US Vice-President JD Vance has warned Iran not to “play” with the US as he embarked for Pakistan for conducting negotiations geared towards ending their war.
Vance, who has long been known as a sceptic of foreign and military interventions, as well as for his outspoken critique about the prospect of sending troops into open-ended conflicts, set off Friday to lead mediated talks with Iran in Islamabad.
Boarding Air Force Two on his way to the Islamic Republic, Vance commented “We’re looking forward to the negotiation. I think it’s gonna be positive. We’ll of course see.”
Citing President Donald Trump, he added “If the Iranians are willing to negotiate in good faith, we’re certainly willing to extend the open hand,” and threatened Tehran with dire consequences should it try to “play” Washington on the negotiations.
“If they’re gonna try and play us, then they’re gonna find that the negotiating team is not that receptive.”
Vance also said that Trump “gave us some pretty clear guidelines” on how talks should go, though declined to elaborate, refusing to take questions from the reporters travelling with him to Pakistan.
The Vice President’s comments come amid a very fragile and volatile ceasefire, which looks to be hanging by a thread, as both the US and Iran have their militaries geared in operational readiness, with their fingers on the trigger.
Washington has been further aggrieved by Tehran’s reported charging of tolls on vessels trying to traverse the vital Strait of Hormuz waterway, while Tehran in turn has expressed great displeasure of Israel’s consistent targeting of Hezbollah militants in Lebanon.
Calling it a violation of the ceasefire agreement, Iran has said that this move threatens the stability of the ceasefire, a statement which the US has rejected, saying that Beirut was never mentioned in the ceasefire agreement.
