Islamabad, June 24:
Iran’s president arrived in Pakistan for talks Tuesday with officials mediating negotiations between Tehran and Washington on a permanent end to the war in the Middle East, even as discrepancies emerged on what had been agreed so far and violence broke out again in Lebanon.
President Masoud Pezeshkian’s visit to Islamabad comes as technical teams were working on details of the deal following high-level negotiations in Switzerland Monday led by US Vice President JD Vance and Iran’s parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf.
The US and Iran were in dispute Tuesday over whether Tehran had agreed to allow UN inspectors to view bombed Iranian nuclear sites, as officials mediated talks on a permanent end to their war and violence broke out again in Lebanon.
The differing accounts came as Iran’s president met with Pakistani officials mediating negotiations and while technical teams were working on details following talks in Switzerland between the US and Iran.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei told reporters in Tehran that UN inspectors were not scheduled to examine the nuclear sites bombed by the US last year, refuting comments made a day earlier by Vance. In response, President Donald Trump posted on social media that Iran had agreed to nuclear inspections long into the future, saying that without this concession “there would be no further negotiations!”
Meanwhile, violence flared again in southern Lebanon as Israeli soldiers opened fire, killing two people. The reports of violence came after two days of calm following a ceasefire brokered on Saturday. Any renewal of heavy fighting could threaten the broader diplomatic talks, since Iran has demanded that a full truce in Lebanon be part of any comprehensive deal.
Israel occupies part of Lebanon and insists it must be able to attack militants launching attacks into northern Israel.