Peruvians have headed to the polls to vote for a new president and members of congress, casting ballots in a first-round field of more than ‌30 presidential candidates after years of political turmoil.

With no clear frontrunner and all major candidates polling well below the 50 per cent ‌needed to win outright, a June 7 runoff appears likely. 

That could prolong uncertainty in the world’s third-largest copper producer at a time of rising crime and intensifying competition for influence between the United States and China.

Voting stations opened at 7am local time, with about 27 million people eligible to vote.

Early in the day, voters in parts of Lima complained that several polling stations had yet to open.

Margarita Sandoval, 35, said she had waited in line for two hours without being able to enter her ‌ballot station in Chorrillos, a ‌southern district of the ⁠capital.

“I have to work and I can’t vote,” Sandoval said. 

“These elections are a disaster.”

Others said the crowded race ​had made the decision difficult. 

“I only decided who to vote for about a week ago,” said 33-year-old shop assistant Benjamin Alcantara.

Since 2018, Peru has cycled through eight presidents, fuelling scepticism that any new administration will last a full five-year term following a dizzying turnover driven by impeachments, corruption scandals and weak governing coalitions that have paralysed decision-making.

“People really despise the current congress,” said Martin Cassinelli from the Atlantic Council. 

“They recognise them as responsible for the political chaos we’ve had over the last ten years.”

Political distrust ⁠has fuelled a crowded field spanning the ideological spectrum, including seasoned politicians, a far-right businessman and ‌a television comedian.

Among ​the best known is conservative Keiko Fujimori, making her fourth presidential bid after reaching the runoff in all three previous races.

Educated in the US and leader of the ​powerful Popular Force party ‌in congress, Fujimori has framed herself as a guarantor of order and economic stability, appealing to voters alarmed by surging violent crime. 

Her candidacy remains polarising, however, ​due to her family legacy and past legal troubles.

Ricardo Belmont, a former Lima mayor running for the centre-left Civic Works Party, has shot up into second place after a late rise in support. 

He is followed by popular comedian Carlos Alvarez, who is campaigning on a tough-on-crime platform. 

Both are considered outsiders who ​have ​gained traction by tapping into a broader anti-establishment mood, according to analysts.

On ​the right, former Lima Mayor Rafael Lopez Aliaga, a wealthy businessman with socially conservative ‌views, has campaigned on an ultra-conservative platform but has seen support fluctuate.

Public insecurity has emerged as the dominant theme of the campaign. 

Homicides and extortion have climbed in recent years, driven in part by drug trafficking and illegal mining. 

Most leading candidates have proposed expanding the role of the armed forces in internal security.

The election also carries geopolitical implications. 

Peru’s deepening economic relationship with China — now its largest trading partner and a major investor in mining and infrastructure — has raised concerns in Washington, which has stepped up diplomatic and security ​engagement ahead of the vote.

Hungarians are casting ballots in what is widely seen as Europe’s most consequential election this year, setting a record turnout in a vote that could unseat populist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, after 16 years in power. 

It marks a key moment for Orbán, the European Union’s longest-serving leader and one of its biggest antagonists, who has travelled a long road from his early days as a liberal, anti-Soviet firebrand to the Russia-friendly nationalist admired today by the global far-right.

Polls opened at 6am and were scheduled to close at 7pm.

 Orbán and his top challenger, Péter Magyar, arrived at separate polling stations in Budapest at nearly the same time to cast their votes.

Speaking to reporters outside, Orbán, 62, said the campaign had been “a great national moment on our side” and thanked activists and supporters for their work. 

“I’m here to win,” he said. 

Turnout after the first 11 hours of voting was over 74 per cent, according to the National Election Office, a record number in any election in Hungary’s post-communist history. 

With still two hours until polls closed, 140,000 more voters had cast their ballots than during the entirety of the 2022 elections.

Orbán has repeatedly frustrated EU efforts to support Ukraine in its war against Russia’s full-scale invasion, while cultivating close ties to President Vladimir Putin and refusing to end Hungary’s dependence on Russian fossil fuel imports.

