Vance, US team head to Islamabad for Iran talks, Trump says

Vice President JD Vance and a U.S. delegation are en route to Islamabad for talks with Iran and are expected to arrive within hours, President Donald Trump said Monday, adding he would be willing to meet senior Iranian leaders if negotiations produce a breakthrough.

“We’re supposed to have the talks,” Trump told The New York Post in a brief interview. “So I would assume at this point nobody’s playing games.”

Trump said the delegation includes Vance, special envoy Steve Witkoff and adviser Jared Kushner.

“They’re heading over now,” Trump said shortly after 9 a.m. EST. “They’ll be there tonight, Islamabad time.”

The talks come days before the reported expiration of a U.S.-Iran ceasefire amid heightened regional tensions.

Trump also signaled he was open to direct talks with Iranian leaders.

“I have no problem meeting them,” he said. “If they want to meet, and we have some very capable people — but I have no problem meeting them.”

Trump said the central U.S. demand remains that Iran abandon any pursuit of nuclear weapons.

“Get rid of their nuclear weapons. That’s all very simple,” he said. “There will be no nuclear weapon.”

Asked what consequences Iran could face if talks fail, Trump declined to provide details.

“You can imagine,” he said. “It wouldn’t be pretty.”

Earlier Monday, Iran said it had no plan to attend a new round of negotiations with the United States.

“We have no plans for the next round of negotiation, and no decision has been made in this regard,” foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said.

He accused Washington of actions inconsistent with diplomacy, citing a U.S. blockade and the seizure of an Iranian cargo ship.

Iran said those actions violated a two-week truce set to end overnight Tuesday. Trump, meanwhile, said Tehran had violated the ceasefire in the Strait of Hormuz, a key global shipping route that Iran has largely shut.

The conflicting claims have raised new uncertainty over efforts to prevent renewed war after weeks of fighting that disrupted the region and unsettled global markets.

Oil prices rose sharply Monday on fears hostilities could resume.

Security was visibly tightened in Islamabad ahead of the expected talks. Authorities announced road closures and traffic restrictions across the Pakistani capital and neighboring Rawalpindi.

A White House official said Vance would lead the delegation after Trump said he would not travel because of security concerns.

Another key dispute remains Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium.

Trump said Friday that Iran had agreed to hand over about 440 kilograms of enriched uranium.

But Iran’s foreign ministry said the material would not be transferred anywhere. Baqaei said moving the stockpile was not discussed with U.S. negotiators.

“It was never raised as an option for us,” he said.