How was the U.S.-Iran ceasefire deal reached?

In the early hours of Saturday (April 11, 2026), an Iranian delegation, led by the Speaker of the Iranian Parliament, Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, reached Islamabad and was welcomed by Field Marshal Asim Munir and Foreign Minister Mohammed Ishaq Dar at the airport. They were followed by the arrival of the U.S. negotiating team, led by Vice President J.D. Vance, special envoy Steve Witkoff, and Jared Kushner, son-in-law of U.S. President Donald Trump. The mediated talks between the U.S. and Iran are aimed at cementing a permanent ceasefire, following the two-week ceasefire declared earlier last week.

On March 24, The New York Times reported that the U.S. had sent Iran a 15-point plan to end the war, more than three weeks after the U.S., along with Israel, had started bombing the country. The publication said that the plan was handed over to the Iranian side by Pakistan’s Gen. Munir. It is believed that he had been in contact with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the powerful paramilitary force of Iran that emerged more powerful in Iran after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was assassinated by a U.S.-Israeli strike.