Recent revelations have shown a top member of his government frequently shared the contents of EU discussions with Moscow, raising accusations that Hungary was acting on Russia’s behalf within the bloc.

The election was being closely watched in countries around Europe and beyond, which is a testament to the outsize role Orbán occupies in far-right populist politics worldwide. 

Members of Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement are among those who see Orbán’s government and his Fidesz political party as shining examples of conservative, anti-globalist politics in action.

After casting his vote, Magyar told reporters that the election was “a choice between east or west, propaganda or honest public discourse, corruption or clean public life.”

“I urge all Hungarian citizens to exercise their right to vote,” he said. 

Casting his ballot in Budapest, Marcell Mehringer, 21, said he was voting “primarily so that Hungary will finally be a so-called European country, and so that young people, and really everyone, will do their fundamental civic duty to unite this nation a bit and to break down these boundaries borne of hatred”.

During his 16 years as prime minister, Orbán has launched harsh crackdowns on minority rights and media freedoms, subverted many of Hungary’s institutions and been accused of siphoning large sums of money into the coffers of his allied business elite, an allegation he denies. 

He also has heavily strained Hungary’s relationship with the EU. Although Hungary is one of the smaller EU countries, with a population of 9.5 million, Orbán has repeatedly used his veto to block decisions that require unanimity.

Most recently, he blocked a 90-billion euro ($A147 billion) EU loan to Ukraine, prompting his partners to accuse him of hijacking the critical aid.

Yet after winning four consecutive elections with a two-thirds majority for his party in parliament, signs have emerged that Orbán’s absolute control over Hungary’s politics may be reaching its end. 

Magyar has rapidly risen to become Orbán’s most serious challenger. 

The 45-year-old leader of the centre-right Tisza party, which is leading in independent polls, campaigned on issues affecting ordinary voters, including Hungary’s faltering public health care and transportation sectors and what he describes as rampant government corruption.

A former insider within Orbán’s Fidesz, Magyar broke with the party in 2024 and quickly formed Tisza. 

Since then, he has toured Hungary relentlessly, holding rallies in settlements big and small in a campaign blitz that recently had him visiting up to six towns daily.

President Donald Trump says the US Navy will immediately start blockading the Strait of Hormuz, raising the stakes after marathon talks with Iran failed to reach a deal to end the war, jeopardising a fragile two-week ceasefire.

Trump also said in a ‌post on Truth Social that the US would interdict every vessel in international waters that had paid a toll to Iran, and begin destroying mines that he said the Iranians had dropped in the strait, a choke point for about ‌20 per cent of global energy supplies that Iran has blocked.

“Effective immediately, the United States Navy, the Finest in the World, will begin the process of BLOCKADING any and all Ships trying to enter, or leave, the Strait of Hormuz,” he said.

“I have also instructed our Navy to seek and interdict every vessel in International Waters that has paid a toll to Iran. No one who pays an illegal toll will have safe passage on the high seas,” Trump added.

“Any Iranian who fires at us, or at peaceful vessels, will be BLOWN TO HELL!” he added. 

Face-to-face talks ended earlier Sunday after 21 hours, leaving a fragile two-week ceasefire in doubt.

Each side had earlier blamed the other for the failure of talks to end six weeks of fighting that has killed thousands, roiled the ‌global economy and sent oil ‌prices soaring.

US officials said the negotiations collapsed over what they described as Iran’s refusal to commit to abandoning a path to a nuclear weapon, while Iranian officials blamed the US for the breakdown of the talks without specifying the sticking points.

Neither side indicated what will happen after the 14-day ceasefire expires on April 22. 

Pakistani mediators urged all parties to maintain it. 

Both said their positions were clear and put the onus on the other side, underscoring how little the gap had narrowed throughout the talks.

“The bad news is that ⁠we have not reached an agreement, and I think that’s bad news for Iran much more than it’s bad news for the United States ​of America,” Vice President JD Vance, the head of the US delegation at the weekend talks, said earlier.

