Iran and the US on Saturday night began another round of talks in Islamabad, Pakistan, as Israel prepares to resume fighting if the talks fail.
On Saturday evening, a senior security official told Kan News, “The ceasefire agreement is extremely fragile. We are more pessimistic than optimistic."
Although Israel is not part of the talks in Pakistan and is effectively playing “second fiddle," it has presented the US with a list of demands: removal of enriched uranium from Iran, dismantling of enrichment facilities in Fordow, shutting down Iran’s nuclear project, and separating the Lebanese front from the Iranian arena.
The talks are expected to focus on US demands that Iran hand over an estimated 1,000 pounds of deeply buried enriched uranium and continue the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz to international shipping. Trump has made clear that Iran reopening the Strait for free passage of ships is a critical component of any ceasefire deal.
Other key points will be ending Iran’s support for regional proxies, the status of the country’s ballistic missile program and Tehran’s request for the lifting of US sanctions.
According to an Israeli source, the Americans share Israel’s view on these demands, and there is little belief that Iran will compromise. Therefore, preparations are underway to resume fighting even before the two-week period ends.
The US military is reinforcing its presence in the Middle East and coordinating with Israel for a possible renewal of hostilities, including the deployment of fighter jets, bombs, additional munitions, and thousands of troops such as the 82nd Division.
An Israeli source told Kan News: “The next strike on Iran will be severe and comprehensive-targeting national infrastructure, energy facilities, and oil production."
Earlier this week, in a phone interview with The Post, Trump said, "We have a reset going. We’re loading up the ships with the best ammunition, the best weapons ever made - even better than what we did previously and we blew them apart."
"But we’re loading up the ships. We’re loading up the ships with the best weapons ever made, even at a higher level than we used to do a complete decimation.
"And if we don’t have a deal, we will be using them, and we will be using them very effectively," he stated.