• Tehran seeks framework before new talks with US.
• Trump says more US-Iran talks likely this weekend.
• Iran warns of repercussions if US violates truce.
  

No date has been set for the next round of negotiations between Iran and the United States, Iran’s deputy foreign minister said on Saturday, adding that a framework of understanding must be agreed first.

The highest-level US-Iran talks since the 1979 Islamic Revolution ended in Islamabad without agreement last weekend.

US President Donald Trump has told Reuters there would probably be more direct talks this weekend, though some diplomats said that was unlikely given the logistics of convening in Islamabad, where the talks are expected to take place.

“We are now focusing on finalising the framework of understanding between the two sides. We don’t want to enter into any negotiation or meeting which is doomed to fail and which can be a pretext for another round of escalation,” Saeed Khatibzadeh told reporters on the sidelines of a diplomacy forum in the southern Turkish province of Antalya.

“Until we agree the framework, we cannot set the date… There was significant progress made, actually. But then the maximalist approach by the other side, trying to make Iran an exception from international law prevented us from reaching an agreement,” he said, referring to US demands over Iran’s nuclear programme.

“I have to be very crystal clear that Iran would not accept being an exception from international law. Anything that we are going to be committed to will be within the international regulations and international law.”

Asked about reports that Iran again closed the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday after its temporary reopening following a separate US-brokered 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon on Thursday, Khatibzadeh said Iran had announced it would allow the safe passage of commercial vessels in line with the terms of the truce.

“The other side, the American side, tried to sabotage that by saying that it is open except for Iranians. So that was the reason we said that ‘if you are going to violate the ceasefire terms and conditions, if Americans are not going to honour their words, there will be repercussions for them’,” he said.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chief of Army Staff (COAS) and Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) Field Marshal Asim Munir concluded separate visits aimed at ending the Iran war, with Field Marshal Munir leaving Tehran and premier Shehbaz headed home from Turkey.

CDF Munir met Iran’s top leadership and peace negotiators during a three-day visit to Tehran, a military’s media wing statement said on Saturday.

Egypt and Pakistan were working “very hard” as mediators to bring about “a final agreement between the United States and Iran”, Egypt´s foreign minister told journalists at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum.

Egypt and Turkey has joined diplomatic efforts with Pakistan to help secure a ceasefire in the conflict.

“We hope to do so (reach an agreement) in the coming days,” Badr Abdelatty said, noting that “not only us in the region, but the whole world is suffering from the continuation of this war”.

“We are pushing very hard in order to move forward,” he said.

Trump ‘tweets a lot’

Iran dismissed US threats of fresh military action, with the senior Iranian official saying that Washington´s statements were inconsistent.

“The American side tweets a lot, talks a lot. Sometimes confusing, sometimes, you know, contradictory,” Khatibzadeh said, referring to US President Donald Trump and his frequent social media posts.

“It is up to the American people to decide whether these statements are consistent and in accordance with international law,” he added.

Khatibzadeh said Iran’s position was clear and vowed resistance to pressure from Washington.

“What we are going to do is quite clear. We will defend heroically and patriotically (our country) … as the oldest civilisation on earth,” he said.

The deputy minister also rejected US accusations that Iran was threatening freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, a critical route for global oil shipments, after Iran’s military again declared the waterway closed.

“Americans cannot impose their will to do a siege over Iran while Iran, with good intentions, is trying to facilitate safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz,” Khatibzadeh said.

He said Iran had announced safe passage for commercial vessels for the duration of Israel-Lebanon ceasefire, provided there was prior coordination with Iranian maritime authorities.

However, Khatibzadeh accused Washington of attempting to “sabotage” those efforts.

Khodr Sahmarani stood dazed beside the rubble of his south Lebanon home, his forehead in a white bandage, staring at the wreckage where his brother, nephew, and two neighbours died.

“I was upstairs, then I was underground. I screamed ‘Where are you, where are you?’, but there was no one,” he said after surviving an Israeli airstrike on the city of Nabatiyeh just hours before the ceasefire began at midnight on Thursday night.

The afternoon attack flattened what residents say was a five-storey building, creating a jumble of shattered concrete in the battered city.

Nabatiyeh rescuer Mohammad Sleiman told AFP they recovered one body from the strike site on Thursday night, and another three on Friday morning.

Sahmarani, 57, said rescuers “came and took me out of the rubble”.

