JD Vance is expected to lead a US delegation to Islamabad for possible peace talks with Iran, but only if Tehran agrees to attend.

The talks come just as a fragile ceasefire – following weeks of US-Israel bombing – nears its deadline, with Donald Trump warning he is unlikely to extend it further.

It was unclear if Iran would attend the talks after its president warned that there remained a “deep historical mistrust” of the US. Masoud Pezeshkian said: “Iranians do not submit to force.”

Previous negotiations failed because Iran refused US demands to stop nuclear enrichment and give up its stockpile of enriched uranium, while Iran insists it won’t negotiate under pressure or threats.

Meanwhile, tensions remain high on the ground: the US has blockaded Iranian ports, Iran has disrupted the Strait of Hormuz, shipping has slowed, and oil prices have risen.

Donald Trump has said the US will continue blocking Iranian ports until Iran agrees to a deal, claiming the blockade is “absolutely destroying Iran”.

The US has already turned back ships and even seized an Iranian vessel, which Tehran has called “piracy”.

At the same time, Iran has been restricting access to the Strait of Hormuz, a vital global oil route, pushing energy prices higher.

Both sides accuse each other of violating a fragile ceasefire that is about to expire.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has bashed the US media, suggesting outlets are “rooting for the Iranian regime over the American people”.

Leavitt was speaking to Fox News Monday night local time, hours after US President Donald Trump raged on Truth Social about the media’s coverage of the Iran war.

“I’m winning a War, BY A LOT, things are going very well, our Military has been amazing and, if you read the Fake News, like The Failing New York Times, the absolutely horrendous and disgusting Wall Street Journal, or the now almost defunct, fortunately, Washington Post, you would actually think we are losing the War”, Trump wrote.

US President Donald has slammed the Obama-era Iran Nuclear Deal that he withdrew from during his first term.

“The DEAL that we are making with Iran will be FAR BETTER than the JCPOA, commonly referred to as ‘The Iran Nuclear Deal,’ penned by Barack Hussein Obama and Sleepy Joe Biden, one of the Worst Deals ever made having to do with the Security of our Country”, he wrote on Truth Social Monday.

The Iran Nuclear Deal restricted Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of nuclear-related sanctions, but Trump argued during his first term, “the deal allowed Iran to continue enriching uranium and — over time — reach the brink of a nuclear breakout.”

Trump withdrew from the 2015 deal in 2018.

US President Donald Trump told conservative radio host John Fredericks that Iran is “going to negotiate” ahead of peace talks expected to take place this week in Pakistan.

“Well, they’re going to negotiate, and if they don’t, they’re going to see problems like they’ve never seen before”, Trump said in a phone interview on The John Fredericks Show Monday, per CNN. “Hopefully they’ll make a fair deal, and they’ll build their country back up”.

With the ceasefire at risk of breaking down this week without a deal or extension, The Independent takes a look at the key obstacles to talks:

Donald Trump said the ceasefire with Iran would expire on “Wednesday evening Washington time” on Monday, with the deadline fast closing in.

The president clarified the deadline in a call with Bloomberg, in which he also said he was unlikely to accept a ceasefire extension.

“I’m not going to be rushed into making a bad deal. We’ve got all the time in the world,” he said.

Trump announced the two-week ceasefire with Iran on April 7, and had not specified when precisely it ends.

A Pakistani source involved in the talks said previously it would expire at 8pm ET on Wednesday, which would be midnight GMT or 3:30am Thursday in Iran.

The possible new round of US-Iran talks offers one sign that this stalemate could be broken, although it may be that current US demands will make any significant breakthrough difficult. Another – also difficult, but perhaps more promising – avenue might be through international solidarity. The meeting in Paris last week, chaired by the UK and France and involving almost 50 countries, coincided with Iran’s announcement that it was reopening the strait, which seemed to render its closing agreement – with its pledge of an international mission to protect shipping in the Strait of Hormuz “when conditions permit” – superfluous.

With the strait once again closed, the UK and France have an opportunity to capitalise on the solidarity shown in Paris, and push for freedom of navigation to be reinstated. This is not a call for military intervention – far from it. It is rather to underline that so many states with a single shared interest can, and should, use all the diplomatic means at their disposal to convince Iran to restore free passage.

If, as the US has stated on several occasions, the Strait of Hormuz is not vital to its interests, then it has nothing to lose from unblocking Iran’s ports in return for Iran allowing normal passage through the strait. The US, Israel and Iran could then move to settle their considerable differences without inflicting any more damage on the rest of the world.

Read The Independent’s editorial: