U.S. Vice President JD Vance departed on Friday for "make-or-break" negotiations with Iran, even as Tehran insisted on measures before peace talks could take place, throwing last-minute doubt over the meetings scheduled in Pakistan.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance departed on Friday for "make-or-break" negotiations with Iran, even as Tehran insisted on measures before peace talks could take place, throwing last-minute doubt over the meetings scheduled in Pakistan.
President Donald Trump announced a two-week ceasefire in the six-week war on Tuesday, just hours before a deadline after which the U.S. president had threatened to destroy Iran's civilisation.
The ceasefire has halted U.S. and Israeli airstrikes on Iran. But it has not ended Iran's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, which has caused the biggest-ever disruption to global energy supplies, or calmed a parallel war between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Iran's parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said on X that Washington had previously agreed to unblock Iranian assets and to a ceasefire in Lebanon, and added that talks would not start until those pledges are fulfilled.
His position was echoed by Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, who also demanded an end to Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon. Both officials are expected to be at the talks, Pakistani sources said.
While there was no immediate comment from the White House, Trump said in a social media post that the only reason the Iranians were alive was to negotiate a deal.
"The Iranians don’t seem to realize they have no cards, other than a short term extortion of the World by using International Waterways. The only reason they are alive today is to negotiate!" he said.
Vance, who will lead the U.S. delegation, said he expected a positive outcome as he headed to Pakistan, but added: "If they're going to try to play us, then they're going to find the negotiating team is not that receptive."
Iran has been unable to obtain tens of billions of dollars of its assets in foreign banks, mainly from exports of oil and gas, due to U.S. sanctions on its banking and energy sectors.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, in a national address on Friday night, laid out the stakes of the talks.
"The permanent ceasefire is the next difficult phase, which is to resolve the complicated issues through negotiation. This, as called in English, is a make-or-break phase," Sharif said.
Source: Reuters
