What we're covering
• High-stakes talks: Peace negotiations between the US and Iran are set to kick off in Pakistan amid an uneasy two-week ceasefire. US President Donald Trump warned Iran that if a peace deal isn’t reached, the US will resume its military action with even more intensity.
• Lebanon conflict: Lebanese and Israeli diplomats are planning to meet in Washington, DC next week to discuss a ceasefire. The first days of the US-Iran truce were one of the deadliest for Lebanon, with hundreds of people killed by Israeli strikes.
• Alleged weapons shipment: US intelligence indicates China is preparing to deliver new air defense systems to Iran, according to sources. The Chinese embassy in Washington said “the information in question is untrue.”
• Economic impact: Consumer prices spiked last month and inflation in the US is higher than any other time under Trump, as the war pushed up gas prices.
Vance has been key in setting up US-Iran talks, senior Pakistani source tells CNN
A senior Pakistani source has praised JD Vance’s role in pushing the US and Iran towards a diplomatic solution to the war, telling CNN that the US vice president has been key in bringing about the talks set to get underway in Islamabad in the coming hours.
The source familiar with the talks process told CNN they assess it will take a few days of negotiations to get a ceasefire locked in, and that officials in Pakistan were hopeful they could convince Vance to stay longer in the country to help bring that about.
Separately, a senior Gulf source told CNN that the Iranians have very little trust in US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff, who has led previous rounds of negotiations with Iran that have been cut short by US strikes on the country. Witkoff is part of the US delegation participating in the talks in Islamabad.
US intelligence indicates China is preparing weapons shipment to Iran, sources say
US intelligence indicates that China is preparing to deliver new air defense systems to Iran within the next few weeks, according to three people familiar with recent intelligence assessments.
It would be a provocative move considering Beijing said it helped broker the fragile ceasefire agreement that paused the war between Iran and the US earlier this week. President Donald Trump is also set to visit China early next month for talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The intelligence also underscores how Iran may be using the ceasefire as an opportunity to replenish certain weapons systems with the help of key foreign partners.
Two of the sources told CNN there are indications that Beijing is working to route the shipments through third countries to mask their true origin.
The systems Beijing is preparing to transfer are shoulder-fired anti-air missile systems known as MANPADs, the sources said, which posed an asymmetric threat to low-flying US military aircraft throughout the course of the five-week war and could again if the ceasefire falls apart.
A spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Washington said, “China has never provided weapons to any party to the conflict; the information in question is untrue.”
“As a responsible major country, China consistently fulfills its international obligations. We urge the U.S. side to refrain from making baseless allegations, maliciously drawing connections, and engaging in sensationalism; we hope that relevant parties will do more to help de-escalate tensions.”
Iran's delegation in Pakistan has 71 people, including technical experts, says state media
Iran’s delegation in Islamabad is made up of 71 people, including negotiators, experts, media representatives and security, state media Tasnim reported on Saturday.
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran’s parliament speaker, is leading the delegation, which also includes Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, Tasnim reported.
“Given the complexity and high sensitivity of the negotiations between Iran and the United States, the Iranian delegation includes not only the main negotiators but also technical and expert committees for necessary consultations,” the report said.
The Trump administration’s 15-point proposal, which has not been revealed in full, is said to include Iran committing to no nuclear weapons, handing over its highly enriched uranium, limits on Tehran’s defense capabilities, and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
The US delegation will be led by Vice President JD Vance, special envoy Steve Witkoff, and Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son in law.
First days of Iran ceasefire were the deadliest for Lebanon since 2024
The first days of the fragile ceasefire between the US and Iran have turned out to be extremely deadly for Lebanon, with hundreds of people killed by Israeli strikes, including at least 357 on Wednesday.
Iran has said the strikes violate the truce, which it claims included Lebanon. Pakistan, which mediated the truce, also said Lebanon was included — but Israel and the United States say Lebanon was not part of the deal.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said Friday that 13 members of his country’s security forces were killed in the southern city of Nabatieh in what was described by the local authorities as “the largest Israeli assault (there) since the start of the war.”
On Wednesday, just hours after the truce was first announced, Israel launched a massive wave of strikes that killed more than 300 people, including at least 30 children, and wounded more than 1,223, according to Lebanese authorities. This marked Lebanon’s deadliest day since September 2024. The toll has risen sharply over the past few days and Lebanon’s health ministry warned Friday that it is likely to climb even further.
The International Rescue Committee also said it was one of the heaviest days of violence in years.
“According to the WHO, three weeks’ worth of trauma supplies were used in a single day due to mass casualties, and stocks could run out within days,” the IRC said in a statement.
