Vice President JD Vance said Friday that he expects “positive” negotiations with Iran as he departed for talks in Pakistan, while warning Tehran not to “play us.”
“We’re looking forward to the negotiation. I think it’s going to be positive,” Vance told reporters before leaving Washington. “If the Iranians are willing to negotiate in good faith, we’re certainly willing to extend the open hand. If they’re going to try to play us, then they’re going to find the negotiating team is not that receptive.”
Vance is leading a US delegation to Islamabad for talks with Iranian officials on Saturday.
Meanwhile, direct negotiations between Israel and Lebanon are set to begin next week in Washington, US and Israeli officials said, after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu first announced the talks.
A senior Lebanese official told Al-Monitor on Thursday that the Lebanese government has requested that talks and a ceasefire be announced simultaneously, “similar to the Pakistani model.”
Asharq News reported that there will be an initial phone call on Friday between Lebanese Ambassador to Washington Nada Hamadeh Moawad, Israeli Ambassador to Washington Yechiel Leiter, US Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa and the director of policy planning at the US State Department, Mike Needham.
The Israeli military continued strikes on south Lebanon on Friday, including one in Jbaa that killed six people.