Negotiating with Iran in Pakistan, US Vice President JD Vance: Don't Toy with America!
This is a war that JD Vance never wanted, but the US Vice President has been tasked with ending it. This step comes as a fragile temporary ceasefire appears on the brink of failure.
In the US domestically, where Vance may seek voter support in the next two years to become the next president, political and economic pressures to resolve this conflict quickly are also mounting. This was reported by Associated Press.
Vance departed for Pakistan this week with a mandate from US President Donald Trump to turn the fragile ceasefire with Iran into a durable peace agreement. According to AFP, for Vance, who has tended to avoid the public spotlight during this Middle East conflict, this mission will be one of the biggest moments in his political career.
The figure widely regarded as a strong candidate in the 2028 US presidential election will also face significant challenges when negotiations begin on Saturday (11/04) in Islamabad.
“I don’t recall an instance where a vice president has led formal negotiations like this,” Aaron Wolf Mannes, a lecturer at the University of Maryland School of Public Policy and an expert on US foreign policy who has researched the role of US vice presidents, told AFP.
“It’s high-risk, but it also has the potential for great rewards.”
The format of the negotiations remains unclear
According to AP, the White House has provided few details on the format of the negotiations, whether they will be direct or indirect, and has not explained specific expectations from the meeting.
However, Vance’s presence in these negotiations marks a rare moment of high-level US government engagement with Iran. Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, the most direct previous contact occurred when President Barack Obama called then-Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in September 2013 to discuss Iran’s nuclear programme.
Both sides face a rocky road to progress
Almost immediately after the White House and Iran announced the temporary ceasefire on Tuesday (07/04) evening, the two parties were already at odds over the terms of the agreement.
Iran insists that the cessation of Israel’s war in Lebanon is included in the ceasefire deal. However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Trump have stated that the ceasefire does not cover Lebanon, and Israel’s military operations in the area continue.
Meanwhile, the US is demanding that Iran fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Iran closed the strategic shipping route in response to escalating Israeli attacks on the militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon.
A difficult position for Vance
The 41-year-old Vance has built his political image as a staunch anti-interventionist who wants to keep America from becoming further involved in foreign wars like Iraq, where he served as a US Marine.
That stance has put him in a difficult position since Trump launched the war against Iran on 28 February.
Vance has publicly supported the conflict but has stayed out of the public eye. When the ceasefire was announced, he was far away in Hungary supporting Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s election campaign.
Now, however, Vance has suddenly become Trump’s “spearhead of diplomacy” to reach an agreement with Iran.
In the announcement of the negotiations in Islamabad this week, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt described Vance as playing “a very significant and key role from the beginning.”
Vance will be accompanied by the US President’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, as he becomes the first US vice president to visit Pakistan since Joe Biden in 2011.
The White House stated that Vance, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Witkoff, and Kushner “have always worked together on these issues.”
“The President is optimistic that an agreement can be reached that will bring long-term peace to the Middle East,” Deputy Principal Press Secretary Anna Kelly said in a statement to AFP.
One theory suggests that Iran may see Vance as a more acceptable diplomatic partner, given his well-known aversion to war and scepticism towards US military interventions.
Not always diplomatic
After Tehran expressed anger over Israel’s continued attacks on cities in Lebanon despite the ceasefire agreement, Vance struck a softer tone, suggesting there might be a “misunderstanding.” However, he is not always diplomatic.
As a long-time critic of support for Ukraine, Vance is even known as the trigger for heated debates in the White House between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in February 2025.
His crucial role in these Iran talks is also occurring amid the shadow of potential rivalry with Marco Rubio to become Trump’s political heir in the Republican Party in the next two years.
“If he can produce something that just de-escalates the situation without touching the core issues, that might be enough,” Mannes said.
“But if there’s no good outcome, it will raise questions about his competence, which certainly won’t help electorally, and of course Rubio is there as a potential rival for 2028.”
Clearly, US Vice President JD Vance has warned Tehran not to “toy with” the United States as he heads to Islamabad for negotiations aimed at ending the war with Iran.