Lyse Doucet
Chief international correspondent

If and when a photograph is taken of US Vice President JD Vance standing next to Iran's Parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf in Islamabad this weekend, it will make history.

That moment would mark the highest-level face-to-face talks between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States of America since the 1979 Islamic Revolution shattered their strong strategic bond and cast a long shadow which still darkens relations to this day.

The two men may not smile. They may not even shake hands.

It would not make this troubled relationship any more easy, any less hostile.

But it would send a signal that both sides want to try to end a war sending shocks worldwide, avoid an even riskier escalation, and turn to diplomacy to do a deal.

There's zero chance though of President Donald Trump's optimistic prediction of a "peace deal" within this shaky two-week ceasefire; its terms were contested and broken since the moment it was announced earlier this week.

Even until the eleventh hour, Iranians kept everyone guessing over whether they would still show up while Israel was insisting there would be no ceasefire in Lebanon.

But if serious and sustained talks make a start, it would also mark the most significant push since Trump pulled out of the previous landmark nuclear deal in 2018, during his first term. He dismissed what was widely seen as the foreign policy highlight of the Obama administration as the "worst deal in history".

Read more here from our Chief International Correspondent Lyse Douset who is reporting in Islamabad.

We're going to be moving our live coverage of the peace talks here. Follow along as we bring you the latest.

Israel has agreed to start formal peace talks with Lebanese representatives during talks in Washington next week but says they will not discuss a ceasefire with Hezbollah, Israel's ambassador to the US said on Friday.

"Israel refused to discuss a ceasefire with the Hezbollah terrorist organization, which continues to attack Israel and is the main obstacle to peace between the two countries," says Israeli Ambassador to the US Michael Leiter.

A call reportedly took place today between the Lebanese and Israeli ambassadors in the US.

The discussions planned on Tuesday, and mediated by the US, are said to be centered around a ceasefire in the Israel-Lebanon conflict, according to a statement from the Lebanese president's office.

The Iranian delegation, who arrived in Pakistan earlier, flew for the peace talks aboard a flight named after the Iranian girls' school that was struck on the first day of the war, according to the Iranian government.

Flight "Minab 168" honours the 168 people, mostly children, who Iranian officials say were killed in a 28 February missile strike that destroyed the Shajareh Tayyebeh girls' elementary school in Minab, Iran.

Media reports indicate that American military investigators believe US forces were likely responsible for hitting the school unintentionally. US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth previously said the matter was being investigated.

After landing in Pakistan earlier, Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf posted a picture on X that shows photographs of four children placed on seats on the aircraft, each resting above a child's backpack and a flower.

"My companions on this flight," Ghalibaf says in his post.

Image source, Reuters

The Iranian delegation has arrived in Islamabad ahead of scheduled peace talks with the US on Saturday.

Here are the key things you need to know before the discussions:

Pakistan has been acting as intermediary between Iran and the US over the last few weeks. It has a historic relationship with Iran while US President Donald Trump says the head of Pakistan's armed forces, Asim Munir, knows Iran "better than most".

Trump said the US had received a 10-point proposal from Iran which he described as "a workable basis on which to negotiate".

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi also mentioned a 15-point proposal that Trump's chief negotiators have said could end the conflict.

Neither set of proposals has been formally unveiled – even though reported versions of both have been leaked - but appear to be oceans apart, our diplomatic correspondent reports.

Israel's strikes on Lebanon continue to cast doubt on peace talks. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted the ceasefire does not apply to Lebanon, and on Wednesday, its military bombed targets across the country, leaving more then 300 people dead, according to the Lebanese health ministry.

On Friday evening, Lebanon said they would discuss a ceasefire with Israel next week in Washington.

US Vice-President JD Vance is on his way to Islamabad to represent the US in the discussions, along with special envoy Steve Witkoff and Donald Trump's son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner.

