A renewed diplomatic push is under way to revive talks between the United States and Iran amid a fragile two-week ceasefire agreed last week following nearly six weeks of fighting in the US-Israeli war on Iran.The truce, which expires on April 22, has created a small window for negotiations to end the war, which has killed more than 4,000 people across the Middle East, overwhelmingly in Iran and Lebanon.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of listThe first round of talks was held on Saturday in Islamabad under Pakistani mediation, but failed to secure an understanding or agreement between Tehran and Washington.Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is on tour this week, making a flurry of stops including in Saudi Arabia and Turkiye, to shore up support for the process and prevent a return to all-out war.Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump says the war is “very close to being over” and has signalled that a second round of talks could resume within days, again potentially in the Pakistani capital.Here is what we know about the latest mediation efforts:What happened in the first round?The first round of high-level talks took place in Islamabad on April 11 and 12, and marked the most significant direct engagement between the US and Iran in decades.Mediated by Pakistan, the talks lasted more than 20 hours and included both indirect and direct exchanges between delegations led by US Vice President JD Vance and senior Iranian officials.According to reports, the discussions focused on several core issues, including Iran’s nuclear programme, sanctions relief, Iran’s frozen assets, and control of the Str …
