Iran-US struggle newest: Vance warns Tehran ‘not to play us’ as he leaves for high-stakes peace talks in Islamabad

Islamabad entered a state of lockdown on Friday as Pakistan’s capital prepared to host high-stakes negotiations to end the US-Israeli war on Iran.

Army and paramilitary personnel guarded the roads around Serena Hotel, the venue of the talks, as police beefed up security across the city. On Wednesday, the luxury hotel’s management had asked its guests to check out by 5pm as the government had requisitioned the property for an “important event from this evening until Sunday”.

Pakistan’s political and military leaders achieved a major diplomatic breakthrough by mediating a ceasefire between the US and Iran early on Wednesday. The ceasefire was declared less than two hours before the deadline on US president Donald Trump’s threat to obliterate a “whole civilisation” if Iran did not open the Strait of Hormuz, a critical maritime route that usually carries a fifth of the global supply of oil and gas.

Arpan Rai reports:

Diesel and jet fuel shortages will be ongoing “for some time” due and there will be lasting economic damage even if the Iran war ceasefire holds, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned.

Up to a fifth of total global oil usually passes through the Strait of Hormuz, but with the key shipping route for oil and gas still effectively closed, despite a ceasefire deal being agreed, less than 10 per cent of pre-war transit is getting through.

Prices have soared by more than 40 per cent since the war began, and the cost of Brent crude oil has spiked several times, sending it close to $120 a barrel during the worst days of the conflict. On Friday morning, it sits at $97.60, up 1.8 per cent.

An Iranian delegation is expected to arrive in Islamabad late on April 9 ahead of Pakistan-brokered talks with the United States, Iran’s envoy said.

Pakistan has been preparing for talks involving representatives from the US and Iran over the Mideast war, with the White House saying vice president JD Vance would lead negotiations in Islamabad “this weekend”.

The discussions will take place at the Serena Hotel in the country’s capital.

Vice president JD Vance has spoken to press as he sets off for crucial negotiations between the US and Iran in Islamabad.

“We’re looking forward to negotiation. I think it’s going to be positive,” he said on Friday.

“As the President of the United States said, if the Iranians are willing to negotiate in good faith, we’re certainly willing to extend the open hand.

“If they’re going to try to play us, then they’re going to find the negotiating team is not that receptive.

“So we’re going to try to have a positive negotiation. The President gave us some pretty clear guidelines, and we’re going to see.”

The Consumer Price Index for March revealed that inflation is up 3.3 percent compared to this time last year, meaning prices are 3.3 percent higher year-over-year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Prices leapt 0.9 percent from February, three times the pace seen in January.

Economists had been bracing for a significant uptick in inflation as a result of the Middle East conflict, which began when the U.S. and Israel launched joint strikes on Iran on February 28.

Brendan Rascius reports:

Benjamin Netanyahu is facing a domestic backlash over the Pakistan-brokered two-week ceasefire deal with Iran, with critics accusing him of presiding over “the worst political disaster in history”.

The Israeli prime minister is facing an onslaught from parties across the country’s political spectrum for not continuing the conflict, although Tel Aviv was not involved in the peace talks.

There is also a growing international outcry over ongoing Israeli strikes on Lebanon, which, as of Thursday, have killed 1,700 people including 130 children. Western countries have insisted that Lebanon must be part of the ceasefire, while Tehran has claimed that attacks on the country represent a “grave violation” of the agreement.

Just a day after Donald Trump floated the idea of turning the Strait of Hormuz into a “joint” tollbooth to enrich the US and Iran, the British government revealed that a joint operation with Norway had been undertaken to protect Nato’s northern flank.

The move, combined with a visit this week by Keir Starmer to the Arabian Gulf, is the latest sign that even Europe’s Anglo-Saxons are pulling away from Washington. The UK and its allies are determined to defend the alliances and principles of international law that the US president and his deputy are keen to destroy.

John Healey, the defence secretary, revealed that a British frigate and spy planes had been involved in monitoring two Russian spy submarines and an attack sub as they surveyed undersea cables and pipelines in the High North, the strategically vital region encompassing the Arctic Circle and the North Atlantic.

The Independent’s world affairs editor Sam Kiley reports:

UK prime minister Keir Starmer held a call with US president Donald Trump on Thursday in which he discussed the views of the Gulf states amid the US-Iran crisis.

“I had a discussion with president Trump last night and set out to him the views of the region here, these Gulf states are the neighbours of Iran, and therefore, if the ceasefire is to hold – and we hope it will – it has to involve them,” he said from Qatar on Friday.

“They have very strong views on the Strait of Hormuz. We spent most of the time on the call talking about the practical plan that’s going to be needed to get navigation through the strait and the role that the UK is playing.”