The Israel Defense Forces acknowledged it had struck “in the heart of the civilian population,” but claimed it had killed at least 180 “Hezbollah terrorists” and taken steps to mitigate harm to civilians.
Israel continued to strike Lebanon on Friday, even after US President Donald Trump told NBC News in an interview Thursday that he asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to be “a little more low-key” in operations in Lebanon.
Israeli and Lebanese diplomats will meet in DC next week, officials say
As peace talks between the US and Iran are set to take place in Pakistan today, Lebanese and Israeli diplomats are planning to meet next week to discuss a ceasefire, the office of Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said in a social media post.
In a call mediated by US Ambassador to Lebanon Michael Issa, Israeli Ambassador Yechiel Leiter and Lebanese Ambassador Nada Hamadeh Moawad agreed to meet at the US State Department in Washington next Tuesday “to discuss the declaration of a ceasefire and the date for the start of negotiations between Lebanon and Israel under US sponsorship,” the post reads.
Leiter issued a statement Friday confirming the Tuesday meeting, but said that “Israel refused to discuss a ceasefire with the Hezbollah terrorist organization.”
Lebanon had earlier maintained that it will not negotiate without a ceasefire, and Israel has rejected the notion of ending hostilities with Hezbollah as a condition for talks.
On Friday, Hezbollah urged the Lebanese government to refrain from negotiating with Israel after days of intense bombardment; the days after Wednesday’s ceasefire between the US and Iran have been the deadliest in Lebanon since September 2024, with over 350 dead and more than 1,200 injured.
How Vance is navigating US-Iran talks and his own political future
Vice President JD Vance spent the last month largely out of the limelight as the US waged a war with Iran that he’d privately worried would spiral out of control.
Yet with President Donald Trump now eager to broker an end to the conflict, he’s emerged as a central player with a major public role.
Vance travels to Pakistan on Saturday to helm talks aimed at solidifying the fragile truce between the US and Iran — and in the process, elevate himself as the key peacemaker within an administration that has devoted its last several weeks to war.
It’s a daunting mission that carries little guarantee of success. The two sides are far apart and still trading barbs, offering few signs that tensions have substantially eased in the hours since Tuesday’s abrupt ceasefire announcement.
But for Vance, a prominent critic of foreign wars who harbored reservations from the start about striking Iran, the chance to negotiate a lasting deal is one he’s spent weeks working toward behind the scenes, multiple people familiar with the matter said.
And as he mulls a future presidential bid, it will offer the vice president perhaps his best opening yet to emerge in a strengthened position from an otherwise politically damaging period for the administration.
Vance is expected to lead the US delegation alongside Trump’s chief diplomatic envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, in the administration’s first face-to-face meeting with Iran since the war began.
Ceasefire deal sparks new fury from those who initially defended Trump's war
Public polling has consistently shown US President Donald Trump’s war with Iran is backed by a large majority of Republican voters and has even more support from those who consider themselves MAGA-aligned.
CNN met with conservative students at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, in Edinburg, Texas, before the ceasefire deal in Iran was brokered. Here’s what they think about the war.
Nevertheless, the administration and allies have scrambled to contain the fallout this week as deepening fears over Trump’s management of the war — and fragile ceasefire — with Iran spilled into public infighting among some of his most prominent allies.
A ceasefire deal Trump announced ahead of Tuesday’s deadline sparked new fury from those who initially defended Trump’s war. Longtime Iran hardliners on the right, including Fox News’ Mark Levin, are lamenting that Trump appears willing to back away from military action that could further cripple the country.
Trump’s Pakistan gamble: Can talks produce peace?
After six weeks of war, the United States and Iran are now planning the most senior meeting between the two countries since the Islamic Republic of Iran was founded in 1979. Led by Vice President JD Vance on the US side and Parliament Speaker Mohammed Ghalibaf on the Iranian side, the talks mark a mind-boggling turn of events now two months into this crisis.
The only precedent for cabinet-level engagement between Washington and Tehran was the negotiations in President Barack Obama’s second term, when Secretary of State John Kerry met regularly with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif. Those talks lasted well over a year. Before and after each round at their level, teams of experts on both sides spent weeks and months in Switzerland or Vienna hammering out the details of a nuclear pact.
The lead up to these talks has been different. There appears to have been little diplomatic legwork in preparation. The agenda is not entirely clear.
President Donald Trump announced a two-week ceasefire to set the frame for the talks — but since then, the ceasefire has proven fragile at best and Trump’s precondition of a “complete, immediate, and safe” reopening of the Strait of Hormuz has not been met.
Iran claims the ceasefire must include Lebanon, where it supports Hezbollah. Vance has said that’s a misunderstanding.
CNN global affairs analyst Brett McGurk considers the downside potential for these talks, followed by the upside potential. Read more here.