“We’ve made very clear what our red lines are,” Vance added.

Iran’s Parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, who led his country’s delegation along with Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, blamed the US for not winning Tehran’s trust despite his team offering “forward-looking initiatives”.

“The US has understood Iran’s logic and principles and it’s time for them to decide whether they can earn our trust or not,” Qalibaf said on X.

IIran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency said “excessive” US demands had hindered reaching a deal. 

Other Iranian media said there was agreement ​on a number ‌of issues, but the Strait of Hormuz and Iran’s nuclear program were the main points of difference.

Since the US and Israel launched the war on February 28, it has killed at least 3000 people in Iran, 2020 in Lebanon, 23 in Israel and more than a dozen in Gulf Arab states, and caused lasting damage to infrastructure in half a dozen Middle Eastern countries. 

Iran’s grip on the Strait of Hormuz has largely cut off the Persian Gulf and its oil and gas exports from the global economy, sending energy prices soaring.

Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said his country will try to facilitate a new dialogue between Iran and the US in the coming days.

“It is imperative that the parties continue to uphold their commitment to cease fire,” Dar said.

The deadlock — and Vance’s take-it-or-leave-it proposal that Iran end its nuclear program — mirrored February’s nuclear talks in Switzerland. 

Though Trump has said the subsequent war was meant to compel Iran’s leaders to abandon nuclear ambitions, each side’s positions appeared unchanged in negotiations following six weeks of fighting.

Australia’s richest state is considering creating its own fuel reserve for use during future energy emergencies – and it wouldn’t be shared with other jurisdictions.

A fuel crisis has gripped the nation since war erupted in the Middle East and Iran blocked oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz in response to US and Israeli strikes.

The Western Australian government is assessing whether it could build a fuel stockpile to bolster energy security and supply chains across the vast state.

“This would be additional volumes of diesel purchased by the state government and held in storage for times when it’s tough and when we’re seeing challenges in those supply chains,” Energy Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson said on Sunday.

“This would be solely for West Australians and be directed at the discretion of the state government to areas that need it most.”

Those areas would include agricultural regions at the end of supply chains, mining operations and remote communities that rely on diesel to power generators.

The state government did not disclose how much the stockpile would cost, but Ms Sanderson said discussions were under way for a reserve “in the millions of litres”.

“This will help support that spot market (and) it will support those end of supply chain areas in the Great Southern, in the Wheatbelt and in the Goldfields, where they’ve had more difficulty getting that fuel (since the fuel  crisis started).”

WA’s strategic stockpile would be in addition to the national fuel reserve, which the state believes it would still be able to access in the event of another crisis.

“It is a requirement for states to receive their fair share,” Ms Sanderson said.

The current fuel emergency has revealed some suppliers did not store any of their national fuel stock obligation in WA.

“Viva and Ampol, for example … It’s in Queensland,” Ms Sanderson said.

The focus is initially on diesel, with WA using about a quarter of all supplies in Australia, Mr Sanderson said.

The WA government is assessing whether the state has the capacity to store and deliver extra fuel.

“There is significant storage capacity across the state,” Ms Sanderson said.

“We are intensive users of fuel, particularly in the resources sector, so we have storage capacity.”

Existing distribution networks had been able to cope with the increase in fuel released from the national reserves in recent weeks.

“Where we’re challenged is when we get to the second and third-tier distribution network, individual truck owners,” Ms Sanderson said.

“They are the distributors, largely, that we would essentially use if we were looking to manage that particular part of the supply chain.”

Economists will turn their attention to Australian jobs figures this week but the focus will still largely remain on developments in the Middle East.

March labour force figures, set to be released on Thursday, will effectively be the first batch of top tier domestic data to overlap with the Iran war.

But given the unemployment rate and hiring tend to be lagging economic indicators, it will likely be too early to see the full impact of the supply shock reflected in the data, said National Australia Bank economists Jessie Cameron and Josh Copeland.

