President Trump sending VP Vance-led team to Pakistan for Iran peace talks this weekend

WASHINGTON, Apr 09 (APP): US President Donald Trump is sending Vice President J.D. Vance and other top negotiators to Pakistan for mediated talks with Iran this weekend aimed at cementing a permanent ceasefire, the White House announced on Wednesday.

White House Press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed the U.S. participation in the talks, which will be held in Islamabad beginning on Saturday morning, during a press briefing, which followed the Pakistan-brokered cease-fire announced Tuesday.

US Middle East Special envoy Steve Witkoff and the president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner also will participate in talks in Islamabad.

“The first round of those talks will take place on Saturday morning local time,” Press Secretary Ms. Leavitt said at a briefing.

“Vice President Vance has played a very significant and a key role in this since the very beginning. Of course he’s the president’s right-hand man,” Ms. Leavitt said.

“He’s been involved in all of these discussions, and as I just announced, he’ll be leading this new phase of negotiations in Islamabad later this week.”

Meanwhile, Iran told regional mediators it won’t attend talks without a cease-fire in Lebanon and has conditioned the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz on Israel ending its attacks on Hezbollah, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Israel said it had agreed to stop firing on Iran, insisting its ground operations in Lebanon would not be halted.

On his part, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif urged all parties to show restraint so that diplomacy can work.

“Violations of ceasefire have been reported at few places across the conflict zone which undermine the spirit of peace process,” Sharif, who has been acting as a mediator, said on X. “I earnestly and sincerely urge all parties to exercise restraint and respect the ceasefire for two weeks, as agreed upon, so that diplomacy can take a lead role towards peaceful settlement of the conflict.”

President Trump on Tuesday accepted Iran’s 10-point counter-proposal on ending the conflict as a “workable basis on which to negotiate” a permanent deal — after US negotiators relayed 15 points.

Trump launched the war alongside Israel on Feb. 28, with the White House identifying four core objectives, including ending Tehran’s nuclear programme, destroying its navy, wrecking its ballistic missile production sites and ending its support for its so-called proxies.

The cease-fire included an agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to international shipping after Iran closed the crucial waterway in the wake of the US-Israeli war on the Islamic Republic.