Vice President JD Vance departed Washington on Friday for Islamabad, where he will lead the U.S. delegation—alongside special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner—in the first direct U.S.-Iran negotiations since the two-week ceasefire was announced April 8. The talks are scheduled to begin Saturday morning. Iran has not formally announced its delegation, but parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf has been named as the potential leader of Tehran’s delegation.
The ceasefire is holding—barely. The core problem: Iran and Pakistan both say Lebanon was included in the ceasefire terms; the U.S. and Israel say it was not. As we reported, Trump reversed his position on Lebanon’s inclusion after a call from Netanyahu. Ghalibaf stated Friday that a ceasefire in Lebanon and the release of blocked Iranian assets “must be fulfilled before negotiations begin.”
Will the U.S. allow Israel—which is not in the negotiations in Islamabad—use Lebanon to play a spoiler role and prevent negotiations from even getting off the ground? By making a ceasefire in Lebanon a pre-condition, the Iranians are also in effect asking whether the U.S. can control Israel.