NAB predicts the unemployment rate to remain at a relatively low 4.3 per cent, with an extra 25,000 jobs expected to be added to the economy.

While the Reserve Bank still believes the labour market is on the tighter side, an unemployment rate at 4.3 per cent would ease some concerns the jobs market is re-tightening, the NAB economists said in a research note.

As the labour market was in decent shape heading into the war, it gives the central bank more leeway to raise interest rates and tackle inflation before having to worry about threatening the full employment side of its dual mandate. 

“For the RBA … the immediate focus is on the local inflation outlook and risks around inflation expectations,” said Westpac economist Ryan Wells.

Ultimately, the biggest influence on inflation now is what happens to the Strait of Hormuz and how quickly that is passed through to Australian consumer prices.

The announcement last week that the Strait would open for two weeks during a ceasefire was welcome, said Westpac chief economist Luci Ellis.

But Iran shutting the vital supply route less than 24 hours later in response to Israeli attacks on Lebanon was less promising.

“Even if the ceasefire holds well enough that the Strait stays open, a key watchpoint is whether ships enter the Gulf during the next two weeks, not just whether those previously stuck there leave,” she said. 

“If ships do not enter, the next wave of production will not be able to be shipped. If the ceasefire does not hold, the reprieve on fuel supply will be brief.”

While the labour market survey is the first “hard data” out in the field at the same time as the Iran war, high frequency “soft data” – notably dire consumer confidence surveys – indicate its impact on household spending and broader activity could be worse than first thought.

Anecdotally, substantial price rises in industries such as construction paint a similar picture.

The weekly ANZ-Roy Morgan index bounced back from a record low last week, following government fuel excise cuts saving consumers about 32 cents per litre. 

The monthly Westpac-Melbourne Institute consumer sentiment survey for March will give another glimpse into household confidence on Tuesday. 

NAB’s business survey, also on Tuesday, will likewise be closely watched, with confidence expected to decline and cost pressures tipped to rise.

Markets will hope to get a sense of what the RBA makes of all this when the bank’s deputy governor Andrew Hauser and chief economist Sarah Hunter hold speaking engagements in the US on Tuesday and Thursday.

Wall Street investors were on Friday pressing pause as they headed into the weekend while keeping an eye on ongoing Middle East peace negotiations.

US indexes closed ‌mixed.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 269.23 points, or 0.56 per cent, to 47,916.57, the S&P 500 lost 7.77 points, or 0.11 per cent and the Nasdaq gained 80.48 points, or 0.35 per cent.

Australian share futures jumped 70 points, or 0.77 per cent, to 11,023.

The S&P/ASX200 slipped 12.6 points on Friday, down 0.14 per cent, to 8,960.6, as the broader All Ordinaries lost 13.1 points, down 0.14 per cent, to 9,155.8.

Tourism operators ravaged by one of Australia’s most remarkable cyclones will receive grants to help rebuild.

Businesses across northwest Western Australia are still reeling after Tropical Cyclone Narelle left a trail of destruction when it struck days before the peak Easter tourism season.

The weather system caused flooding, cut off towns, destroyed homes and devastated marine wildlife across the World Heritage-listed Ningaloo Reef in WA’s Gascoyne region.

Locals have been working hard to get towns such as Exmouth, one of the hardest hit by Narelle, back up and running for tourists.

One-off relief payments will be rolled out to eligible tourism operators as part of a $1.45 million tourism support package announced by the Cook government on Sunday.

Payments of $10,000 and $20,000 will be available for tour operators, experiences and attractions, and accommodation providers impacted by access closures from the Shires of Carnarvon, Exmouth, Ashburton and Upper Gascoyne.

The package will include 50 per cent discounts on select tours and experiences to incentivise visitors to the region.

WA Tourism Minister Reece Whitby said tourism was crucial to the local economy for communities across the Coral Coast and remained one of the region’s biggest employers.

