Ankur Desai

Well, our chief international correspondent, Lise Doucette, is also in Islamabad.

After some doubt as to whether the Iranians would show up, their planes touched down here in Islamabad, and it has brought a very senior delegation, including the foreign minister, the secretary of the defence council, central bank governor, some leading MPs,

And most importantly, Iran's parliamentary speaker, a former commander in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Mohammad Bagher-Ghalibaf, who's a hardliner who's regarded as a pragmatist.

So he's meant to lead the talks with that U.S.

delegation, which is now on its way.

preconditions that have to be met if the talks are going to happen.

Most of all, there has to be a ceasefire in Lebanon as well.

Israel has to stop attacking the positions of Hezbollah.

And so there's still a little bit of doubt.

But if the talks take place, history will be made.

They will be the talks at the highest level, face-to-face.

Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution ruptured their relations.

Will progress be made?

As we've been hearing, the gaps are still wide.

But if they make a start, it will send a signal of a commitment to diplomacy faced with a very real risk of an escalation in an already too dangerous war.

Lise Doucette reporting.

So what will the Trump administration want out of these talks?

Sarah Smith is in Washington.

Well, I wish him luck.

He's got a big thing.