Ghoncheh Habibiazad
Senior reporter, BBC Persian

The Iranian delegation includes Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who has recently emerged as a prominent figure in the Iranian government. He is heading the delegation, but in his recent posts on X, he has expressed Iran’s distrust of the US.

There were also unconfirmed reports during the recent war that the US administration was considering Ghalibaf as a potential partner and possibly even a future leader.

Another figure is Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, a key player in the Iran-US nuclear negotiations over Iran’s long-disputed nuclear programme, which has led to Western sanctions. The latest round of negotiations was held two days before the war began.

Another figure is Abdolnaser Hemmati, governor of the central bank. Iran has signalled that one of its demands is the lifting of all economic sanctions on the country, which have crippled its economy for years

The current state of Iran’s economy is worse than before the war began, with the consequences of US and Israeli attacks on major industries such as steel and petrochemicals starting to emerge, as well as the effects of a government-imposed internet outage on businesses.

The outage has remained in place since the start of the war on 28 February.

Image source, Getty Images

We just heard from President Donald Trump, who spoke to reporters while boarding a plane on his way to Charlottesville, Virginia.

When asked what he said to Vice President JD Vance before he flew to Islamabad for ceasefire talks, Trump says, "I wished him luck".

He adds that he's not sure whether the US-Iran talks will be one and done, or if they will continue in the weeks to come. Asked if there was a back-up plan, he says "you don't need a back-up plan".

Another journalist asked what a good deal with Iran would look like to him.

"No nuclear weapon," he says, noting he feels regime change has already happened.

He also says the Strait of Hormuz will open "with or without" Iranian cooperation, though he says that the US doesn't need it.

"We will have that open fairly soon," he says.

The president is asked about reports that Iran would toll ships that pass through the Strait, and he replies "we're not going to let that happen".

Carine Torbey
BBC Arabic correspondent, in Beirut

As we were at the site of a massive Israeli strike in Beirut, the Minister of Interior Ahmad Hajjar was visiting. He tells me that a ceasefire is a main request of Lebanon.

"The goal is the ceasefire. Whatever is required, even going to the far end of the world, we are ready to do it in order to get security, peace and stability for our country," he says.

"We are working very seriously on a diplomatic path," Hajjar says.

The site the minister was visiting is one of several that Israel struck on Wednesday in what was one of the most intense series of Israeli attacks on the country.

The BBC understands that Lebanese authorities would only participate in direct negotiations with Israel if there is a ceasefire in place beforehand.

We've recently learned that the US will mediate talks between representatives from Lebanon and Israel in Washington on Tuesday. Those talks would "seek an announcement on a ceasefire and a date to begin direct negotiations", Lebanon President Joseph Aoun's office said in a statement.

Israel and Lebanon will start talks on Tuesday in Washington to discuss a ceasefire in the Israel-Hezbollah conflict, according to a statement from the Lebanese president's office.

The US will mediate the conversation.

The two countries will meet at the US State Department "to seek an announcement on a ceasefire and a date to begin direct negotiations", President Joseph Aoun's office wrote.

A call reportedly took place on Friday between the Lebanese and Israeli ambassadors in the US, along with the US ambassador to Lebanon, to organise the conversation.

Image source, Reuters

Peace talks between the US and Iran in Islamabad on Saturday will be a "make or break" moment for a resolution to the war, Pakistan's prime minister says.

In a televised national address, Shehbaz Sharif said representatives from both countries would be in Islamabad to start talks on Saturday.

Sharif said the summit was a proud moment not just for Pakistan, but for the "Muslim world".

Ghoncheh Habibiazad and Jake Horton
BBC Persian and BBC News

Iranian state media has reported that Iran's negotiation delegation has arrived in Islamabad ahead of this weekend's peace talks with the US.

Iran state TV’s Telegram channel said the delegation is headed by Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, Iranian Parliament Speaker.

He is reportedly accompanied by Abbas Araghchi, Iran's Foreign Minister, Ali Akbar Ahmadian, Secretary of the Defence Council, Abdolnaser Hemmati, Governor of the Central Bank, as well as several members of the Iranian parliament.