“We encourage all West Australians to support tourism businesses by visiting the region and helping this iconic part of the state get back to what it does best, which is offering an incredible tourism experience,” he said in a statement on Sunday.

Narelle – which hit northern Queensland before moving west across the NT and reforming in WA – is only the third storm in recorded history to make landfall as a cyclone in three Australian jurisdictions, joining Ingrid (2005) and Steve (2000).

Czech and Slovak leaders backed Prime Minister Viktor Orban on the eve ‌of Hungary’s parliamentary election, saying he was the best choice for the country’s interests.

Opinion polls indicate ‌Orban, who has clashed repeatedly with Brussels and has friendly ties with Russia, could ‌be ousted in Sunday’s vote after 16 years in power.

Opposition leader Peter Magyar has been polling strongly as anger rises among Hungarians over the struggling economy.

“I have never met such a warrior for sovereignty and national interests of one’s country as Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban,” Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said.

Under Fico, who is in power for ‌a fourth time ‌since 2023, Slovakia ⁠has been a key ally for its neighbour Hungary, with ​both keeping warm relations with Moscow, opposing European Union sanctions and continuing to buy Russian oil and gas.

Both have clashed with European Union institutions over the rule of law.

Czech populist Prime Minister Andrej Babis, a billionaire businessman who has turned from a liberal pro-EU politician into a ⁠close Orban ally in their Patriots for ‌Europe ​faction in the European Parliament, also voiced his support.

“He (Orban) has always fought for a ​stronger Europe, one built ‌on peace, sovereign nations, sovereign member states, competitiveness,” Babis said on X.

“In turbulent times, ​choosing stability and proven leadership matters more than ever.”

Since Babis returned to government last year after a stint in opposition, the Czech Republic has ​slashed ​aid to Ukraine and, following Hungary ​and Slovakia, refused to participate in the EU’s 90 ‌billion euro ($A149.35 billion) loan for Kyiv.

The Czech position on Russia has, however, remained more mainstream than those of Hungary and Slovakia.

Babis’s cabinet, which includes a far-right anti-NATO party, is trying to reverse EU decarbonisation policies, and is preparing legislation to revamp public media ​and bring non-governmental organisations under closer scrutiny.

His opponents say the plans are modelled ​on Hungarian and Slovak reforms ⁠that undermine democratic standards. 

More than 170 service stations are still without diesel as Australia braces for ongoing uncertainty and lasting economic pain from the energy crisis.

A temporary ceasefire between the US and Iran has been brokered but disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz are ongoing, with Federal Energy Minister Chris Bowen warning of a “long tail” after the conflict.

“Even if it opened today, there’s a big backlog of ships, there’s been gas plants bombed out of existence,” he told reporters on Saturday.

“The international energy situation will take a long time to recover from this. This is not over.”

Australia has 38 days’ supply of petrol, 31 days of diesel and 28 days of jet fuel.

Diesel – a key fuel for freight and agriculture that flows through to grocery prices – has experienced a two-day improvement in reserves, while petrol and jet fuel have slipped modestly.

While the government assures ships are still arriving in Australia and 4.1 billion litres of fuel have been locked in, prices at the pump remain elevated and some service stations are still dry, particularly in regional areas.

A total of 173 service stations across Australia are out of diesel, representing 2.2 per cent of all refuelling stops.

NSW petrol stations are the most likely to be out of fuel.

Australia has been ramping up diplomatic efforts to secure fuel supplies, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese meeting with his Singaporean counterpart this week.

Mr Albanese and Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong inked an agreement to continue trading large quantities of fuel and gas between the two nations.

The deal stated the countries would “make maximum efforts to meet each other’s energy security needs” but no specific guarantee was made to prioritise Australia if Singapore’s refineries were forced to reduce output.

Australia has also been working to diversify its fuel supply chains beyond Southeast Asia, securing supplies from South American countries and Algeria.

The federal opposition has been calling for better energy self-reliance, with National Party leader Matt Canavan suggesting Australia should make better use of its oil and gas resources rather than relying on trading partners.

