The US delegation will depart on Wednesday morning, according to CNN. That’s a big sign that they’ve worked out the differences with Iran.
Risk assets are higher on the headline.
Update: The report says he’s ‘expected’ to leave Wednesday morning so it’s a bit less definitive.
What’s tricky here is that we aren’t clear on when the ceasefire will end, with reports in Pakistan saying 7:50 pm tonight while Trump himself said yesterday it was tomorrow evening.
Update 2: A second report from Axios says that Iran privately signalled yesterday it would attend the meetings but today indicated it would not.
More details of the Axios report:
The main sticking point is Iran’s internal divide over whether to negotiate while the US naval blockade of Iranian ports remains in place, with the Revolutionary Guards reportedly pushing a harder line. Iran’s Foreign Ministry said no decision had been made on sending a delegation, and the team was awaiting approval from the supreme leader.
Vance, along with envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, remained in Washington as of midday Tuesday. A government plane originally scheduled to fly Witkoff and Kushner from Miami to Islamabad never departed. Pakistani, Egyptian, and Turkish mediators spent Monday pressing Iran to come to the table, and Pakistan’s foreign minister urged both sides to extend the ceasefire and “give dialogue and diplomacy a chance.” Late Monday there were signs Iran would participate, but by Tuesday morning the Iranians were stalling again.
Update 3: Evidently the US delegation is scattered and no CNN reports that
A Department of Homeland Security plane that had been expected to
transport special envoy Witkoff and Kushner, the president’s son-in-law,
to Islamabad for a second round of intensive negotiations appears to be
on its way to Washington, DC, according to publicly-accessible flight
data and air traffic control audio. The plane is expected to land this
afternoon.
That report was from a few minutes ago, so it’s not clear when “this afternoon” is.
This article was written by Adam Button at investinglive.com.