By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that no date had been fixed for a second round of direct negotiations between the United States and Iran, even as senior Pakistani officials pressed ahead with shuttle diplomacy to keep the two adversaries at the table.
Foreign Office spokesperson Tahir Andrabi, speaking at the ministry’s regular weekly briefing, repeatedly declined to offer any timeline or logistical details. “No dates have been decided,” he said, adding that speculation about when or how the next meeting might occur was unhelpful. “We will not comment on the positions of Tehran and the parties involved in the negotiations,” Andrabi said. “This is part of the parties’ trust in us.”
He said the talks are proceeding with “a high level of trust and secrecy,” insisting that confidentiality was essential to their success. Details about delegation size, composition or travel arrangements, he said, were matters for Washington and Tehran alone to decide. “I do not have an official announcement to make in this regard,” Andrabi added. “We would announce the timing of these talks as and when it is decided.”
The comments came days after the first face-to-face meeting between American and Iranian officials in more than a decade ended without agreement. That round, held in Islamabad on April 11 and 12, lasted 21 hours of substantive talks — roughly 30 hours when including movement of delegations and short breaks — and was led on the American side by Vice President JD Vance and on the Iranian side by Parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf.
Andrabi said the session as “serious and constructive,” but neither a breakthrough nor a breakdown. Nuclear issues were among the topics discussed, he confirmed, along with other matters related to regional stability. Pakistani officials have portrayed the inconclusive talks as a valuable opening of direct channels after years of hostility. Pakistan’s role as mediator has not ended with the close of the first round, Andrabi said. “Pakistan’s civil and military leadership has been engaged in feverish diplomacy, seeking to bring the United States and Iran back to the negotiating table.”
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was on a four-day tour of Riyadh, Doha and Istanbul on Thursday, while Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, the Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of Army Staff, led a delegation to Tehran. Iranian officials described the army chief’s visit as “a continuation of the discussions in Islamabad.” President Donald J. Trump said Tuesday that talks could resume within days and that Washington was “more inclined to go” to Pakistan, according to The New York Post.
A proposal for a second round has been shared with both capitals, and Islamabad continues to coordinate timing, according to people familiar with the process. The two-week ceasefire between the United States and Iran, brokered on April 8 after more than a month of conflict, is set to expire on April 22 and is described by diplomats as increasingly fragile.
Andrabi made clear that peace in Lebanon remained tightly linked to the broader negotiations. “Peace in Lebanon is essential,” he said, noting that the ceasefire agreement explicitly included that front. He expressed encouragement at what he called “some improvements on the Israeli-Lebanon front in the last two days,” saying de-escalation there would help create a more conducive atmosphere for dialogue.
The wider conflict began with American and Israeli strikes on Iran on Feb. 28. Hezbollah opened fire in support of Tehran on March 2, prompting an Israeli offensive in Lebanon that Lebanese authorities say has killed more than 2,000 people and displaced 1.2 million. Iran has insisted that any final agreement must address the Israeli campaign against Hezbollah; the United States has maintained there is no formal linkage.
With fragile ceasefire due to expire April 22, Islamabad presses diplomacy amid shuttle visits to Tehran and Gulf capitals
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