US Vice President JD Vance (R) speaks during a press conference as Jared Kushner (L) and Steve Witkoff look on in Islamabad, Pakistan, April 12, 2026 (Reuters)

EA-Times Radio VideoCast: “Trump Is At Breaking Point”

EA on International Outlets: US-Israel War — Iran Calls Trump’s Bluff

UPDATES: US-Israel War, Day 57 — Trump Extends Ceasefire After Iran Rejects Talks In Pakistan

UPDATE 0816 GMT:

Iran has executed another detainee.

Irfan Kayani was accused of “creating terror” and working for Israel intelligence during nationwide protests in January.

In the last month, 16 men have been hanged (see 0619 GMT). The youngest was 18-year-old Amirhossein Hatami, killed after a forced confession to the charges of moharebeh (enmity against god) and efsad-fil-arz (corruption on earth).

With the second highest rate of executions in the world, Iran hanged more than 1,000 people in 2025, the largest total in at least 15 years.

UPDATE 0627 GMT:

Iran Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi with the head o Palistan’s military in Islamabad this morning:

UPDATE 0619 GMT:

The Guardian’s Daniel Boffey reports on the detainees executed by Tehran during the US-Israel War:

Writing from his cell in the Rajai Shahr prison in the northern Iranian city of Karaj, Babak Alipour wanted to tell his friends about those who had already gone to their execution.

There was Behrouz Ehsani, 69, the elder statesman of the group, who was “never angry” about their predicament. Then there was Mehdi Hassani, a 48-year-old father of three who he saw a couple of times in the prison hospital and who would ask him to pass on to the children the message that he was “fine”.

Despite the killings, Alipour, a 34-year-old law graduate with a passion for mountaineering who had been on death row for three years, recorded in his neat, tight, handwriting that he was not intimidated.

On March 31, Alipour and his cellmate Pouya Ghobadi, a 32-year-old electrical engineer, were hanged.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Amid the US-Israel War on Iran, the Trump camp and the Iranian regime are in Islamabad for indirect talks on Saturday.

Donald Trump’s envoys, real estate developer Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, are travelling to the Pakistani capital.

Initially, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi set off on Friday for a weekend tour of Pakistan, Oman, and Russia, with Tehran denying negotiations with the Americans.

The Iranians bristled at the declaration of White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt that Tehran requested talks, as well as Donald Trump’s claim that Iran will make an offer satisfying his demands.

However, while the Iranian language ruled out direct talks, it did not preclude Pakistani facilitators shuttling messages between the two sides.

Leavitt said that if the exchanges went well, Vice President J.D. Vance will go to Islamabad.

Vance was supposed to lead the American delegation into talks last Tuesday. However, Iran kept the Trump camp waiting for an anaswer for 72 hours and then rejected the meeting.

Tension escalated over the key issue of control of the Strait of Hormuz, with the Iranians seizing container ships and the US boarding three Iran-linked vessels.