The two planes linked to the Iranian government that we have been tracking - IRAN04 and IRAN05 - have now both landed at an airfield near Pakistan's capital, according to flight-tracking site Flightradar24.

We reported earlier that the planes left Iran and flew over Afghanistan and into Pakistan.

As US Vice-President makes his way to Pakistan to lead the US delegation for talks with Iran, Air Force Two has landed in Paris for a planned fuel stop.

The White House press pool says the flight over was "uneventful," and the press cabin saw no visitors.

Vance left the US about eight hours ago, and said he was "looking forward" to the negotiations.

Joe Pike
Political correspondent

Officials from 41 countries will meet next week as part of UK-led efforts to help open the Strait of Hormuz.

The meeting will be led by the British foreign office's political director, and follows Yvette Cooper roundtable with more than 40 foreign ministers last week.

"We are pushing very hard for a mechanism to reopen the strait," a government source tells me.

"Because we have such a massive diplomatic footprint and have good relations with mid-level and smaller nations, we can help coordinate the efforts."

Iran's preconditions give some indication of complexities of talkspublished at 20:21 BST 10 April

20:21 BST 10 April

Paul Adams
Diplomatic correspondent

The preconditions raised by the man leading Iran’s delegation – a ceasefire in Lebanon and the unfreezing of billions of dollars of Iranian assets – give some indication of the complexities now facing the negotiators.

The nuclear issue is the biggest, and the oldest, lying at the root of the west’s long-standing concerns about Iran. The regime insists it has never tried to develop a bomb, but since Donald Trump withdrew from a previous, meticulously negotiated nuclear deal, eight years ago, Iran has enriched uranium way beyond what it might need for a civil programme.

The US wants Iran to hand over what it has – a problem, as it’s thought to lie under the rubble of a facility near Isfahan – and commit to never pursuing a nuclear weapon. Iran says its right to enrich is non-negotiable.

Then the Strait of Hormuz – not a problem before this war, but now one of Iran’s most potent weapons.

Having established a choke hold on one of the world’s most important waterways, Iran wants to put in place a whole new set of rules governing maritime traffic, possibly involving the right to inspect shipping, impose tolls or simply deny access.

That, for much of the world, especially the countries of the Gulf, is a non-starter. The problems don’t stop there. Israel and the United States want to end what they see as Iran’s malign regional influence. Iran wants the complete lifting of all international sanctions and compensation for the damage inflicted over the past month.

Having been attacked twice in the past year when it thought it was still negotiating, it also wants guarantees that this won’t happen again.

No-one really thinks any of these issues are going to be resolved in Islamabad. Given how fragile the situation is ahead of the talks, most people will be happy simply to see the ceasefire survive.

We can bring you a bit more now on the call between Keir Starmer and his Pakistani counterpart Muhammad Shebaz Sharif.

Starmer thanked Sharif for his "critical role" in securing a two-week ceasefire in the Middle East, Downing Street has said in the last few moments.

The No 10 statement adds: "They agreed that the upcoming talks were vital to progress the ceasefire towards lasting peace and to ensure the full reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.

"Recognising that it was still early days, the Prime Minister was clear that the UK was supportive of this process and hoped it would pave the way to a long-term resolution of the conflict."

Ghoncheh Habibiazad and Jake Horton
BBC Persian and BBC News

Image source, Flightradar24

We're now going to return to our coverage of the upcoming ceasefire talks between the US and Iran in Islamabad this weekend.

Two planes linked to the Iranian government have left Iran and are heading towards Islamabad, according to flight-tracking site Flightradar24.

Peace talks are due to take place in Pakistan's capital Islamabad between the US and Iran over the weekend.

One of the planes - call sign IRAN04 - departed from the northern city of Gorgan at around 17:00GMT. Usually, Iranian official aircrafts depart from Tehran's Mehrabad airport, but the airport has been targeted a number of times during the recent war.

