The Japan Times - US hopes for progress, but Iran says not direct talks

The White House said emissaries Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner would engage in an "in-person conversation" with Iranian representatives, but Iranian state media said that direct talks were not in the cards.

Despite President Donald Trump's announcement on Thursday of a three-week ceasefire extension in Lebanon, Israeli strikes in the south of the country killed six people on Friday, the Lebanese health ministry said.

While Trump expressed confidence at the prospect of a lasting peace in Lebanon, sealing a deal to end the wider Middle East war is a thornier proposition, even as urgency mounts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a vital conduit for the world's oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG).

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Witkoff and Kushner would head to Pakistan on Saturday "to engage in talks...with representatives from the Iranian delegation."

"The Iranians reached out, as the president called on them to do, and asked for this in-person conversation," Leavitt said, adding that the talks would "hopefully move the ball forward towards a deal."

Leavitt said Vice President JD Vance, who led a first round of negotiations in Islamabad two weeks ago that concluded without a deal, would not be joining for the time being, but was on "standby to fly to Pakistan if necessary."

It remained unclear late Friday whether the Iranian side would meet directly with the US envoys.

Iranian state television said Araghchi has no plans to meet with the Americans and Islamabad would serve as a bridge to "convey" Iranian proposals to end the conflict.

Pakistan's foreign ministry said Araghchi had arrived in Islamabad to discuss "ongoing efforts for regional peace and stability" with Pakistani officials, without directly referencing talks with Witkoff and Kushner.

An Iranian spokesman said Araghchi would visit Oman and Russia after the Pakistan stop to discuss efforts to end the war launched against the Islamic Republic by Israel and the United States on February 28.

- EU says opening Hormuz 'vital' -

Since the last round of talks, efforts to bring the two sides back to the table have hit an impasse, with Iran refusing to participate as long as a US naval blockade on its ports remained in place.

Iran has imposed a de facto blockade of its own on the Strait of Hormuz, allowing only a trickle of ships to pass through the vital waterway, throwing global energy markets into turmoil.

Oil prices slid on Friday amid hopes that fresh peace talks would see an end to Tehran's disruption of trade through the strait.

European Council President Antonio Costa said Friday that the strait "must immediately reopen without restrictions and without tolling."

"This is vital for the entire world," Costa said.

Major Wall Street indices closed at fresh records on Friday as markets cheered the latest batch of earnings reports and US and Iranian officials headed to Pakistan.

The United States continued meanwhile to build up its forces in the Middle East with the arrival of its third aircraft carrier in the region, the USS George H.W. Bush.

- 'Destroyed' -

Trump spoke in glowing terms on Thursday of peace prospects for Lebanon after meeting with Israeli and Lebanese envoys, voicing hope for a three-way meeting with the Lebanese and Israeli leaders.

The two countries have been officially at war for decades and until last week had not met so directly since 1993.

Mohammed Raad, the head of the Hezbollah's parliamentary bloc, urged the Lebanese government to withdraw from direct talks with Israel and warned that a lasting peace deal of the kind sought by Trump "will in no way enjoy Lebanese national consensus."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has vowed to destroy the Iran-backed movement, said: "We have started a process to reach a historic peace between Israel and Lebanon, and it's clear to us that Hezbollah is trying to sabotage this."

In south Lebanon's Tyre, Mohamad Ali Hijazi was searching a mountain of rubble for mementos of family members killed in an Israeli airstrike minutes before the ceasefire took hold.

"I'm trying to find my mother's hairbrush...and a bottle of perfume that she loves," said Hijazi, 48 -- some of the last things he sent her from France, where he has long lived with his wife and two daughters.

"My life has been destroyed. I haven't slept for five days," he told AFP, repeatedly fighting back tears.

burs/cl/jgc

T.Sasaki--JT