ISLAMABAD: The much-anticipated visit of US Vice President J.D. Vance to Pakistan has been postponed, following Iran’s failure to respond to calls for dialogue, US media reported.
The visit had been planned in the context of talks over the second round of negotiations with Iran, US sources informed. The postponement follows as Iran’s two-week-long ceasefire with the US will end at 4:50 AM on Wednesday, April 22, Pakistan Standard Time.
According to US sources, Vance’s visit can happen anytime, according to how the situation shapes up. In the meantime, there seems to be no certainty of what course of action Iran or the US will take as their ceasefire ends in a couple of days.
President Trump’s Remarks on Extending Ceasefire with Iran
On Tuesday, the US president, Donald Trump, stated in an address that the US won’t be able to extend its ceasefire with Iran until a deal is signed.
Iran’s Dilemma Over Sending Delegation to Islamabad
On the other hand, Iran’s representatives have indicated that their country has not yet decided whether to send a delegation to Islamabad to negotiate with the United States. The spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Ismail Baqai, asserted that Iran would not take part in any negotiation unless there were grounds to believe that there could be significant breakthroughs.
Iran Condemns US Aggression Toward Iranian Ships
Another notable incident was that of Iran condemning the recent actions by the US against Iranian ships in the international seas. According to Baqai, such attacks on the ships of Iran were “an outright violation of international law, and amounted to maritime piracy and state terrorism.” In his opinion, such aggression only made things worse between the two countries in terms of building trust.
“Blasting at Iranian ships is nothing less than maritime piracy,” stated Baqai in an interview.
