Pakistan to host US-Iran ceasefire talks on Friday

Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Wednesday that Islamabad would host delegations from the United States and Iran later this week following their ceasefire announcement.

"I... extend deepest gratitude to the leadership of both the countries and invite their delegations to Islamabad on Friday, 10th April 2026, to further negotiate for a conclusive agreement to settle all disputes," he said in a post on X.

Pakistan, which has forged a close relationship with US President Donald Trump and is sensitive to developments in neighbouring Iran, has emerged as a channel for messaging between Tehran and Washington in recent weeks.

"We earnestly hope, that the 'Islamabad Talks' succeed in achieving sustainable peace and wish to share more good news in coming days," Sharif said.

Both Tehran and Washington said they had agreed to a two-week ceasefire barely an hour before Trump's deadline to obliterate Iran was set to expire.

The war began when Israel and the United States launched strikes on Iran that killed its supreme leader on February 28, sparking retaliatory attacks from Tehran on Gulf nations and Israel.

Lebanon has also been drawn into the conflict after Iran-backed group Hezbollah launched attacks on Israel, which has since carried out strikes, including on the capital, and launched a ground operation in the south of the country.

Sharif said the ceasefire applied "everywhere" including Lebanon, though Israel later said it would not stop its aerial and ground operations there against Hezbollah militants.

The temporary ceasefire came after a down-to-the-wire bid by Pakistan and other mediators to avert Trump's threat to destroy all power plants and bridges across Iran, a move that legal experts said could constitute a war crime.

Turkey and Egypt had also been helping mediate in recent days. China helped get Iran to the negotiating table, Trump told AFP on Wednesday.

Sharif, in a separate X post, said China, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Egypt and Qatar had all provided "support towards reaching the ceasefire and giving peaceful diplomatic efforts a chance".

The Pakistani leader also thanked Arab Gulf nations for their "commitment to peace and stability in the region".

Despite trading missile fire with Iran two years ago and holding an at-times rocky relationship with the United States, Pakistan currently shares warm ties with both countries.

That helped boost its moderating credentials, burnished by its strong bonds with heavyweight regional players, including Saudi Arabia and Beijing.

Pakistan is home to the world's second-biggest Shia Muslim population after Iran -- with which it shares a 900-kilometre (560-mile) border -- and represents some Iranian diplomatic interests in Washington where Tehran has no embassy.