Iran president visits Pakistan after U.S. talks

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian headed to Pakistan on Tuesday as negotiators worked through the details of a proposed 60-day diplomatic process aimed at ending the war involving Iran, the United States and Israel.

The visit to Islamabad follows high-level talks in Burgenstock, Switzerland, led by U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Iran’s parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf. Pakistan and Qatar, which have mediated between Tehran and Washington, said the talks produced a roadmap toward a final agreement.

Pezeshkian is scheduled to meet Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Senate Chairman Yousaf Raza Gilani, National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, and Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar also will meet the Iranian leader. The two sides are expected to discuss the Switzerland talks and cooperation on trade, energy, border security and regional connectivity.

NPR reported that the trip is Pezeshkian’s first visit to Islamabad since the conflict began with U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran on Feb. 28. Al Jazeera reported that it is his first overseas trip since those attacks, while also describing it as his second visit to Pakistan as president.

Ahead of the meetings, Pezeshkian urged caution over public characterizations of the negotiations. “The effectiveness of the talks depends on full commitment to the agreed obligations and their precise implementation,” he wrote on X. “Progress on this path will be measured by practical adherence to accepted responsibilities. Statements outside the agreed text do not help advance the negotiations.”

Iranian state news agency IRNA reported that technical talks have produced specific negotiation groups focused on sanctions relief, nuclear issues, reconstruction and monitoring. Kazem Gharibabadi, a deputy foreign minister leading Iran’s technical team, said participants also created contact mechanisms on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and on fighting in Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah.

Washington and Tehran have not described the emerging deal in identical terms. Vance said the Switzerland talks produced an agreement for the International Atomic Energy Agency to inspect Iranian nuclear sites bombed by the United States last year. In Tehran, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said no visits by the U.N. watchdog to those sites have been scheduled. The IAEA has operated in Iran since Israel’s 12-day war against Iran in 2025 but has not received access to the bombed enrichment sites targeted by the United States, NPR reported.

The proposed Lebanon mechanism is also uncertain. Pakistan and Qatar said a de-confliction cell including the Lebanese government would “ensure the adherence of the termination of military operations in Lebanon.” But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said late Monday that Israel’s military retains “full freedom of action to thwart any direct or emerging threat to them or to the residents of the north.”

Neither Israel nor Hezbollah has signed the U.S.-Iran arrangement. Netanyahu has said Israeli forces will remain in southern Lebanon until threats to Israel are eliminated, while Hezbollah has refused to stop attacks unless Israel commits to withdrawing. President Donald Trump, asked about Netanyahu’s comments, said, “we’re going to take a look at it,” adding: “I’m a problem solver, I get problems solved real fast, including with Bibi.”

NPR reported that a renewed ceasefire in Lebanon, brokered on Saturday, appeared to be holding overnight with no new Israeli or Hezbollah strikes. Lebanon and Israel planned another round of direct talks in Washington on Tuesday focused on a possible Israeli withdrawal plan.

Analysts told Al Jazeera that Pezeshkian’s Pakistan visit carries political weight. “The fact that Pezeshkian is going to Islamabad immediately after signing the MoU tells us that he needs to convert this fragile agreement into political capital – at home, within the state, across the region, and internationally,” said Reza Khanzadeh, a Middle East analyst and professor at George Mason University. “He needs this visit more than Pakistan does.”