US President Donald Trump is sending Vice President JD Vance and other negotiators to the Pakistani capital for talks with Iran that will begin on Saturday, the White House said. Trump “is dispatching his negotiating team led by the vice president of the United States, JD Vance, special envoy (Steve) Witkoff and Mr (Jared) Kushner to Islamabad for talks this weekend,” Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told a news conference. JD Vance is the Vice President of the US, Steve Witkoff is the US’ Special Envoy to the Middle East, and Jared Kushner is Trump’s son-in-law and a former senior adviser. The development comes after a two-week ceasefire was announced between the US and Iran, brokered by Pakistan. The US will work closely with Iran and the two countries are discussing tariff and sanctions relief, US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday, following the announcement of a two-week ceasefire. Trump pulled back from the brink of a threatened full-on assault on Iran on Tuesday night, two hours before a deadline he had set for Tehran to open the blockaded Strait of Hormuz. Earlier, Trump said that the United States will work closely with Iran and the two countries are discussing tariff and sanctions relief, following the announcement of a two-week ceasefire. Trump pulled back from the brink of a threatened full-on assault on Iran on Tuesday night, two hours before a deadline he had set for Tehran to open the blockaded Strait of Hormuz. He said on social media that many of the 15 points in the US plan proposed to Iran had been agreed to, but did not elaborate. “We are, and will be, talking Tariff and Sanctions relief with Iran,” Trump said in a social media post. Despite his ebullient comments and widespread relief on Iran’s streets and in global financial markets over the ceasefire, the main disagreements between Washington and Tehran remain unresolved, and the two sides are sticking to competing demands for a potential peace deal. Trump also said on Wednesday that any country supplying weapons to Iran would immediately face a 50% tariff on any goods exported to the US. Sources in Tehran say that Iran’s delegation is to be headed by Speaker of the Iranian Parliament Baqer Ghalibaf, who will also be accompanied by the Iranian Foreign Minister Syed Abbas Araghchi. While a “final venue” for talks is to be finalised soon enough, the talks could be held either at the PM House or at one of Islamabad’s most poshest hotels. A source said that a 23 member advance team, of the United States has arrived in Islamabad ahead of the VIPs arrival adding that the location of Islamabad for a US VIP dignitary was cleared by security atleast two weeks ago.
Trump sending VP Vance to Pakistan for Iran talks, confirms White House
Published on: April 9, 2026 8:15 AM