US-Iran Islamabad Talks Stretch Past 15 Hours

US-Iran negotiations stretched into a second day in Islamabad on Sunday, with a White House official telling US media the talks had run '15 hours and counting.' Expert-level committees covering economic, military, legal, and nuclear issues exchanged written texts following in-person sessions at the Serena Hotel, marking the most substantive direct engagement between the two governments in years. The US delegation is led by Vice President JD Vance, accompanied by Jared Kushner and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff; Iran's delegation is led by Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, with Supreme National Defence Council Secretary Ali Akbar Ahmadian and central bank governor Abdolnaser Hemmati also present. The talks take place inside a two-week ceasefire Pakistan brokered on April 8, pausing a US-Israeli war against Iran that began February 28. Iran entered with preconditions, a halt to Israeli strikes in Lebanon and release of approximately $7 billion in frozen assets, with Tehran conditioning continued participation on both. Core gaps remain wide: the US seeks enrichment limits and nuclear material removal; Iran demands full sanctions relief, recognition of nuclear rights, Strait of Hormuz navigation guarantees, and frozen fund access. Officials and analysts caution that a substantive breakthrough within the two-day window is unlikely, with the more realistic outcome being a framework for continued talks.