‘Like a crypto convention’: Venue design for Iran war peace talks ignites online frenzy

Asia One News reporter Anas Mallick shared photos Saturday of the venue where U.S. and Iranian officials are negotiating a potential end to the war, and observers couldn’t help but note its similarities to corporate marketing events.

“Why did they make the place where people are trying to stop World War III look like a crypto convention,” asked Zeteo reporter Prem Thakker in a social media post on X to his more than 92,000 followers.

Held in Islamabad, Pakistan, the negotiations will see a U.S. delegation led by Vice President JD Vance attempt to reach an agreement with Iranian officials to bring about an end to the U.S. war against Iran. The negotiations were scheduled to take place throughout the day on Saturday, just 24 hours after Trump made inflammatory remarks directed at Iranian negotiators, telling them that “the only reason they are alive today is to negotiate.”

As media outlets continue to await developments in the negotiations, the venue for the peace talks continued to draw attention online, as did an online hashtag that was shared by Mallick to promote the event.

“Do they have merch you can buy?” asked independent journalist Sulaiman Ahmed in a social media post to his more than 53,000 followers on X. “#IslamabadTalks tote bags?”

“I’m crying, why do the peace talks have an official hashtag,” wrote Semafor reporter Josh Billinson to his nearly 35,000 followers on X.

BBC Persian journalist Behrang Tajdin also weighed in on the venue’s design.

“What the hell is "#IslamabadDialogues"?!” he wrote in a social media post on X to his more than 32,000 followers, according to an automatic translation of his post. “Is it a festival? Or a TV show?”