JD Vance Expects Positive US-Iran War Talks as He Departs for Pakistan

US Vice President JD Vance Departs for Pakistan to Engage in Talks

United States Vice President JD Vance has departed for Pakistan to engage in talks on ending the US-Israeli war with Iran, saying he expects 'positive' results.

Vance spoke briefly to reporters on Friday as he boarded a plane bound for Islamabad, where talks with Iran were set to be held the following day.

He added that President Donald Trump had given him 'pretty clear guidelines' for the meeting.

'If the Iranians are willing to negotiate in good faith, we are certainly willing to extend an open hand,' Vance said.

'If they're going to try to play us, they're going to find that the negotiating team is not that receptive.'

Some observers have seen the last-minute move to have Vance lead the US delegation as a sign of Iran's wariness with US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner.

Witkoff and Kushner, who will still attend Saturday's talks, had twice led indirect negotiations about Iran's nuclear programme.

Those talks were ongoing when Israel initiated a 12-day war on Iran in June 2025, which ended with the US striking three of Iran's key nuclear sites, and when the US and Israel launched the latest war on February 28.

Vance is viewed as less hawkish than many of the president's other top officials.

A former member of the US Marine Corps during the 2003 Iraq war, Vance has become representative of the anti-interventionist wing of Trump's 'Make America Great Again' (MAGA) movement.

The format of negotiations, and whether the US and Iranian officials would speak face to face or through intermediaries, was not revealed as of Friday.