US Vice President JD Vance’s delegation is en route to Pakistan and expected to land soon, US President Donald Trump told the New York Post on Monday.
Vance is leading the delegation in order to hold another round of ceasefire talks with Iran in Islamabad.
“We’re supposed to have the talks… So I would assume at this point nobody’s playing games,” Trump told the outlet.
The delegation includes special envoy Steve Witkoff, and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, the outlet noted.
“They’re heading over now. They’ll be there tonight,” Trump said.
Trump also signaled to the outlet that he would consider meeting directly with the Iranian leadership.
“I have no problem meeting them. If they want to meet, and we have some very capable people, but I have no problem meeting them,” he told the New York Post.
Iran will not achieve nuclear weapons capabilities, Trump insists
However, Trump insisted that Iran must abandon its nuclear program.
“Get rid of their nuclear weapons. That’s all very simple. There will be no nuclear weapon,” he said.
Trump also said that Iran has the potential to thrive, but could face consequences if talks fail. He said he did not want to mention what escalatory measures the US would take, but said that “You can imagine – It wouldn’t be pretty.”
However, a different source familiar with the matter told Reuters that Vance is still in the US and has not departed for Pakistan.
Trump: If ceasefire falls apart, a lot of bombs will fall
Later on Monday, Trump spoke to PBS News, who asked the president what would happen if the ceasefire fell apart.
Trump responded that “A lot of bombs are going to start going off.”
Trump’s statements come after Iran’s official news agency IRNA announced that “the reports circulating about a second round of negotiations in Islamabad are false,” in a post on X/Twitter on Sunday night.
It remains unclear if the Iranian delegation, likely led by Parliament Speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, will travel to Islamabad, or if Vance will hold indirect talks via the Pakistani government.
Trump also told PBS that he was unsure if Iran would be participating in the talks.
“They’re supposed to be there. I don’t know. We agreed to be there, even though they say they’re not. But it’s been decided, and we’ll see if it happens. If they’re not there, that’s fine too,” he said.
Iranian delegation planning to travel to Islamabad on Tuesday – NYT
However, later on Monday, The New York Times cited two senior Iranian officials saying that Tehran’s delegation is making plans to travel to Islamabad.
The delegation will likely be led by Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammed-Bagher Ghalibaf, and is due to travel on Tuesday, the sources said.
Source:
www.jpost.com