How the Middle East conflict is costing Americans
Consumer prices spiked last month and inflation in the United States is higher than any other time under President Donald Trump. CNN’s Matt Egan explains how the war with Iran is costing Americans.
Consumer prices spiked last month and inflation in the United States is higher than any other time under President Donald Trump. CNN’s Matt Egan explains how the Middle East conflict is costing Americans.
Some context: A war-driven jump in gas prices helped push US inflation to 3.3% in March, marking the fastest annual pace in nearly two years, new Bureau of Labor Statistics data showed Friday.
On a monthly basis, prices rose 0.9%, triple the 0.3% pace seen in February, when inflation was 2.4%, the latest Consumer Price Index data showed.
Gasoline prices, which rose a record 21.2% during the month, accounted for nearly three-quarters of the overall monthly increase.
How Pakistan became a bridge between the US and Iran
Pakistan, a nation more frequently making international headlines for its heightened militancy and shaky economy, is hosting the first direct talks between Washington and Tehran, working to end a weeks-long war that has left thousands dead and sent shockwaves across the globe.
It is a stunning pivot for a country historically viewed through the lens of deep security concerns. The breakthrough underscores just how much Islamabad’s relationship with the White House has evolved since President Donald Trump’s first term, when he accused Pakistan of giving Washington “nothing but lies and deceit.”
Vice President JD Vance along with Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner are expected to attend this weekend’s talks, with Vance the most senior US official to visit Pakistan since 2011.
Analysts attribute this transformation to a combination of geographic necessity, deft diplomacy, and shifting regional alliances. Together, these factors have transformed Pakistan into an indispensable mediator, elevating the country’s profile on the global stage.
Until last year, Pakistan was widely considered an unreliable US partner, one that offered support to Washington during the war in Afghanistan while allegedly backing the Taliban at the same time.
But Trump 2.0 has shaken the mixer of US diplomacy, upending friendships and bringing foes into the fold of his presidency – if they have something to offer.
Here's what we know about the US-Iran talks in Pakistan
High-stakes talks between Iran and the United States are set to begin today in Pakistan, according to the White House.
Who will be at the talks? The US delegation will be led by Vice President JD Vance, special envoy Steve Witkoff, and Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son in law. The Iranian delegation is led by Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf. He is accompanied by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, Supreme National Security Council Secretary Ali Akbar Ahmadian, Central Bank Governor Abdolnaser Hemmati, as well as some members of parliament, Fars reported.
What will they talk about? Given the two sides can’t seem to agree about what’s in the ceasefire, aligning on the agenda for the talks may be tricky. Trump has cited “a 10-point proposal from Iran,” which he called “a workable basis on which to negotiate.”
But then Iran began sharing a 10-point list that included demands the US could never agree to, such as acknowledging its control over the Strait of Hormuz and reparations for war damages and the lifting of all sanctions. Other versions published on state media also included recognizing the country’s right to nuclear enrichment.
Meanwhile Trump and his team have their own 15-point proposal. That plan has not been revealed in full but is said to include Iran committing to no nuclear weapons, handing over its highly enriched uranium, limits on Tehran’s defense capabilities, and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
Will the talks achieve anything? Despite disagreements, Trump told NBC he was “very optimistic” about a peace deal out of this weekend’s talks in Islamabad, telling the outlet that Iran’s leaders seemed open to peace in private discussions. Iran’s public messaging is markedly different, with multiple state media outlets claiming the country has won a resounding victory by surviving the US and Israel’s onslaught and bringing Washington to the table.
In an interview with New York Post, Trump warned Iran that if a peace deal isn’t reached, the US will resume its military action with even more intensity, saying, “We have a reset going.”
Read more about what we know here.
CNN’s Kit Maher contributed reporting.
Will Trump get a worse Iran deal than Obama?
The contrasts are remarkable.
One president chose diplomacy. Barack Obama and a large international coalition negotiated a deal with Iran to shelve its nuclear program for a decade over the objections of an outraged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who came to Congress in 2015 to speak out against the deal and the American president.
Another president chose war. Donald Trump, years after tearing Obama’s deal into shreds, and after becoming frustrated with talks for a new nuclear deal, brought Netanyahu into the White House Situation Room, according to a New York Times report. The Israeli prime minister sat across the table from the US president and sold him on a sneak attack against Iran without consulting allies in Europe or the Middle East.
However the war with Iran ultimately ends — talks will get underway in Islamabad, Pakistan, on Saturday to try to build on a fragile ceasefire — Trump will want to declare that the outcome is better than what his predecessor Obama achieved without going to war.
Trump rarely talks about Iran without trashing Obama and the 2015 nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA.
