A high-level Iranian delegation landed in Islamabad on Friday night for the scheduled ceasefire talks with the USA as the 6-week war reached a fragile pause. The talks are scheduled to take place in the Serena Hotel in Islamabad, mediated by Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif and Pakistani Army chief Asim Munir.
The Iranian side, led by Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, and other officials arrived in a aircraft that paid tribute to the children of minab school, who were killed in a missile strike by USA on February 28. The damaged school bags and shoes of some of the deceased children were kept on the seats, along with a rose for each child, paying a sombre tribute to the innocent victims of war.
Iranian High-Level delegation which landed in Pakistan for Islamabad talks gave a heartfelt tribute to young children killed in American airstrikes in Minab Elementary School in Iran and other attacks. Blood-soaked school bags and footwear with photos for the world to see. 💔 pic.twitter.com/aaHN3mt9ki
— Aditya Raj Kaul (@AdityaRajKaul) April 11, 2026
On April 9, Iran held a remembrance event for the 168 people, mostly children, killed in the Minab school missile strike, marking 40 days since the incident, and the start of the war.
Iran has marked 40 days since a US-Israeli air strike on a girls' school in Minab killed 168 people, mostly children.
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) April 10, 2026
An event was held to grieve and commemorate them at their gravesites. pic.twitter.com/M40AjJ0Tik
From the US side, the delegation will be led by Vice President JD Vance, along with CENTCOM chief Brad Cooper, special envoy Steve Witkoff and Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.
The talks are surrounded with much hostility and uncertainty as Iran, USA and Israel express much disagreements over the terms and conditions of the ceasefire. Israel refuses to include Lebanon in the ceasefire deal, while Iran has insisted that Lebanon needs to be a part of any ceasefire.
“Two of the measures mutually agreed upon between the parties have yet to be implemented: a ceasefire in Lebanon and the release of Iran’s blocked assets prior to the commencement of negotiations. These two matters must be fulfilled before negotiations begin”, Ghalibaf had posted just before arriving in Islamabad.
