THE NEW YORK TIMES: Fractures were already emerging in the limited cease-fire. Vice President JD Vance will lead a U.S. delegation in talks this weekend.
President Trump faces new diplomatic tests as he prepares for weekend talks with Tehran amid doubts about the durability of his day-old cease-fire with Iran and the prospects for building it into a broader peace settlement.
A White House official said on Wednesday that Vice President JD Vance would lead a U.S. delegation to Pakistan for a meeting on Saturday with Iranian officials. Mr. Vance will be joined in the capital, Islamabad, by Mr. Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner as they work to bridge huge political differences, some dating back decades, under a two-week clock set by the cease-fire agreement.
But even as Trump officials finalized the Saturday meeting, fractures were already emerging in the limited cease-fire brokered by Pakistan on Tuesday night, just ahead of Mr. Trump’s deadline for a threatened “civilization”-ending attack on Iran.
Robert Malley, who served as President Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s special envoy for Iran, said the cease-fire was filled with ambiguities. The United States and Iran are already arguing over them, he said, and that will complicate the path forward.
“It’s hard to know not just where you go from here, but where you are to begin with,” he said. “The talks are starting on very weak grounds.” » | Michael Crowley | Reporting from Washington | Wednesday, April 8, 2026
With Threat to Wipe Out Iran’s Civilization, Trump’s Rhetoric Goes Beyond Bluster: The president’s violent rhetoric risks damaging his credibility as a negotiator and the country’s standing in the world. »
