JD Vance was supposed to be on a plane to Islamabad Tuesday morning. Instead, he ended up back at the White House. The vice president’s trip to Pakistan for a second round of Iran peace talks was put on hold as Tehran refused to confirm whether its delegation would even show up.
According to CNN, Vance arrived at the White House on Tuesday afternoon for emergency meetings alongside Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. None of the American delegation, including envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, had departed the United States as of midday. A government plane that was scheduled to fly Witkoff and Kushner from Miami to Islamabad never left, and instead turned around toward Washington.
This comes just as Trump had previously sent Vance, Witkoff, and Kushner to Pakistan for the first round of direct US-Iran talks in Islamabad on April 11, which ended after 21 hours with no deal.
Iran digs in as ceasefire clock winds down
Iran’s public posture has grown sharper as the deadline closes in. Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, posted on X, accusing President Trump of trying to turn negotiations into “a table of surrender or to justify renewed warmongering.” He also warned that Tehran had “prepared to reveal new cards on the battlefield” over the previous two weeks.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said the hesitation was not indecision. “The reason is not indecision; it is because of contradictory messages, contradictory behaviors, and unacceptable actions by the American side,” he said, per CNN. A central sticking point is the US naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, imposed on April 13. Iran is demanding the blockade be lifted before talks can resume. Trump responded firmly: “We’re not going to open the strait until we have a final deal.”
Al Jazeera reported that on Sunday, US naval forces seized the Iranian-flagged cargo ship Touska in the Gulf of Oman after it attempted to pass through the blockade. Tehran labeled it a ceasefire violation. A second vessel, the M/T Tifani, was boarded in the Asia Pacific on Tuesday. Iran’s Foreign Ministry called the Touska seizure “extremely dangerous” and “criminal.”
Pakistan caught in the middle
Pakistani officials have been working overtime to keep the process alive. Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar urged both sides to extend the ceasefire and “give dialogue and diplomacy a chance,” while Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said Islamabad was still waiting for a formal response from Tehran. “Pakistan has made sincere efforts to convince the Iranian leadership to participate in the second round of talks and these efforts continue,” Tarar wrote on X.
At least nine US aircraft had already landed at Pakistan Air Force Base Nur Khan in Rawalpindi over the three days prior, carrying personnel and equipment in preparation for the Vance-led delegation. The groundwork had been laid. The problem is that there was no one confirmed on the Iranian side to meet.
Analysts cited by Al Jazeera noted that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has been pushing Iran’s negotiating team to hold a harder line, conditioning any return to the table on a complete end to the naval blockade. Internal divisions within Tehran have complicated the picture further.
Trump’s deadline and the threat of renewed bombing
Trump told Bloomberg the ceasefire runs until Wednesday evening Washington time, while Pakistan’s information minister placed the deadline earlier, at around 8pm ET Tuesday. Trump made clear he does not want another extension. “If there’s no deal, I would certainly expect,” he said when asked whether bombing would resume.
Trump had previously threatened to resume Iran bombing after the ceasefire, and his latest remarks reinforced that the military option remains squarely on the table. An anonymous Iranian source, however, told Al Jazeera that there were still indications a delegation could travel to Islamabad before the window closes, with security concerns playing a key role in the final decision.
Whether anyone from Tehran actually boards a plane to Pakistan will likely determine what happens next in a conflict now in its eighth week.