The federal government has also halved the fuel excise tax in response to the energy crisis.

Peruvians are heading to the polls to elect a new president and Congress, but illegal mining — a major driver of deforestation and mercury pollution — has received little attention on the campaign trail, even as it spreads deeper into the Amazon rainforest and indigenous territories.

Experts warn the gap reflects a broader failure to confront what has become the country’s largest illicit economy, with major consequences for the environment, public health and indigenous communities.

“Political parties don’t understand that illegal mining has become the country’s main criminal activity and the one that moves the most money,” environmental lawyer César Ipenza said. 

“There is either ignorance about what this represents for the country — or, in some cases, parties are already part of this economy.”

According to projections by the Peruvian Institute of Economics, illegal mining generated more than $US11.5 billion ($A16.3 billion) in 2025 and over 100 tons of gold exports — rivalling the formal sector and surpassing drug trafficking. 

Some political candidates’ proposals, including former ministers and technocratic candidates such as Jorge Nieto and Alfonso López Chau, include measures such as gold traceability, financial intelligence and protections for environmental defenders, but these remain fragmented and fall short of a comprehensive strategy.

Others — including candidates from influential conservative and populist parties, such as Keiko Fujimori, Rafael López Aliaga and César Acuña — focus on security, economic growth or extractive development without directly addressing illegal mining or its links to corruption and territorial control in the Amazon. 

In some cases — including those of Ricardo Belmont and Carlos Álvarez, both media figures turned political candidates — plans omit the issue entirely.

“Illegal mining and illicit economies are not being prioritised in government plans,” said Magaly Ávila, director of environmental governance at Proetica, a Peruvian anti-corruption group, noting that around 64 per cent of party platforms fail to meaningfully address the issue, while only about five per cent do so “clearly and explicitly”.

A March analysis by Peru’s Observatory of Illegal Mining reinforces those concerns, finding that only 12 of 36 registered political parties present specific proposals, while others offer only general statements without concrete measures or do not address the issue at all.

Peruvian authorities have previously announced operations and strategies to combat illegal mining, though experts say enforcement remains limited. 

The Associated Press contacted several government entities for comment on the issue of illegal mining and indigenous protections, but did not receive a response by the time of publication. 

Peruvian MPs have repeatedly extended a temporary registry that allows informal miners to continue operating while seeking formalisation, a system critics say has been widely abused and has helped illegal mining expand.

At the same time, recent legislative changes have undermined the capacity of prosecutors and judges to pursue organised crime, including illegal mining networks, according to rights groups. 

Analysts say the measures reflect political pressure from small-scale miners, who have staged protests to demand looser regulations, complicating efforts to tighten enforcement.

The protests appear highly organised, suggesting the involvement of more powerful actors behind the scenes, said Julia Urrunaga, Peru program director at the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA). 

Illegal mining has grown rapidly in recent years, fuelled by soaring gold prices, which have climbed to around $US4,500 ($A6,372) to $US5,000 ($A7,080) per ounce — making even small amounts of gold highly valuable. 

Once concentrated in regions such as Madre de Dios, the activity has spread into other parts of the Amazon and beyond.

“The price of gold has reached historic highs, and that has obviously driven illegal mining to expand,” Ipenza said. 

“The state does not have the capacity to respond or pursue this activity.”

Illegal mining operations often rely on mercury to extract gold, contaminating rivers and entering the food chain through fish.

“In Amazonian river communities, between 50 per cent and 70 per cent of the diet is fish,” said Mariano Castro, Peru’s former vice minister of environment. 

“So exposure increases exponentially, and mercury is highly toxic, with serious neurological impacts.”

Environmental and health experts warn contamination in some regions already exceeds safety standards, posing long-term risks.

Expected expansion throughout the Amazon “will bring contamination, transnational criminal groups and direct impacts on indigenous and local populations,” Ipenza said.

Illegal mining already “puts at risk our health, biodiversity and ways of life,” said Tabea Casique, a board member of AIDESEP, Peru’s largest Indigenous organisation.

