ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AFP) — United States Vice President JD Vance arrived in Islamabad on Saturday for talks with Iran that the Pakistani premier hosting the warring sides called a “make or break” effort to permanently halt weeks of fighting in the Middle East.

An Iranian delegation led by parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf arrived overnight at an airbase near the capital, disembarking from the commercial plane to embrace Pakistan’s powerful army chief Asim Munir, who also shares a personal rapport with US President Donald Trump.

Munir also greeted Vance, escorting him down a red carpet at the Nur Khan air base, where US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner were already waiting.

The foes still appeared to be far apart on key issues, including the opening of the strategic Strait of Hormuz, and were quick to express their mutual suspicion.

“We have good intentions but we do not trust,” Ghalibaf said shortly after landing, according to Iran’s state broadcaster.

“Our experience in negotiating with the Americans has always been met with failure and broken promises.”

Vance, who has been dispatched by Trump to lead the US delegation, stopped briefly in Paris for his plane to refuel before flying on to Pakistan.

“If the Iranians are willing to negotiate in good faith, we’re certainly willing to extend the open hand,” Vance said before leaving the US.

But “if they’re going to try to play us, then they’re going to find the negotiating team is not that receptive,” he added.

The ceasefire is already under strain, notably from Israel’s continued strikes in Lebanon, where on Wednesday it carried out its heaviest bombardment since Hezbollah entered the Middle East war in early March, killing hundreds of people less than 48 hours after the truce came into force.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, whose country’s down-to-the-wire mediation got both sides to the negotiating table this week, said talks would not be easy.

“An even more difficult stage lies ahead,” he said, referring to efforts to permanently end fighting that began with US-Israeli strikes on Iran on 28 February, sparking Iranian retaliation against Israel and across the Gulf.

“This is that stage which, in English, is called the equivalent of ‘make or break.’”

It was unclear what time the talks would get underway, though the Tasnim news agency reported Iran’s delegation would meet with Sharif at 1 p.m.

Iranian state television made only a brief mention of the talks in its first morning news program, with its second report dedicated to volunteers signing up to defend Iran in the event the war resumed.