Pakistan hosts historic face-to-face talks between the US and Iran

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+ BETSY JOLES: So both sides met Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif separately first, and it wasn't until this evening Islamabad time that the White House confirmed that they were finally sitting down face to face to talk with each other. And these talks have been tightly controlled with very little press access, and the details that have trickled out of these meeting rooms have been hard to confirm. So what we've gathered is that both sides seem open to finding a way to end this war, but the question is how far either is willing to go to compromise to do that. And for most of the day, it wasn't even certain that the negotiators from the U.S. and Iran would meet each other directly at all. And we're still waiting to hear whether the night will bring any kind of resolution or whether these discussions will end up stretching into the coming days. SCHMITZ: So remind us of the possible sticking points here. JOLES: So the sticking points are sanctions. Iran wants sanctions to be lifted and attacks on their allies like Hezbollah in Lebanon to be stopped. But of course, Rob, Israel is the key factor here. They've been carrying out attacks in Lebanon after the initial ceasefire deal was announced earlier this week. And the Iranians all want the right to enrich uranium for what they call peaceful purposes. That could be another deal-breaker here, along with questions about who controls the Strait of Hormuz. And recently, Trump has seemed most concerned with this nuclear demand and access to the strait, which Iran agreed to reopen in its ceasefire announcement. That has not happened. SCHMITZ: You know, when we talk about venues for peace talks, we often think about places like Geneva or Vienna. How did Pakistan emerge as a place to conduct these talks? JOLES: You're right. Pakistan is not often associated with neutrality when it comes to geopolitical conflicts, but in this case, it seems to be a good fit. It has good relations with both Donald Trump and the Iranians, and it has the backing of its close partner, China. SCHMITZ: Right. And what is in it, I guess, for Pakistan to host these high stakes, you know, diplomatic events like this? JOLES: Well, of course, Pakistan also wants something out of this. They'd like to see the ceasefire hold for economic and security reasons. Obviously, the longer the gridlock persists, the more damage it does to Pakistan's economy, which has not been in good shape for some time. And there's one more thing, Rob, and that's that Pakistan's international standing could really benefit from this. I spoke with Daniel Markey from the Simpson Center in Washington, D.C., and this is what he said. DANIEL MARKEY: If we were to go put ourselves back in time a year and ask, do you think that Pakistan is going to be relevant, welcome, important, even central to U.S. diplomacy in the world, you would have been laughed out of the room. JOLES: So the close relationship between President Trump and Pakistan's prime minister and army chief has certainly played a big role in its ability to regain relevance, at least in the eyes of the U.S.. But let's not forget that it's competing in a region with its rival, India, which until very recently was much closer to the U.S. than Pakistan was. So in the past week, you can hear many Indian analysts asking the question, why Pakistan and not India? SCHMITZ: So how long are these talks likely to go and how long is Pakistan willing to stay involved in them? JOLES: The thing that has been, you know, emphasized to me during all of this is that Pakistan has a lot of levers that it can pull in this conflict. And that's in part because it has this unique, quote-unquote, "hybrid" setup with its military and civilian leaders. And so the army chief has been heavily involved in these talks, and I've been told by analysts that the national security advisor, who also happens to be the country's intelligence chief, has been, too. This shows that Pakistan is in it for the long haul, and we'll have to see whether the U.S. and Iran show signs of having the same staying power. SCHMITZ: Well, we'll keep watching. That's reporter Betsy Joles in Islamabad. Thanks, Betsy. JOLES: Thanks, Rob. Copyright &copy; 2026 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record. 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