Dramatic footage of five Pakistan Air Force F-16 fighter jets escorting a US Air Force Boeing C-32A plane went viral on Saturday as it entered Pakistani airspace.
The aircraft carried US Vice President JD Vance to Islamabad for ceasefire talks with Iran.
Vance's plane landed at Rawalpindi's Nur Khan Airbase, where he was received by Pakistan's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Army Chief Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, and Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi.
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Whereas, the Iranian delegation, led by Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, had arrived a day earlier. They were also received by the same Pakistani officials.
Iran sent three aircraft to Islamabad, two of them reportedly decoys, amid concerns over the security of its delegation during the flight.
The talks are being hosted at the Serena Hotel in the capital's heavily secured Red Zone. Islamabad declared a two-day public holiday an around 10,000 security personnel were deployed across the city, with roads sealed and residents advised to stay indoors.
The negotiations are the highest-level direct engagement between the United States and Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
They come after five days into a fragile two-week ceasefire, brokered by Pakistan, between the US-Israel alliance and Iran following nearly six weeks of conflict that began on February 28.
Moreover, Iran has set two preconditions for talks to proceed: a halt to Israeli strikes in Lebanon and the release of frozen Iranian assets held abroad.
Other than that, key issues on the table include Iran's nuclear programme, the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, and sanctions relief for Iran.
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Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has described the talks as a "make-or-break" moment.
On another front, Lebanon and Israel gear up for talks next week as a momentary pause provides relief from the intense strikes a day earlier that threatened a collapse of the US-Iran negotiations.
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