US vice-president meets Iranian officials in historic peace talks

United States Vice-President JD Vance met the speaker of Iran's parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, for historic face-to-face talks in Pakistan on Saturday afternoon over the ceasefire in the conflict in Iran, the White House and Iranian officials confirmed.

The negotiations mediated by Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif rank as the highest-level talks held between US and Iranian officials since Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution more than half a century ago.

Other US delegates on the trip included special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law who flew in on Saturday and met Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi for two hours, Reuters reports.

Michael Vance, special adviser to the vice-president for Asian affairs, and Andy Baker, Vance's national security adviser, are also on the trip, the White House confirmed.

The Iranian delegation includes at least 71 people, CNN reports, including Araghchi and Ghalibaf.

Iranian government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani said on state TV: "We will negotiate with our finger on the trigger. While we are open to talks, we are also fully aware of the lack of trust; therefore, Iran's diplomatic team is entering this process with maximum caution."

Vance struck a more optimistic tone on Friday, telling reporters: "I think it's going to be positive."

Tehran said on Friday that it wants to retain control of the Strait of Hormuz.

It also wants payment of war reparations, according to Iranian state TV.

US President Donald Trump wants free passage for global shipping through the strait and a reduction of Iran's nuclear enrichment program, so the nation cannot make an atomic bomb.

Trump said in a social media post on Saturday that the US had begun to clear the strait, and had sunk Iran's mine-laying ships.

"We're now starting the process of clearing out the Strait of Hormuz," Trump wrote in a Truth Social post, while he said that "all ⁠28" of Iran's "mine dropper boats are also lying at the bottom of the sea".

Axios first reported that a US official said that several US ships reportedly cleared the crucial, narrow shipping lane on Saturday, for the first time since the US-Israel war began on Feb 28. However, the move was not done in coordination with Iran.

US Central Command added that two Navy guided missile destroyers had begun clearing mines in the Strait of Hormuz, the Associated Press reports.

The USS Frank E. Peterson and USS Michael Murphy "transited the Strait of Hormuz and operated in the Arabian Gulf as part of a broader mission to ensure the strait is fully clear of sea mines previously laid by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps," CENTCOM posted on X.

In a series of conflicting reports, Iran's government criticized the move calling it a "ceasefire violation".

They then threatened to attack the ships, according to Iran's State Media. But the US said it had not received any such warning from Iran.

Iran's state-affiliated Nournews called the story "false news", Reuters reports.

Iranian state TV said that no US ships had crossed the strait.

The initial strikes in the US-Israel war with Iran took out Iran's top leaders, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and national security chief Ali Larijani.

The Iranian delegation arrived on Friday dressed in black to mourn Khamenei and others killed in the war.

The agreement to a temporary ceasefire was brokered by Pakistan on April 7 and was set to last two weeks. But it got off to a shaky start with disagreements over the reopening and closure of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran.

An Israeli assault on the Iran-backed group Hezbollah in Lebanon also threatened to derail the agreement further, with Iran accusing Israel of breaking the terms of the ceasefire, and Trump urging Israel to stop its assault.

Israel's military stopped bombing Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, on Wednesday. But further strikes have occurred in southern Lebanon, including on Saturday morning, Lebanon's state media reports.

Israel and the US have said Lebanon is not part of the Iran-US ceasefire.

The negotiations in Pakistan came after a reduction in Israeli strikes on Lebanon, AP reports.

Pakistan's Prime Minster Shehbaz Sharif dubbed the meeting between the countries a make-or-break moment.

France's President Emmanuel Macron said he had spoken with Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian to stress the importance of the talks.

The Strait of Hormuz, located between Iran and Oman is expected to take precedence in negotiations. It sees 20 percent of the world's oil supply flowing through it and its effective closure has sent global oil prices soaring.

Container ships also travel through the waterway, carrying food, medicines, and consumer goods between Asia and Europe, the US Energy Information Administration said.

The US delegation led by Vance and Iran's negotiators first met separately with mediators from Pakistan earlier in the day on Saturday.

belindarobinson@chinadailyusa.com