If and when a photograph is taken of US Vice President JD Vance standing next to Iran's Parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf in Islamabad this weekend, it will make history.

That moment would mark the highest-level face-to-face talks between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States of America since the 1979 Islamic Revolution shattered their strong strategic bond and cast a long shadow which still darkens relations to this day.

The two men may not smile. They may not even shake hands. It would not make this troubled relationship any more easy, any less hostile.

But it would send a signal that both sides want to try to end a war sending shocks worldwide, avoid an even riskier escalation, and turn to diplomacy to do a deal.

There's zero chance though of President Trump's optimistic prediction of a 'peace deal' within this shaky two-week ceasefire; its terms were contested and broken since the moment it was announced earlier this week.

Even until the eleventh hour, Iranians kept everyone guessing over whether they would still show up while Israel was insisting there would be no ceasefire in Lebanon.

If serious and sustained talks make a start, it would also mark the most significant push since Trump pulled out of the previous landmark nuclear deal in 2018, during his first term. Those talks, in endless rounds stretching over nearly 18 months, were the last high-level meetings between the US's then-secretary of state John Kerry and Iran's then-foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.

Efforts since then, including during President Biden's term, made little headway. The gaps between the two sides remain very wide; the distrust runs very deep.

This dissatisfaction is even more pronounced for Tehran after their last two series of negotiations were suddenly interrupted by the unfolding violence in the region.

Negotiating styles of both parties are polar opposites. Iran insists on raising the level of engagement, wanting to speak directly to Vice President JD Vance, who is perceived as more aligned with the position of scepticism over military engagements in the region.

The situation remains fluid but the upcoming talks may provide a newfound hope for dialogue over continued conflict in the region.