A U.S. delegation is expected to depart Tuesday for a second round of face-to-face peace talks with Iran in Islamabad, as the fate of the two-week ceasefire remains unclear. Iran has yet to confirm its attendance, instead warning that it is prepared “to unveil new cards on the battlefield.” The ceasefire is set to expire Wednesday.
President Donald Trump told Bloomberg News on Monday that he’s not likely to extend the ceasefire with Iran if no deal is reached. “I’m not going to be rushed into making a bad deal. We’ve got all the time in the world,” Trump told the outlet.
The United States said it was sending Vice President JD Vance, Middle East special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. As of late Monday morning, Vance had yet to depart for Pakistan, a person familiar with his plans told The Washington Post, speaking on the condition of anonymity to share sensitive information. Administration officials said the vice president would probably depart the U.S. on Tuesday.
Both sides have expressed support for a negotiated end to the war while also escalating a standoff in the Strait of Hormuz, a choke-point waterway that carries a fifth of the global oil supply and has emerged as a central sticking point in U.S. and Iranian disagreements. The U.S. over the weekend seized the Iranian-flagged ship Touska following reported Iranian attacks on two Indian-flagged ships. The strait is virtually closed to all traffic.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry condemned the U.S. seizure of the Touska as “maritime piracy,” warning of “extremely dangerous consequences” while calling for the release of the vessel and its crew in a statement reported by Iranian state media Tuesday.
The price of Brent crude, the international benchmark, hovered around $95 per barrel early Tuesday, while Asian markets closed mostly flat. European markets posted modest gains amid uncertainty over the status of the ceasefire.
Iranian officials said they would not bow to U.S. pressure in statements Tuesday, and said they maintained readiness in case of attacks.
“We do not accept negotiations under the shadow of threat, and over the past two weeks, we have been preparing to unveil new cards on the battlefield,” Iran’s parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf wrote on X overnight. He said that Trump, by imposing the U.S. blockade, “seeks to turn this negotiating table — in his own imagination — into a table of surrender or to justify renewed warmongering.”
On Tuesday morning, Iran’s ambassador to Pakistan, Reza Amiri Moghadam, echoed that statement, saying in a post on X that Iran “will Not negotiate under Threat and Force.”
Maj. Gen. Ali Abdollahi, commander of Khatam al-Anbiya military headquarters, said Iran was prepared to deliver “decisive, determining, and immediate responses” in a statement reported by Iran’s state-run Mehr news agency.
By midday Tuesday, the state media outlet Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting reported that “no Iranian diplomatic delegation — be it a primary or secondary team, or an initial or follow-up mission — has traveled to Islamabad, Pakistan so far” for the latest talks.
Still, Islamabad — an unlikely mediator — was gearing up for the talks Tuesday, heightening security and shutting roads in anticipation of negotiators’ arrival.
The post U.S. delegation set to leave for Islamabad as Iran ceasefire nears expiration appeared first on Washington Post.
