\n<\/p>\n
Islamabad, Pakistan \u2013<\/strong> Standing before reporters at the White House, US President Donald Trump was asked whether a ceasefire with Iran was within reach.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have an active, willing participant on the other side,\u201d he said on Monday, adding that the proposal on the table was \u201ca significant step\u201d before quickly qualifying that \u201cit\u2019s not good enough.\u201d<\/p>\n Pressed on who was leading Washington\u2019s diplomatic push, Trump confirmed what had been unfolding through backchannels for days.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re doing it along with Marco, JD. We have a number of people doing it,\u201d he said, listing Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio among the administration\u2019s lead negotiators for the first time.<\/p>\n In an administration that has struggled to project a coherent diplomatic strategy for a war it launched more than five weeks ago, Vance has largely kept a studied distance from Operation Epic Fury.<\/p>\n But Trump\u2019s statement was a public corroboration of how Vance has quietly emerged as a central actor in last-ditch efforts facilitated by Pakistan to pull the US and Iran back from the brink of what could be the most devastating escalation of the war so far.<\/p>\n The US president threatened over the weekend to bomb Iran\u2019s power and energy facilities if Tehran did not reopen the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20 percent of the world\u2019s oil and gas supplies pass in peacetime, by early on Wednesday Iran time. On Monday, he launched a profanity-laced tirade against Iran on his Truth Social platform.<\/p>\n And on Tuesday, about 12 hours before his self-imposed deadline for Iran, Trump escalated his apocalyptic rhetoric further.<\/p>\n \u201cA whole civilisation will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don\u2019t want that to happen, but it probably will,\u201d Trump posted on Truth Social.<\/p>\n Iran\u2019s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps responded by warning that all its restraints against targets would be lifted if Trump did escalate militarily, further putting the broader region on edge. Earlier in the day, Iran\u2019s Kharg island, its main export hub, had been bombed, and Iran had struck the Jubail petrochemical facility in Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n Amid the attacks and threats, sources close to the mediation efforts said attempts to get the US and Iran to agree to a Pakistani proposal for a two-stage halt to the war were still ongoing.<\/p>\n Whether those efforts are able to defy the increasingly vitriolic rhetoric being exchanged by the US and Iran and instead bring them closer to a peace deal will be a test of Vance\u2019s clout with Trump and of whether his presence in the talks nudges Iran towards dialogue, the sources said.<\/p>\n The night before Trump spoke, officials aware of the mediation efforts in Pakistan confirmed to Al Jazeera that the country\u2019s army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, had spoken with Vance, special envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.<\/p>\n The call was part of an intensive mediation effort Pakistan has led since late March. Islamabad hosted foreign ministers from Turkiye, Saudi Arabia and Egypt on March 29 in a coordinated push to end the hostilities. That meeting followed an earlier consultation in Riyadh on March 19 in which the same regional powers began aligning their approach.<\/p>\n Earlier, at a cabinet meeting on March 26, Trump asked his vice president to brief officials in Iran, formally acknowledging his role in the diplomatic effort.<\/p>\n According to Pakistani media quoting a senior civilian official familiar with the talks, a US delegation led by Vance was twice prepared to travel to Islamabad for direct discussions with their Iranian counterparts.<\/p>\n Both visits were cancelled at the last moment after Tehran requested more time for internal deliberations and ultimately declined to participate, according to the senior official.<\/p>\n Still, by last weekend, the effort had produced tangible movement. Iran confirmed receiving a ceasefire proposal, opening the door to broader negotiations. However, Tehran eventually rejected the plan, calling it \u201cillogical\u201d.<\/p>\n Iran\u2019s apparent preference for Vance predates the war.<\/p>\n On February 26, Witkoff and Jared Kushner \u2013 Trump\u2019s son-in-law and, like Witkoff, a real estate magnate \u2013 concluded a third round of indirect nuclear negotiations in Geneva with Iran\u2019s Araghchi. Omani Foreign Minister Badr Al Busaidi, who mediated the talks, emerged optimistic.<\/p>\n \u201cA peace deal is within our reach,\u201d he told US-based outlet CBS News the following day, describing \u201csignificant, important and unprecedented progress\u201d, including what he called a commitment from Iran not to stockpile enriched uranium.<\/p>\n \u201cThe big picture is that a deal is in our hands,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Nevertheless, two days later, US and Israeli forces struck multiple Iranian sites, launching the war. The first wave of attacks resulted in the assassination of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, among several other Iranian leaders.<\/p>\n From Tehran\u2019s perspective, this was a second betrayal: US officials had been engaged in negotiations with Tehran in June too before Israel and then the US bombed Iran during the 12-day war.<\/p>\n Javad Heiran-Nia, director of the Persian Gulf Studies Group in Tehran, said Iran had initially viewed Witkoff as a moderate within Trump\u2019s inner circle and accepted his role on that basis.<\/p>\n When Kushner joined the talks before the February round, Tehran saw it as a signal of seriousness, given his proximity to Trump.