Pakistan reportedly favouring Vance for role in possible US-Iran peace talks

Pakistan’s military leadership has been attempting to broker negotiations between the US and Iran, after the White House confirmed that Pakistan’s army chief, Asim Munir, had a call with Donald Trump on Sunday to discuss the conflict.

Diplomatic sources said the US and Iran could meet for negotiations in Islamabad as early as this week to discuss an end to the war, which began almost a month ago, reports The Guardian.

It was emphasised that Islamabad had yet to be officially confirmed as the venue for any peace talks, which neither side has formally agreed to so far. Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, is believed to be preparing to travel to Islamabad but there was no confirmation that anyone from the Iranian side would be in attendance.

Pakistani sources said that the US vice-president, JD Vance, was being put forward as a probable chief negotiator from the US side if talks went ahead, rather than Witkoff or Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who led the nuclear negotiations with Iran before the war. You can read more from my colleagues Hannah Ellis-Petersen and Shah Meer Baloch here: