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Negotiating teams from the U.S. and Iran could return to Islamabad later this week for another round of peace talks, five sources said to Reuters Tuesday, days after the highest-level talks between the two countries in decades ended without a breakthrough in the Pakistani capital.
A source involved in the talks said no date had yet been decided, but both sides could return as early as the end of the week.
“No firm date has been set, with the delegations keeping Friday through Sunday open,” a senior Iranian source said.
Pakistan has also proposed hosting a second round of talks in Islamabad in the coming days, before the end of the ceasefire, according to two Pakistani officials.
A proposal has been shared with both the U.S. and Iran to send their delegations back to Islamabad to resume the talks, the first source said.
Two Pakistani sources familiar with the discussions said Islamabad was in contact with both sides about the timing of the next round and that the meeting would likely take place over the weekend.
“We have reached out to Iran and we got a positive response that they will be open to a second round of talks,” a senior Pakistani government official said.
The two Pakistani officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly, said the proposal to host again would depend on whether the parties requested a different location.
The previous round of talks took place in Islamabad four days after last Tuesday’s ceasefire announcement.
According to the report, the meeting was the first direct encounter between U.S. and Iranian officials in more than a decade and the most senior engagement between the two countries since Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Although the talks ended without an agreement, one Pakistani official said they should be viewed as part of an ongoing diplomatic process rather than a one-off effort.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Iranian Parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Baqer Ghalibaf led their respective delegations in the previous round of talks.
The discussions covered a range of issues, including the Strait of Hormuz, which is a major transit point for global energy supplies and which Iran has effectively blocked, while the U.S. has vowed to reopen.
The talks also addressed Iran’s nuclear program and international sanctions on Tehran.
After the talks ended, Vance said the U.S. had put forward what he described as its final proposal.
“We leave here with a very simple proposal, a method of understanding that is our final and best offer,” Vance told reporters.
“We’ll see if the Iranians accept it.”
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