Between 100 and 120 billion dollars of Iranian assets abroad are frozen due to American sanctions, a special rapporteur for the United Nations, Alena Douhan, stated in 2022. Before heading to Islamabad, American Vice President JD Vance warned Tehran not to play games with Washington, while also promising to try to engage in positive negotiations: “If the Iranians are ready to negotiate in good faith, we are fully prepared to reach out to them.”
On Friday, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced that Iranian officials would be present at the talks, although Iran has not officially confirmed their attendance yet. Since the two-week ceasefire, Tehran and Washington have been at odds over the inclusion of Lebanon in the agreement, as Israel has expressed determination to continue its fight against the pro-Iranian Hezbollah. Just hours after the ceasefire took effect, Israeli airstrikes on Wednesday killed 357 people in Lebanon, according to a new tally. On Friday, new strikes killed 13 members of the security forces in southern Lebanon, as reported by the Lebanese state news agency.
Pakistan had invited delegations to meet on Friday, but JD Vance is only expected to arrive Saturday morning. He will be accompanied by special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, son-in-law of Donald Trump. In addition to the Iranian-American discussions, talks are scheduled to take place next week between Lebanon and Israel in Washington, according to an American official.