“Most political parties are not taking this problem into account or presenting concrete proposals,” she said.

Former vice minister Castro called state efforts “insufficient” and said MPs have also weakened legal tools to prosecute illegal mining, including reducing penalties and limiting the ability to treat such operations as organised crime. 

Gaps in oversight allow illegally mined gold to enter legal supply chains, often through processing plants where it is laundered.

Ipenza called for the government to better control small-scale processing plants and for stronger coordination across government agencies — including customs, financial intelligence units and prosecutors — to track gold flows and identify illegal activity.

Analysts say weak traceability systems are a central vulnerability.

“There is no real way to trace mining production in Peru,” said EIA’s Urrunaga. 

“Authorities hold fragmented pieces of information, but there is no system — and apparently no political will — to connect them.”

“We are talking about more than $US12 billion ($A17 billion) in illegal gold exports,” she added. 

“How can this be happening in almost total impunity?”

The United States and Iran are to hold negotiations in the Pakistani capital Islamabad to end their six-week-old war although Tehran threw the talks into doubt by saying they could not ‌begin without commitments on Lebanon and sanctions. 

The US delegation, led by Vice President JD Vance and including President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner, arrived in Islamabad on Saturday after a refuelling stop in Paris.

The ‌Iranian delegation, led by parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, arrived on Friday.

In a post on X, Qalibaf said Washington had previously agreed to unblock Iranian assets and to a ceasefire in Lebanon, where Israeli attacks ‌on Iran-backed Hezbollah militants have killed almost 2000 people since March. 

He said talks would not start until those pledges were fulfilled.

Israel and the US have said the Lebanon campaign is not part of the Iran-US ceasefire. Tehran insists it is.

Qalibaf said separately Iran was ready to reach a deal if Washington offered what he called a genuine agreement and granted Iran its rights, Iranian state media reported.

The White House did not immediately comment on the Iranian demands, but Trump posted on social media the only reason the Iranians were alive was to negotiate a deal.

“The Iranians don’t seem to realise they have no cards, other than a short ‌term extortion of the ‌World by using International Waterways. The only ⁠reason they are alive today is to negotiate!” he said.

Vance, speaking en route to Pakistan, said he expected a positive outcome but added: “If they’re ​going to try to play us, then they’re going to find the negotiating team is not that receptive.”

Islamabad was under an unprecedented lockdown on Saturday with thousands of paramilitary personnel and army troops on the streets.

“We have deployed multi-layer security for this event, which is based on co-ordination, intelligence and constant monitoring for zero disruption and full control,” Pakistan’s junior interior minister, Talal Chaudhry, told Reuters.

Trump on Tuesday announced a two-week ceasefire in the war, which has halted US and Israeli air strikes on Iran.

But it has not ended Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, which has caused the biggest-ever disruption to global energy supplies, or calmed the parallel war between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Israeli ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter and his Lebanese counterpart Nada Hamadeh Moawad will hold talks in Washington on Tuesday, Israeli and Lebanese ⁠officials said, amid the conflicting accounts on what those talks would cover.

Israeli attacks ‌continued across southern Lebanon on Friday. 

One strike on a government building in the city of Nabatieh killed 13 members of Lebanon’s state security forces, President Joseph Aoun said in a statement.

Hezbollah said in a statement on ​its Telegram channel that it fired rocket salvos at northern Israeli towns in response. 

Hours after the ceasefire was announced, Israel launched the biggest attack of the war, killing more than 350 people in surprise strikes on heavily populated areas, Lebanese authorities said.

Tehran’s agenda at the talks includes demands for major new concessions, including the end of sanctions that crippled its economy for years.

It also wants acknowledgement of its authority over the Strait ​of ​Hormuz, where it aims to collect transit fees and control access in what would amount to ​a huge shift in regional power.

Iran’s ships were sailing through the strait unimpeded on Friday, while those of other ‌countries remained hemmed inside.