JD Vance has issued multiple warnings to Iran ahead of the latest round of peace talks.
The vice president, 41, spoke to reporters on Friday before departing for Pakistan, where U.S. and Iranian officials are set to have their highest-level meeting since 1979 as the war drags toward its sixth week.
“We’re looking forward to the negotiation. I think it’s gonna be positive. We’ll, of course, see,” Vance said.
“As the President of the United States said, 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 that the negotiating team is not that receptive,” he added.
Vance was joined by Steve Witkoff, special envoy to the Middle East, and Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law. The president’s peacemaking duo led a round of negotiations in February that ultimately failed to stop a war.
Trump, 79, previously said Vance would likely be left out of the talks for safety reasons.
“We’ll have Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner, JD—maybe JD, I don’t know. There’s a question of safety, security,” Trump told the New York Post on Wednesday.
Earlier this week, however, Politico reported that Vance was on standby for any sensitive talks with Iran.
Trump’s remark about Vance came just a day after The New York Times reported that the vice president was the biggest skeptic of the Iran war within the highest levels of the administration.
Vance, who staunchly opposed military intervention before he joined the Trump administration, was said to have warned that a regime change war in Iran would set off regional chaos and cause deaths while potentially fracturing the loyal MAGA base.
The vice president described the war as “a huge distraction of resources” and “massively expensive,” according to The Times.
When it became clear that Trump was determined to wage war, however, Vance argued that the president should attack with overwhelming force to achieve his objectives more quickly, the outlet reported.
“You know I think this is a bad idea, but if you want to do it, I’ll support you,” he was quoted as telling Trump.
