A police checkpoint near Faisal Masjid, as Pakistan prepares to host the U.S. and Iran for the second phase of peace talks in Islamabad, April 19, 2026. REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro (Reuters)By Mohammad MansourPublished On 20 Apr 202620 Apr 2026
Negotiators from the United States are expected to arrive in Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad, for a second round of talks with Iran aimed at extending a two-week ceasefire that is set to expire on Wednesday.
The diplomatic efforts are unfolding amid sharp military escalation, hours after the US Navy intercepted and captured the Touska, a 294m (965 feet) long Iranian-flagged container ship in the Gulf of Oman.
The negotiations follow a period of heightened rhetoric, with US President Donald Trump threatening to destroy Iran and wipe out power plants and civilian infrastructure if a deal is not reached. Tehran has labelled the ship’s seizure “piracy” and has expressed uncertainty regarding its participation in the sessions while the naval blockade remains.
The current diplomatic track predates the outbreak of the US-Israel war on Iran, which began on February 28. While some figures at the table led indirect talks before the conflict, another key Iranian negotiator has been permanently silenced.
Just weeks before the war broke out, Ali Larijani, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, was engaged in indirect negotiations with Washington, mediated by Oman. Born in 1958, Larijani was widely viewed as the pragmatic face of the Iranian establishment. A mathematician and philosopher who wrote his university thesis on Immanuel Kant, he served as the country’s chief nuclear negotiator and was a bridge between the security apparatus and the political establishment. He was killed in an Israeli air attack in early March, removing one of Tehran’s most experienced strategic minds from the current diplomatic equation.
As the Wednesday deadline nears, the prospect of a lasting agreement remains deeply uncertain. Millions of people, in the Gulf and beyond, are watching how the talks play out. They also fear the escalation that could follow if Iran and the US do not reach a peace deal, and how the prospects of a prolonged conflict directly impacts their daily lives.
