Vance likely to travel to Islamabad on Tuesday: report

JD Vance may travel to Islamabad for US-Iran peace talks as a fragile ceasefire nears expiry. Donald Trump signaled urgency amid tensions, stalled negotiations, and disagreements over uranium enrichment and lifting the US blockade

Washington: US Vice President J D Vance is likely to travel to Islamabad on Tuesday for peace talks with Iran to end the seven-week war, according to a media report.

On Monday, US President Donald Trump told The New York Post that the Vance-led delegation was already en route to Islamabad, while other media outlets reported that the vice president was very much in Washington.

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Vance is expected to reach Islamabad as the two-week ceasefire, agreed to between the US and Iran on April 8, ends amid threats by Trump to bomb bridges and power plants in Iran if both sides fail to reach a deal.

With Vance expected to reach Islamabad late Tuesday, Trump has effectively extended the ceasefire by a day till Wednesday.

“Vice President Vance is expected to depart for Islamabad by Tuesday morning for talks with Iran over a potential deal to end the war,” American news outlet Axios reported, quoting three US sources.

Special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are expected to join Vance.

The fragile ceasefire between the US and Iran was tested once again on Sunday when a US guided-missile destroyer fired on and seized an Iranian cargo ship after it tried to get past the US naval blockade in the Gulf of Oman, further angering the Iranians.

The Iranian team was urged to join the meeting by mediators from Pakistan, Egypt, and Turkiye, Axios reported, but, according to the source, didn’t leave until they received approval from Iran’s supreme leader.

The Iranian delegation’s plan to travel to Islamabad was also reported earlier on Monday by the New York Times, citing two Iranian officials.

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammed-Bagher Ghalibaf is expected to lead the delegation.

Axios, quoting a source with knowledge, said the Iranians were stalling amid apparent pressure from the Revolutionary Guards on the negotiators to hold a firmer line – no talks without an end to the US blockade.

“The United States has never been closer to a good deal with Iran, unlike the horrible deal made by the Obama Administration, thanks to President Trump’s negotiating ability,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News.

“Anyone who cannot see President Trump’s tactics to play the long game is either stupid or willfully ignorant,” she said Monday night.

During the first round of talks on April 11, American negotiators proposed a 20-year pause on Iran’s enrichment of uranium, a source familiar with the discussions was quoted as saying by CNN.

Iran responded with a proposal for a five-year suspension, which the US has rejected, according to a US official.

Trump insisted Monday he wasn’t feeling pressure to reach a deal, despite the war’s rising unpopularity among the American public and the role it’s played in higher gas prices.

“I am under no pressure whatsoever, although it will all happen relatively quickly!” he wrote on Truth Social.