Iran Gives Trump an Ultimatum on JD Vance
Iran said it had finished meeting with two representatives appointed by President Donald Trump to lead negotiations in the Middle East.
The country that Trump began attacking three weeks ago is no longer keen on negotiating with Trump’s Middle East Special Representative Steve Witkoff or Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, both of whom led nuclear negotiations with Iran before the war.
Iran reportedly said it would only engage in negotiations with Vice President J.D. Vance at this time. Guard.
Throughout his political career, Vance has been skeptical of U.S. intervention in the Middle East. / Marco Bello / REUTERS
The United States and Iran were negotiating over the country’s nuclear program when Trump launched his deadly war on Iran.
Since the start of the war, the Iranian regime has viewed these negotiations, led by Witkoff and Kushner, as a front by the Trump administration to deceive Iran into thinking they were negotiating in good faith when the United States actually wanted to attack.
Witkoff, Trump’s former golf buddy, and his son-in-law had been leading unsuccessful negotiations with Iran for months. / Alexander Kazakov / via REUTERS
“We have no chance with the previous negotiating team,” a diplomatic source told the Guardian. “The Iranian side sees the request for negotiations as a new round of deception for the US-Israeli regime to find a loophole to escalate the attacks again.”
The source noted that Iran sees Vance as a more acceptable diplomatic figure than Witkoff and Kushner, especially since Vance is inherently skeptical of US military action in the Middle East.
Vance, a Marine who served on public affairs during the Iraq War, has traditionally been wary of U.S. foreign intervention throughout his career in politics.
“JD Vance should be in if anything comes of the negotiations,” the source told the outlet. “Nothing will come of Witkoff and Kushner. We’ve seen this in the past.”
Vance, the administration’s chief troller, has been uncharacteristically quiet about his boss’ war on the internet. / Marco Bello / REUTERS
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is pressing for his country to “facilitate meaningful and definitive talks” between the United States and Iran in Islamabad.
According to the official statement, he met with Iranian president Massoud Pezeshkian, where they “agreed on the urgent need for de-escalation, dialogue and diplomacy.”
“Subject to the agreement of the United States and Iran, Pakistan is ready and honored to host the facilitation of meaningful and definitive negotiations for a comprehensive settlement of the ongoing conflict,” Sharif wrote on X on Tuesday.
@CMShehbaz/X
The country has not yet been designated as the country that will officially host the talks between the two sides. Other venues in Egypt, Türkiye and Qatar were also discussed, but the Guardian reported that Tehran’s preference was for the talks to be held in Islamabad.
The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House for comment.
More than 2,000 people have been killed since the outbreak of the Iran war, including 13 US soldiers. / Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asian News Agency) via Reuters
Over the weekend, Trump gave Iran an ultimatum, saying he would “destroy” Iran’s power plants if it did not open the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours of the Truth Social threat.
The president’s self-imposed timeline came and went, he backtracked on his threat and claimed he was having “GOOD AND PRODUCTIVE CONVERSATIONS” with the Iranians.
While Trump’s post on Monday claimed that there were successful negotiations with Iran, Tehran appeared to object to this information. /Donald J. Trump/Truth Social
Iran denies Trump’s claim in question no such meeting took place, calling Trump’s claim an “attempt to #evade Iran’s latest threat to energy infrastructure.”
While domestic gas and oil prices were rising rapidly, Iran’s closure of the Bosphorus became a headache for the White House. At the same time, the Bosphorus has become Iran’s strongest trump card in the war against the USA.
