WASHINGTON — Vice President JD Vance arrived at the White House shortly before 1 p.m. Tuesday as doubts grew about whether he would travel as planned to Pakistan for a second round of peace talks with Iran.
Vance had been expected in Islamabad on Monday, but the timeframe for his trip continued to slip Tuesday — as President Trump threatens to renew bombing after a two-week cease-fire expires Wednesday.
Special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner also were expected in the Pakistani capital — but with no commitment by Iranian officials to appear instead reportedly are en route from Miami toward Washington.
The trio of US negotiators held about 21 hours of talks with Iranian officials in Islamabad on April 10-11, but went home without a deal.
Following the lack of a deal, Trump has since last week blockaded Iranian ports in an attempt to strong-arm Tehran into agreeing to his core demands — topped by ending nuclear enrichment and relinquishing near-weapons-grade uranium.
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Trump claimed last week that Iran had agreed to stop enriching uranium and to hand over an estimated 1,000 pounds of deeply buried “nuclear dust.”
Iran publicly denied making those concessions — leading to speculation that Iranian negotiators over-promised or that communications were relayed imprecisely by Pakistani mediators.
The US military on Sunday attacked and seized the Iranian cargo ship Tosca for violating Trump’s blockade, adding additional uncertainty to diplomatic efforts
Negotiations have been beset by doubts about whether Iranian diplomats are able to speak with authority for their nation’s leadership. The concern existed too before joint US-Israeli airstrikes began on Feb. 28.
Iran was repped in the first round of talks in Pakistan by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.
“Blockading Iranian ports is an act of war and thus a violation of the ceasefire,” Araghchi tweeted Tuesday. “Striking a commercial vessel and taking its crew hostage is an even greater violation. Iran knows how to neutralize restrictions, how to defend its interests, and how to resist bullying.”
Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has not been directly seen or heard from since succeeding his father and the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is believed to oppose the perception of caving to US demands.
Trump said in a Tuesday morning interview with CNBC that he plans to resume bombing if there’s no deal by the time the cease-fire ends Wednesday — though the precise time the truce lifts remained ambiguous, in part due to the nine-hour difference in time zones.
“I expect to be bombing because I think that’s a better attitude to go in with,” Trump the financial network’s “Squawk Box” program. “We’re ready to go. The military is raring to go.”
Trump said “I don’t want to” extend the cease-fire.
“We don’t have that much time,” he said.
The conflict has lasted for 53 days and the War Powers Resolution of 1973 says congressional approval is needed within 60 days of an armed conflict. The White House argues that the law is unconstitutional, but it could nonetheless underpin legislative debates about war funding.
