted the war in June and were “building on the outcomes” of a summit in Switzerland.
In June, Washington and Tehran agreed to a memorandum of understanding, brokered by Pakistan and Qatar, which included a 60-day ceasefire pausing the war that broke out with US-Israeli strikes in late February, as well as the reopening of the blockaded Strait of Hormuz.
But the 14-point deal also set a timeline for talks to permanently end the war and settle issues like arrangements for Hormuz, reconstruction funding for Iran and the future of the Islamic Republic’s nuclear programme.
Following the foes’ indirect discussions in Doha on Wednesday, US President Donald Trump as well as mediators Qatar and Pakistan offered signs that diplomacy was holding.
“Qatari and Pakistani mediators concluded separate meetings with the US and Iranian negotiators in Doha (Wednesday), with positive progress made,” the two mediating nations had said in a statement.
At the talks’ conclusion, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi, who led Tehran’s delegation, said an agreement had been reached to establish a communications channel by Thursday to report and record alleged violations of the memorandum.
Gharibabadi said discussions also covered frozen Iranian assets, whose release Tehran has demanded as part of any settlement.
He said officials reviewed the use of part of an initial $6 billion and agreed that goods needed by Iran would be purchased and made available.
The conflict, which began on February 28 following coordinated US-Israeli strikes on Iranian targets, has killed more than 2,000 people and destabilised the wider region.
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the country’s top civil and military leadership were martyred in the initial attack.
Iran responded with retaliatory actions, including disrupting shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and targeting US and Israeli interests.
