US Vice President Vance heads to Pakistan with ‘open hands’ for Iran talks

• JD Vance warns US will not be 'receptive' if Iran ‘acts in bad faith’

US Vice President JD Vance on Friday said Washington would meet the Iranian side with “open hands,” expecting the negotiations to be “positive,” as he departed Washington for Pakistan, according to a video record of his comments before boarding Air Force Two.

Vance said the US delegation is “looking forward to the negotiation,” and voiced hope that the talks would yield a constructive outcome.

“I think it’s going to be positive,” he said, while stressing that progress would depend on Iran’s approach at the negotiating table.

Vance’s trip to Pakistan, the first such by any US vice president since 2011, comes as all eyes are on Pakistan as the US and Iran are set to hold rare direct talks in Islamabad starting Saturday amid a fragile truce between the two sides.

The talks, expected to begin Saturday, come after Pakistan on Wednesday secured a two-week ceasefire, 39 days after the US and Israel initiated a war on Iran on Feb. 28.

Islamabad also invited the two warring sides for talks, the most significant since 1979, to end the conflict.

Tehran has confirmed its participation but has not yet issued any statement about who will represent Iran.

“If the Iranians are willing to negotiate in good faith, we are certainly willing to extend the open hand,” Vance said.

“If they’re going to try to play us, they’re going to find that the negotiating team is not that receptive,” he warned.

'World’s most powerful reset'

Vance added that the US position is guided by clear instructions from the White House. “The president (Donald Trump)… gave us some pretty clear guidelines, and we’ll see how it goes,” he said.

Soon after Vance's plane took off, Trump posted on Truth Social: "World’s most powerful reset!!!"

He did not give any explanation.

Pakistani authorities have implemented strict security measures, with parts of capital Islamabad closed for the talks aimed at ending an intense Middle East conflict that has claimed thousands of lives, damaged energy infrastructure, and brought oil supplies to a near standstill.

However, the Israeli relentless attacks on Lebanon since Wednesday, when the US-Iran ceasefire took effect, have killed more than 300 people, triggering global condemnation.

Tehran has stressed an end to attacks on Lebanon for Iranians to attend the weekend talks in Islamabad, according to Iranian media.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif pledged to advance his peace efforts during a phone call with his Lebanese counterpart Nawaf Salam Thursday night.

More than 3,000 people have been killed in Iran since Feb. 28, including then-Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

The expanded Israeli offensive on Lebanon since March 2 has killed 1,888 people and wounded 6,092 others, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.