The White House confirmed this Wednesday that the Vice President of the United States, JD Vance, will lead the American delegation in talks with Iran scheduled for this weekend in Islamabad, Pakistan. The mission aims to advance a peace agreement after the two-week temporary ceasefire announced on Tuesday, which marks a pause in hostilities that began on February 28.
During a press conference, the White House spokesperson, Karoline Leavitt, has indicated that the delegation will also include the special envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, and Jared Kushner, and that the first round of negotiations will take place on Saturday morning, local time.
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The White House calls Iran's peace plan "unserious"
Leavitt has stressed that these conversations arise after the US decision to discard the ten-point plan initially presented by Iran, calling it “unserious and unacceptable”. “It was literally thrown in the trash by President Trump and his negotiating team,” the spokesperson assured. According to Leavitt, Iran has put forward a more condensed proposal, different from the one originally presented, which will serve as the basis for the conversations.
Although Vance is currently visiting Hungary, his direct participation marks the first time the American vice president has been involved in negotiations of this type with Tehran. Witkoff and Kushner had already led several rounds of dialogue with Iran in the last year, including the February 27 meeting, just one day before the U.S. and Israel launched attacks against the country.
Leavitt has stressed that Trump's red lines remain unalterable: “The end of uranium enrichment within Iranian territory is non-negotiable. The idea that the president could accept some Iranian ‘wish list’ as a basis for an agreement is completely ridiculous,” he stated.