JD Vance
to lead US delegation in Pakistan if Iran agrees to talks
US
vice-president to travel to Islamabad with Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner as
deadline for current ceasefire looms
Dan
Sabbagh and Hannah Ellis-Petersen
Tue 21
Apr 2026 02.30 BST
JD Vance
is expected to fly to Islamabad at the head of a US diplomatic delegation on
Tuesday if Iran agrees to further talks in the Pakistani capital as the
deadline for the current ceasefire looms.
The US
vice-president will travel with Steve Witkoff, Donald Trump’s special envoy,
and Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law – though Iran’s president warned
there remained a “deep historical mistrust” of the US.
Masoud
Pezeshkian said Tehran was concerned about “unconstructive and contradictory
signals from American officials” and concluded they amounted to an effort to
seek the country’s surrender. “Iranians do not submit to force,” he said.
However,
one senior Iranian official told the Reuters news agency that Tehran was
“positively reviewing” its participation, amid reports that its delegation
would again be headed by parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf if
Vance attends.
Ghalibaf
said later that Iran would not accept negotiations with the US while under
threat, adding in the post on X early on Tuesday that “we have prepared to
reveal new cards on the battlefield”. He also accused Trump of seeking to “turn
this negotiating table – in his own imagination – into a table of surrender or
to justify renewed warmongering.”
Tehran
called for an end to the US blockade of the strait of Hormuz, while Trump
repeated a demand that Iran should never be allowed to build a nuclear weapon
and even said he would be willing to meet Iranian leaders himself.
Earlier,
the US president had confused the situation by telling the New York Post that
Vance and his team were “heading over now” and he expected them to be arriving
in Islamabad that evening.
That was
quickly corrected by US officials who said while there had been a discussion
about Vance leaving on Monday, the vice-president was in fact expected to
depart on Tuesday morning if the talks were taking place.
A second
round of high-stakes discussions to end a war begun by US and Israeli bombing
at the end of February could – if they go ahead – take place on Wednesday, with
the threat of renewed outbreak of fighting in the background.
Trump
said he now considers the two-week ceasefire with Iran ends “Wednesday evening
Washington time”, extending the pause for an extra 24 hours to allow the
critical meeting in Islamabad to take place.
In an
interview with Bloomberg, he added it was “highly unlikely that I’d extend it”
further and indicating bombing could restart shortly after – though in the same
conversation the president also insisted that “I’m not going to be rushed into
making a bad deal. We’ve got all the time in the world.”
Vance led
the US team during 21 hours of failed discussions with Iran earlier in the
month, which collapsed after Iran would not agree to US demands to end nuclear
enrichment and hand over its 440kg of highly enriched uranium.
The
Iranians had said there remained a deficit of trust with the US, and wanted
assurances they would not be attacked again if a final agreement was reached.
Though Iran was intensively bombed during the five-week US-Israel joint
campaign, Tehran’s leadership does not believe it has been defeated.
Pakistan
has been preparing for possible negotiations since Sunday, setting up a
security lockdown and suspending public transport in the capital. Islamabad’s
electricity board also promised that power cuts would be suspended in the city
while negotiations continue.
Power
cuts lasting six to seven hours a day have become typical in cities across
Pakistan as the country grapples with oil and gas shortages caused by the
double closure of the strait of Hormuz by Iran and the US.
Trump had
imposed a blockade on Iranian ports in response to Iran’s decision to charge
tolls on merchant shipping crossing the strategic waterway, and on Sunday the
US military seized an Iranian-flagged container ship trying to cross, raising
concerns an escalation of hostilities would prevent peace talks resuming.
US
central command said the Touska had been seized after its crew had ignored six
hours of warnings. Its engines were disabled by fire from a US destroyer and it
was then captured by marines from the USS Tripoli, arriving by helicopter and
roping down on to the merchant vessel.
Though
Iran had briefly lifted its own blockade on Friday, it reimposed it again on
Saturday because the US would not lift its counter-blockade. One tanker in the
region was attacked by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards on Saturday and a second
container ship was struck by an unknown projectile.
Commercial
shipping was once again at a near standstill in the strait. Three tankers made
the crossing on Monday – after 18 ships had transited on Saturday – and the
price of Brent crude oil was up by $5 to more than $95 on Monday, reflecting
the renewed maritime danger.
Israel
and Lebanon are due to hold a second round of ambassador level talks in
Washington on Thursday, the US state department said, the first discussions
between the two countries since a 10-day ceasefire in the theatre was announced
last week.
Israel
also told residents of southern Lebanon to stay out of a zone of territory next
to the border, and warned people not to approach the area of the Litani River,
as it sought to consolidate its military grip on the area while the ceasefire
is ongoing.
A map
posted by the country’s military on social media marked a red line through 21
villages across the south, covering an area 5km to 10km from the border.
Sem comentários:
Enviar um comentário