The United States and Iran have begun their highest-level direct talks in almost 50 years, since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, in a bid to end their more than five-week war that has spread across the Middle East. The U.S. delegation led by Vice President JD Vance, consists of Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, while Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, one of Iran’s senior wartime leaders, is leading the delegation from the Islamic Republic. Pakistan’s Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, who has a close relationship with U.S. President Trump as well as senior leaders in Iran, mediated the face-to-face meeting between the top officials from both countries, according to the Financial Times.

U.S. President Donald J. Trump highlighted the effect that the conflict in the Middle East has on fertilizer prices, as significant portion of the world’s fertilizer supply passes through the Strait of Hormuz.

Despite the ongoing face-to-face negotiations between Iran and the United States in Islamabad, which have reportedly advanced into technical talks on a potential peace deal to end the Iran War, fighting continues between Israel and Lebanon. In the last 24 hours alone, the Israeli Air Force reports that it has carried out over 200 strikes on Hezbollah military infrastructure and other targets in Southern Lebanon.

The Crew of Artemis ll: Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, and Mission Specialist Christina Koch from NASA, and Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen from the Canadian Space Agency, stand in front of the Orion Capsule inside the well deck of the San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock, USS John P. Murtha (LPD-26), after splashing down yesterday in the Pacific Ocean.

U.S. President Donald J. Trump said earlier that the United States is now in the process of clearing the Strait of Hormuz of mines, following reports that U.S. naval vessels transited the strait this morning into the Persian Gulf.

Forces under U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) have began setting conditions for clearing mines in the Strait of Hormuz, with the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers, USS Frank E. Peterson (DDG-121) and USS Michael Murphy (DDG-112), transited the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday and now operating in the Persian Gulf as part of a broader mission to ensure the strait is fully clear of sea mines previously laid by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) during the Iran War.

Two U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyers, identified as the Pentagon as the USS Frank E. Peterson (DDG-121) and USS Michael Murphy (DDG-112), passed through the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, according to three U.S. officials, marking the first transit of American warships through the waterway since the start of the Iran War. The two vessels passed through the strait and entered the Persian Gulf, completing a “freedom-of-navigation mission” and suffering no issues, with the destroyers having since withdrawn, the officials told the Wall Street Journal.

In a speech this evening directed at the People of Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said their campaign against Iran is “not yet over” though Israel has achieved “historic results” in the current conflict, as the United States and Iran conduct high-level direct ceasefire negotiations in Pakistan in an effort to end the ongoing Iran War.

Face-to-face negotiations between Iran and the United States are expected to last well into the night and possibly even stretch into Sunday, a Pakistani source told CNN.

Pakistan has sent fighter jets and other military forces to Saudi Arabia to boost regional security under a defence pact between the two countries, known as the Joint Strategic Defense Agreement, the Saudi Ministry of Defense announced Saturday, with a number of strike fighters and support aircraft having arrived at King Abdulaziz Air Base in the east of the country near the Persian Gulf. This comes as Islamabad hosts talks between Iran and the United States aimed at ending the ongoing Iran War.

Following reports that the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office had sent an indictment to courts over Israel’s blockage of a flotilla to the Gaza Strip last year, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lashed out at the leader of the Anatolian nation, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, lambasting Turkey’s treatment of Kurdish people within its borders and accusing the nation of supporting the Islamic regime in Iran.

The Kuwaiti Ministry of the Interior has said that they foiled a terror financing plot involving 24 apprehended Kuwaiti citizens and 8 still abroad to fund terrorist entities and launder money for the furtherance of this effort. Per the release, both commercial and professional entities were involved in the plot supporting Iran.

It is now well past 1:00AM on Sunday and face-to-face peace talks between Iran and the United States, mediated by Pakistan, are still underway at the Serena Hotel in the capital of Islamabad.