<\/p>\n \u201cIran\u2019s assessment was that the US was serious about the negotiations,\u201d Heiran-Nia told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n But the US decision to join Israel in launching the war even while talks were on flipped that assessment.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is a feeling among Iranian officials that the pre-war negotiations were essentially aimed at buying time to complete military positioning,\u201d Heiran-Nia said.<\/p>\n Western media later reported that Tehran refused to engage with either Kushner or Witkoff after the Geneva talks. CNN, quoting regional sources, said Iran viewed Vance as more sympathetic to ending the conflict than other US officials.<\/p>\n Heiran-Nia said internal dynamics in Iran have also shaped this preference. After Khamenei\u2019s death, factions within the political system have competed for influence.<\/p>\n The war has strengthened the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps while President Masoud Pezeshkian\u2019s government has been left with limited authority over strategic decisions.<\/p>\n Acceptance of negotiations, including Pakistan\u2019s mediation, has come from higher levels of the Iranian system, Heiran-Nia said. However, the format remains politically sensitive.<\/p>\n As of Tuesday evening in Islamabad, government officials described the negotiations as being at an advanced stage.<\/p>\n The emerging framework envisions a sequenced process: an initial agreement to establish confidence-building measures followed by a formal ceasefire if those steps hold.<\/p>\n Details of these measures have not been made public, and Pakistani officials have avoided pre-empting decisions that rest with Washington and Tehran.<\/p>\n Iran\u2019s ambassador to Pakistan, Reza Amiri Moghadam, signalled progress on Tuesday.<\/p>\n In a post on X, he said Islamabad\u2019s \u201cpositive and productive endeavours in goodwill and good offices to stop the war\u201d were approaching a \u201ccritical, sensitive stage\u201d.<\/p>\n It was the clearest public indication yet from an Iranian official that Pakistan\u2019s mediation had moved beyond preliminary discussions.<\/p>\n Yet even as diplomatic momentum built, Trump appeared to escalate his rhetoric.<\/p>\n On Tuesday, he posted on Truth Social: \u201cA whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again,\u201d before suggesting that \u201ccomplete and total regime change\u201d may already be under way in Iran.<\/p>\n \u201c47 years of extortion, corruption, and death, will finally end,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Iran\u2019s preference for Vance is not only about personalities. It is also rooted in his record on foreign intervention.<\/p>\n As a senator, Vance argued in a 2023 Wall Street Journal opinion piece that Trump\u2019s success in office rested partly on avoiding new wars.<\/p>\n In 2024, he warned that a conflict with Iran would not serve US interests and would be a \u201chuge distraction of resources\u201d.<\/p>\n Days before the February 28 strikes, he told The Washington Post: \u201cI think we all prefer the diplomatic option. But it really depends on what the Iranians do and what they say.\u201d<\/p>\n Heiran-Nia said Tehran\u2019s view of Vance rests on two factors.<\/p>\n First, he was seen as initially opposed to the war, even if he later aligned with the administration\u2019s position.<\/p>\n Second, unlike Witkoff and Kushner, he was not involved in the negotiations that preceded the strikes.<\/p>\n \u201cFrom a symbolic standpoint, he is more justifiable for Iran to use in justifying the process to public opinion,\u201d Heiran-Nia said.<\/p>\n He added that Vance\u2019s wartime conduct has reinforced the perception in Iran that the vice president is positioning himself carefully for a future presidential bid.<\/p>\n Widely seen as a frontrunner for the 2028 Republican presidential nomination, Vance must balance loyalty to Trump with scepticism towards prolonged Middle East conflicts.<\/p>\n Analysts noted that both Vance and Rubio face risks. Rubio\u2019s support for the war could become a liability if the conflict drags on or ends poorly.<\/p>\n Vance, meanwhile, risks appearing disloyal if he diverges too far from Trump\u2019s position.<\/p>\n Positioning himself as a figure who worked to end the war offers a possible path through that tension.<\/p>\n That calculus has not gone unnoticed in Tehran. It has\u00a0\u201cconveyed the impression inside Iran that the vice president is adopting a cautious approach to potentially play a presidential role in the future,\u201d Heiran-Nia said. \u201cWhile operating within Trump\u2019s system, he tries to maintain an independent approach.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Islamabad, Pakistan \u2013 Standing before reporters at the White House, US President Donald Trump was asked whether a ceasefire with Iran was within reach. \u201cWe have an active, willing participant on the other side,\u201d he said on Monday, adding that the proposal on the table was \u201ca significant step\u201d before quickly qualifying that \u201cit\u2019s not […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17989,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17988","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-us-canada-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17988","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17988"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17988\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/17989"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17988"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17988"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17988"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Vance\u2019s known role<\/h2>\n
Why Tehran sees Vance differently<\/h2>\n
Politics, perception and 2028<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"