Dan Schwartzman

As the U.S.

and Iran gear up for weekend peace talks in Islamabad, Pakistan, Iran's Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf says in a post on X, two measures mutually agreed upon have yet to be implemented and, quote, must be fulfilled before negotiations begin.

The two measures are a ceasefire in Lebanon and a, quote, release of Iran's blocked assets prior to the commencement of negotiations.

Meanwhile, President Trump says that U.S.

warships are being reloaded with ammunition to resume strikes on Iran,

in case peace talks in Pakistan fail.

That's according to a New York Post report citing a Friday phone interview with Trump.

The American delegation to the talks will be led by Vice President J.D.

Vance, who says he hopes for the best.

Vice President Vance spoke to reporters before boarding his plane to Pakistan.

Direct talks between Israel and Lebanon, set for next week in Washington, will be preparatory at the ambassador level.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that the negotiations would be focused on disarming Hezbollah.

Lebanese officials have said they want a temporary ceasefire before talks would start.

That's according to mediators.

Netanyahu, though, said Thursday that there is no ceasefire in Lebanon, but Israel would limit attacks after Netanyahu was asked by President Trump to scale back its assault as not to damage talks between the U.S.

and Iran, according to people familiar with the matter.

The consumer price index rose 0.9% from February, the most in nearly four years, in large part due to the sharp increase in gas prices tied to the conflict in the Middle East.

Bond traders held on to wagers that the Fed will lower interest rates once this year on the data showing inflation quickened in March.

Interest rate swaps show traders pricing in a roughly one in four chance of a quarter point rate cut this year, slightly lower than before the data.

Meanwhile, U.S.