US Vice President JD Vance’s scheduled visit to Pakistan has reportedly been put on hold with just hours left the two-week ceasefire with Iran to end. According to New York Times, the VP’s visit has been deferred for now because of Iran’s failure to respond to the US’s negotiating position ahead of talks.
A US official told the publication that while the talks aren’t cancelled, the “diplomatic process is in effect paused” due to Tehran’s lack of response. Follow live updates on Iran US war here.
On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump announced that he would extend the ceasefire with Iran. Shortly after, reports suggested that the White House has confirmed that JD Vance and other members of the US delegation won’t be travelling to Islamabad.
While Trump had long confirmed that a team of Vance and his special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner would be visiting Islamabad, Iran had not committed to participating in the fresh round.
News agency AFP earlier reported that JD Vance is still in Washington and quoted a White House official as saying that additional policy meetings were taking place.
Are the Pak talks happening?
With a shaky ceasefire set to expire soon, talks scheduled in Islamabad between American and Iranian delegations are more vital now than ever before. However, uncertainty looms over the future of these negotiations as Iran has so far remained noncommittal on its participation.
Reports of the White House now confirming that Vance won’t be visiting Islamabad suggest that the talks won’t be happening for now. Trump has extended the ceasefire to give Iran time to come up with a “unified proposal”.
While NYT reports that Vance’s Islamabad is on hold, it also said that the trip could be back “at a moment’s notice” if Iran issues a response that is deemed acceptable by Trump.
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