Iran’s International Minister Abbas Araghchi landed in Islamabad on Friday night to open the long-delayed second spherical of talks with the US, and particular envoy Steve Witkoff and senior adviser Jared Kushner are due in on Saturday morning. The optics level to a breakthrough, however the substance is thinner than the headline suggests.
Each side have left their lead negotiators at residence, Tehran is routing its peace phrases by means of Pakistani mediators reasonably than handing them over instantly, and Araghchi’s onward stops in Muscat and Moscow are reviving a standing Russian provide to take custody of Iran’s 450-kilogram enriched Uranium stockpile, a proposal President Donald Trump has already rejected as soon as. The query heading into the weekend isn’t what these talks will produce, however whether or not they’re actually talks in any respect.
The choreography with out the counterparts
White Home press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed the US journey on Fox Information, framing it as direct talks mediated by Pakistan. What she didn’t flag is that Vice President JD Vance, who led the US delegation within the April 11 to 12 spherical, is staying residence. Iran’s parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, seen by the White Home as Vance’s counterpart, can be absent. Each side have stripped the assembly of its lead negotiators, which isn’t how governments behave when a deal is shut.
Tehran’s fastidiously deniable pitch
Iran’s state information company IRNA described the go to as strictly bilateral. Araghchi echoed the framing on X with the road “our neighbors are our precedence.” Reuters studies that Tehran will hand its peace phrases to Pakistani mediators for onward relay to the US, preserving the fiction that no direct session is happening. That’s helpful cowl at residence, the place any public concession to Washington is political poison, notably for the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) faction that backed Ghalibaf in April.
The Moscow card
The a part of the tour that ought to focus minds in Washington is the Russia leg. Iran is holding roughly 450 kilograms of 60%-enriched Uranium, convertible to weapons grade inside weeks. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has repeatedly confirmed that Russia’s provide to take custody, first floated by President Vladimir Putin in March and rejected by President Donald Trump, stays open. Rosatom CEO Alexey Likhachev stated this month that Moscow is able to help. A Russian switch removes the casus belli and not using a US-branded give up.
Why Trump stated no, and why the issue hasn’t gone away
Trump turned down the March provide on leverage grounds. Handing Moscow custody of weapons-usable Uranium whereas Washington is contesting Ukraine can be a strategic present, and Trump has acknowledged Russia is aiding Iran within the struggle. US Secretary of Protection Pete Hegseth stated this week that Washington has a spread of choices, together with voluntary Iranian give up, however Tehran’s overseas ministry has already described its Uranium as sacred. Washington needs the stockpile secured, simply not in Russia.
What to observe this weekend
Saturday’s session is unlikely to provide a public breakthrough. Pakistani mediators will attempt to bridge the Strait of Hormuz blockade and sanctions reduction, with Araghchi’s proposal as the start line. If he flies to Moscow on Monday with an empty briefcase, the Russian path sharpens and Oil danger premia keep elevated. If he leaves Islamabad with a framework, the ceasefire holds. What seems to be like a resumption of talks is, for now, a staged trade with out lead negotiators, and Iran’s fallback possibility is sitting on a tarmac in Moscow.