Israel and Lebanon agreed to a 10-day ceasefire on Thursday in order to negotiate an end to six weeks of war between Israel and the Iran-backed group Hezbollah.

The conflict saw massive Israeli airstrikes across Lebanon and also a ground invasion in the south.

Lebanese authorities say the war that began on March 2 has killed nearly 2,300 people, and caused widespread devastation in southern towns and cities such as Nabatiyeh.

President Joseph Aoun said on Friday that “direct negotiations” with Israel “are crucial, and that the government aims to “consolidate a ceasefire, secure the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the occupied southern territories, recover prisoners, and address outstanding border disputes”.

Hezbollah halted military operations after the ceasefire came into effect, but warned that it was keeping its “finger on the trigger” in case Israel violated the truce.

‘For whose sake?’

Nabatiyeh’s streets were almost empty on Friday, and countless buildings in the city centre have been damaged or destroyed.

A few kilometres outside the city, a small group of Hezbollah supporters cheered on the trickle of cars coming from the direction of Beirut, flashing victory signs and waving the party’s yellow flag.

Deadly Israeli strikes were reported up to the final few minutes before the midnight Thursday deadline agreed upon by the two governments.

“It was the last hours. If it was the beginning of the war, the middle of the war, one can come to terms with it, but it was the last hours,” Sahmarani said, his eyes bloodshot and tearful.

Fadel Hassan Zahri, a neighbour, said the people who were killed had been “lifelong friends of mine”.

“I wouldn’t eat without them, I wouldn’t drink without them.”

Zahri said he was appalled by the government’s willingness to negotiate potential peace and normalisation with Israel.

“We’ve been honourable all our lives… we do not normalise with Israel.”

Sahmarani said he has nowhere else to go and would probably crawl back into the rubble of his home at night and find a ledge or somewhere to lay his head.

“Where should I go now? Who will even look at me?” he asked, adding that he distrusted the Lebanese authorities.

“Let our leaders normalise; no one will listen to them and no one recognises them.

“For whose sake? For whose sake am I supposed to lose all of this?”

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday held a bilateral meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the sidelines of the 5th Antalya Diplomacy Forum.

According to a statement released by the Prime Minister’s Office, during the warm and cordial meeting, President Erdogan welcomed PM Shehbaz to Turkiye and thanked him for attending the Antalya Diplomacy Forum.

The meeting comes a day after the premier reached Turkiye on the third leg of his tri-nation tour after concluding visits to Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

During his visit to Riyadh and Doha, PM Shehbaz held meetings with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.

The Turkish president, during the meeting with PM Shehbaz on the sidelines of the diplomacy forum earlier today, praised the prime minister’s peace efforts and said Turkiye would continue to support Pakistan’s diplomatic initiative to bring peace to the region.

The prime minister thanked President Erdogan for his warm invitation and traditional Turkish hospitality extended to him and his delegation during his stay in Antalya.

He congratulated the Turkish president on the success of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum, which he said had transformed into an important global event.

The two leaders exchanged views on recent regional developments, particularly the evolving situation in the Middle East. PM Shehbaz thanked Erdogan for his strong support and encouragement of Pakistan’s peace efforts and shared with him the updates on how to extend the ceasefire and resume talks so that a peace agreement could be reached.

The two leaders also emphasised the importance of effectively utilising the current window of opportunity to advance a durable and lasting regional peace.

While reaffirming the deep-rooted, historic, and brotherly ties between Pakistan and Turkiye, both leaders expressed satisfaction at the positive trajectory of bilateral relations. They agreed to convene the 8th High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council (HLSCC) meeting in Ankara later this year.

The two leaders emphasised the importance of expediting the implementation of ongoing initiatives and exploring new opportunities to further deepen economic engagement.

The meeting concluded with both leaders reaffirming their resolve to further strengthen the strategic partnership between Pakistan and Türkiye, building on fraternal ties and a shared vision for peace and prosperity.

The meeting was attended by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Minister for Information Ataullah Tarar and other senior officials.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and other senior Turkish officials were also present.

PM meets world leaders on sidelines of diplomacy forum

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif held a series of meetings with world leaders on the sidelines of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum.

During the interactions, the prime minister met Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev, and Syria’s President Ahmed al-Sharaa.

He also held meetings with Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, as well as former Kosovo president Vjosa Osmani.