Tomorrow is the final day for the two week ceasefire between Iran and the United States/Israel in the ongoing military conflict. The deadline is Wednesday (tomorrow) night around 8:00 PM eastern US time.
There’s been little clarity about the pending meeting between delegations from the United States and Iran, scheduled to take place in Islamabad, Pakistan. What we know definitively is that Vance, Witkoff and Kushner have not yet departed Washington.
The White House is being very quiet about their travel schedule. What the Pakistanis are expecting is that there will be a very early Wednesday morning departure from Washington, with direct talks to take place in Islamabad late on Wednesday.
They perceive that this is still going ahead.
Pakistan is ready to host the talks. They are planning for them to take place on Wednesday at the highest level. But the White House has been very tight-lipped about when JD Vance will be leaving Washington.
What appears to be going on is the US trying to protect itself from embarrassment.
If it is to send its team, which ends up sitting in Islamabad without Iran showing up, that would be a huge embarrassment. As a result, there now appears to be a game between the US and Iran over who is going to get on their plane first.
Pakistani officials say there are no teams of the highest-level delegations on the ground, but that support staff have been arriving over the last couple of days. The sticking point seems to be the Iranians’ precondition for the US blockade on Iranian ports to end.
In the midst of all this, the US president has been posting on social media, trying to project blame for what seems to be a stumbling block. Trump wrote on Truth Social that Iran violated the ceasefire numerous times, pushing back on Iran’s narrative that it is the US that has been violating the ceasefire with the firing on an Iranian ship, the seizure of the ship and the continuing blockade.
Trump says the US military has used the ceasefire period to restock on equipment and is ready to resume attacks against Iran if he orders them.
“We’re loaded up,” Trump told CNBC. “We have so much ammo, so much of everything… we’ve used this to restock and they probably have done a little bit of restocking.
“We’re ready to go. The military is raring to go.”
As early as this morning, Iran has refused to confirm if it will attend the meeting.
Trump has already said it is “highly unlikely” the two-week ceasefire will be extended past the deadline especially if a permanent end to the fighting can’t be hashed out.
Iran’s lead negotiator issued a chilling statement saying that the two weeks of no fighting has only helped the regime get back on its feet.
Speaker of Islamic Republic of Iran’s Parliament, Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, said: “Trump, by imposing a siege and violating the ceasefire, seeks to turn this negotiating table – in his own imagination – into a table of surrender or to justify renewed warmongering.
“We do not accept negotiations under the shadow of threats.”
He went on to warn: “In the past two weeks, we have prepared to reveal new cards on the battlefield.”
It is widely known that at least four military cargo jets from China, arrived in Iran during the ceasefire. It is also known that a number of ships arrived via the Caspian Sea, from Russia.
It is widely believed these planes and ships have brought new, advanced, weaponry from both China and Russia to Iran.
So there could very well be some ugly surprises for the US and Israel if fighting resumes.
Ghalibaf, who at the start of the month said the US will be dragged into a “living hell” and the Middle East will all “burn”, is known to be a loyalist of the Ayatollah.
