US and Iranian officials meet face-to-face in Islamabad ceasefire talks
ISLAMABAD, (AP):- Iran’s state-run news agency said three-party talks with the U.S., Iran and Pakistan started Saturday after a reduction in Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon and other Iran preconditions were met. The talks came after U.S. and Iranian officials met separately with Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
Negotiations between Israel and Lebanon are expected next week in Washington. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday he had approved direct talks, while Lebanese President Joseph Aoun’s office said Friday that negotiations between Israel and Lebanon are expected to begin Tuesday. Attacks intensified Friday between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. At least 1,953 people in Lebanon have been killed by Israeli strikes, according to Lebanon’s heath ministry.
Stocks have wavered on Wall Street, and oil prices eased ahead of planned talks. The U.S. government reported the biggest spike in inflation in four years as prices at the gas pump jumped.
Tehran’s control of the Strait of Hormuz, where ships carrying much of the world’s traded oil have bottlenecked, has proved a strategic advantage, but U.S. President Donald Trump said this was the nation’s only leverage.