Both aircraft - IRAN04 and IRAN05 - have flown over Afghanistan, and are now heading towards Islamabad.

We're yet to see reports on Iranian outlets that the country's delegation has arrived in Pakistan's capital for the talks.

Carine Torbey
BBC Arabic correspondent, in Beirut

Shop owners have described how they were left fearing for their lives after a series of strikes in the capital of Lebanon, Beirut.

Speaking at the scene Ghayath Itani tells the BBC the back of a residential building was hit before three more strikes hit a warehouse nearby, blasting metal into shops and houses.

He explains several people were left stranded as the stairs and lifts could not be used in the building and that his shop was "destroyed to the ground".

Another man describes how his brother had been waiting by their shop door when a strike hit the floor above him.

"There was a massacre down there because the flat was crowded with displaced people and children," Tarek Ismail says, explaining how he rushed to the scene and found his injured brother.

"The first strike we were all scared," Souheil Hamad adds. "Then it all happened one after another, I wanted to leave [but] I couldn’t... The last strike, the glass was shattered on us, we thought that was it, the building is falling down on us and we will all die."

Hamad adds: "Once [I] went out all I saw was smoke and a massacre, people everywhere and fire."

He says even the places he once considered safe are being hit. "The civilians are getting hit," he continues. "No security at all."

The number of people killed in Lebanon since the beginning of the war has reached 1,953, according to the country's health ministry, which says 357 people died since Israel launched wide-scale strikes on Wednesday.

Israel's military says it killed 180 Hezbollah operatives in the Wednesday strikes.

The Lebanese health ministry also says 6,303 have been injured during the conflict, including 1,223 since Wednesday.

The updated figures come after Lebanon's presidency said 13 state security personnel had been killed in Israeli strikes on the city of Nabatieh, southern Lebanon.

New photos show the destruction in Nabatieh, with emergency services at the scene of fires breaking out rubble following the Israeli strikes.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

We're going to turn now to the situation on the ground in Lebanon where the war still rages on.

On Wednesday, the country was hit with the heaviest bombardment by Israel in this conflict. The BBC has been speaking to health professionals in the country's capital Beirut, about the aftermath of the strikes.

Karl Jallad works as the health system chief medical officer at the Lebanese American University Medical Centre in Beirut. He described hearing the bombs before the hospital received causalities "within minutes" of Wednesday's strikes in Beirut.

"We immediately knew we were facing something different", he told BBC News.

Jallad said around 20 people required immediate intervention including surgery or amputation, while some had already died when they arrived at the hospital.

Image source, Getty Images

Dr Firass Abiad described the scenes in Lebanon as "devastating". He told Radio 4's Today programme that those with "severe injuries" ranged from an eight-month-old child to a 90-year-old man who later died.

In an update on Friday, Lebanese officials say more than 1,900 people have been killed since Israel launched its latest campaign last month - we'll bring you further details on those figures soon.

Israel has said its operations are aimed at weakening Hezbollah and achieving what it calls remaining military objectives.

Image source, Getty Images

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has told Pakistan's Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif that he appreciates Islamabad's diplomatic efforts with the peace talks between Iran and the US, according to the Pakistani leader.

In a post on X from Sharif, it says Starmer offered his wishes for success in the talks.

"Both leaders emphasised the importance of ensuring that the ceasefire remains in place and creates the necessary conditions for lasting peace and stability in the region," it adds.

The two leaders agreed to work together across "all spheres of mutual interest," the message adds.

Maleeha Lodhi, Pakistan's former representative to the UN, thinks the talks between Iran and the US will "absolutely" happen.

She tells the BBC's Radio 5 Live that there is "cautious optimism" that the parties will begin the process and are "able to understand each others positions".

It's "entirely unrealistic" to think that within hours they can come to an agreement - the "best" you can hope for is for the two to continue to talk and to reach a "broad understanding".

They can then take these back and get approval, then work out details, she adds.