After days of contradictory signals, public denials, seized ships, Hormuz firefights, and escalating ultimatums from both sides, the most important fact of Wednesday has just been confirmed: both delegations are heading to Islamabad.
Pakistan-led mediators received confirmation that the top negotiators — US Vice President JD Vance and Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf — will arrive in Islamabad early Wednesday to lead their teams in the talks, regional officials told the Associated Press. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief reporters.
The same two figures who faced each other across the Serena Hotel table ten days ago — and left without a deal after 21 hours — are returning to the same city, to the same mediation framework, on the day the ceasefire formally expires.
What Pakistan Has Put in Place
The arrangements appear stricter than those put in place during the first round of talks held in Islamabad on April 11 and 12, suggesting the possibility of high-level participation if negotiations make progress, said Syed Mohammad Ali, an Islamabad-based security analyst.
Pakistan tightened security in the capital before the possible talks, locking down parts of the city and deploying 20,000 security personnel — double the 10,000 deployed for round one.
The Target: An MoU, Not a Final Deal
Unlike the first round of talks, Pakistan has been aiming to get the US and Iran to agree to multiple days of negotiations, until a temporary deal — mediators are calling it a memorandum of understanding (MoU) — is signed, effectively extending the ceasefire. If the MoU is agreed, it would give negotiators a longer window — even up to 60 days — to secure a longer peace deal.
This is a critical distinction. The goal of Wednesday’s session is not to solve the nuclear question, resolve Hormuz governance, agree on sanctions relief, or settle the $270 billion in Iranian damage claims. The goal is simply to extend the diplomatic window — to buy the time that the deeper negotiations require without the existential pressure of an imminent ceasefire expiry.
What Iran Is Saying Even As It Shows Up
Iran’s government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani said Iran’s defense forces are “in full readiness” and they are “negotiating with our finger on the trigger.” “We do not want to come under renewed attacks, but if such attacks occur, we will certainly respond more forcefully than before,” she said.
Iran’s chief negotiator Ghalibaf said that Tehran has “new cards on the battlefield” that haven’t yet been revealed — a warning that Iran’s military position, while damaged by the war, is not as depleted as the US claims.
The Stakes
The ceasefire formally expires today — Wednesday, April 22, in Iran. The two delegations arriving this morning in Islamabad are the world’s best remaining hope that Wednesday becomes the day the war paused, rather than the day it resumed.
A ceasefire that began April 8 was set to expire Wednesday. Both sides remain dug in rhetorically. US President Donald Trump has warned that “lots of bombs” will “start going off” if there’s no agreement before the ceasefire deadline. The ceasefire could be extended if talks resume, though Trump said in an interview Tuesday with CNBC: “Well, I don’t want to do that.”
What he wants and what he authorises are not always the same thing. The delegations are on the ground. Pakistan’s mediators are in the room. The next 24 hours will tell the story.
