WASHINGTON, Apr 09 (APP): US President Donald Trump is sending Vice President J.D. Vance and other top negotiators to Pakistan for mediated talks with Iran this weekend aimed at cementing a permanent ceasefire, the White House announced on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
White House Press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed the U.S. participation in the talks, which will be held in Islamabad beginning on Saturday morning, during a press briefing, which followed the Pakistan-brokered cease-fire announced Tuesday.<\/p>\n
US Middle East Special envoy Steve Witkoff and the president\u2019s son-in-law Jared Kushner also will participate in talks in Islamabad.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first round of those talks will take place on Saturday morning local time,\u201d Press Secretary Ms. Leavitt said at a briefing.<\/p>\n
\u201cVice President Vance has played a very significant and a key role in this since the very beginning. Of course he\u2019s the president\u2019s right-hand man,\u201d Ms. Leavitt said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s been involved in all of these discussions, and as I just announced, he\u2019ll be leading this new phase of negotiations in Islamabad later this week.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Iran told regional mediators it won\u2019t attend talks without a cease-fire in Lebanon and has conditioned the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz on Israel ending its attacks on Hezbollah, according to the Wall Street Journal.<\/p>\n
Israel said it had agreed to stop firing on Iran, insisting its ground operations in Lebanon would not be halted.<\/p>\n
On his part, Pakistan\u2019s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif urged all parties to show restraint so that diplomacy can work.<\/p>\n
\u201cViolations of ceasefire have been reported at few places across the conflict zone which undermine the spirit of peace process,\u201d Sharif, who has been acting as a mediator, said on X. \u201cI earnestly and sincerely urge all parties to exercise restraint and respect the ceasefire for two weeks, as agreed upon, so that diplomacy can take a lead role towards peaceful settlement of the conflict.\u201d<\/p>\n
President Trump on Tuesday accepted Iran\u2019s 10-point counter-proposal on ending the conflict as a \u201cworkable basis on which to negotiate\u201d a permanent deal \u2014 after US negotiators relayed 15 points.<\/p>\n
Trump launched the war alongside Israel on Feb. 28, with the White House identifying four core objectives, including ending Tehran\u2019s nuclear programme, destroying its navy, wrecking its ballistic missile production sites and ending its support for its so-called proxies.<\/p>\n
The cease-fire included an agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to international shipping after Iran closed the crucial waterway in the wake of the US-Israeli war on the Islamic Republic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
WASHINGTON, Apr 09 (APP): US President Donald Trump is sending Vice President J.D. Vance and other top negotiators to Pakistan for mediated talks with Iran this weekend aimed at cementing a permanent ceasefire, the White House announced on Wednesday. White House Press secretary Karoline Leavitt […]<\/p>\n
\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":123868,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[270,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-123867","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-top-news","category-latest-world-news"],"yoast_head":"\n