Vice President JD Vance has touched down in Pakistan, stepping into a crucial moment for his political journey as he spearheads the U.S. delegation in peace negotiations with Iran.

Joining Vance are special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, forming what President Donald Trump described as the “good team” dispatched to Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan.

Before departing from Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, Vance remarked on the stance toward Iran: “If they attempt to manipulate us, they’ll discover that our negotiating team won’t be easily swayed.”

“The president has provided us with very clear directives,” he added.

The Iranian delegation, arriving just hours before Vance, is set for talks commencing on Saturday.

Their team includes Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, Ali Akbar Ahmadian, secretary of the Supreme National Defense Council, parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, Central Bank Governor Abdolnasser Hemmati, along with several other lawmakers.

They were received at the airport by Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and other senior Pakistani government officials.

Vance, who has long been skeptical of foreign military interventions and outspoken about the prospect of sending troops into open-ended conflicts, set off Friday to lead mediated talks with Iran in the Pakistani capital.

Vice President JD Vance has landed in Pakistan for the biggest test in his political career, leading the US delegation into peace talks with Iran

Vice President JD Vance waves as he disembarks from Air Force Two

US Vice President JD Vance (C) walks with Pakistan’s Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of Army Staff Field Marshall Asim Munir (L) and Pakistani Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar

US Vice President JD Vance (C) speaks with Army Chief and Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir (L) and Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar after arriving for the US-Iran peace talks in Islamabad

U.S. Vice President JD Vance receives a bouquet of flowers after arriving for talks with Iranian officials in Islamabad, Pakistan, Saturday, April 11

Vance, special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are the ‘good team’ Donald Trump said he sent to Islamabad

‘If the Iranians are willing to negotiate in good faith, we’re certainly willing to extend the open hand,’ Vance told reporters before boarding Air Force Two to make his way to the talks.

But he added, ‘If they’re gonna try and play us, then they’re gonna find that the negotiating team is not that receptive.’ 

Vance’s trip comes as a tenuous, temporary ceasefire appears to be on the precipice of collapsing. 

The chasm between Iran’s public demands and those from the US and its partner Israel seems irreconcilable. 

And in the US, where Vance might ask voters in two years’ time to make him the next president, there is growing political and economic pressure to wrap it up.

Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf said in a social media post that a ceasefire in Lebanon, where Israel is targeting Iran-backed Hezbollah militants, and the release of blocked Iranian assets ‘must be fulfilled before negotiations begin.’ He did not elaborate further.

Qalibaf and other senior Iranian officials arrived in Islamabad, Pakistan, later on Friday ahead of Vance. 

Trump said he wished his Vice President ‘good luck’ before leaving when speaking to the press Friday.  

A policeman stands guard in front of a digital screen displaying news of US-Iran peace talks

Supporters of Islamic group Sunni Rabta Council rally in support of the ceasefire between Iran and the United States

‘I wished him luck. He’s got a big thing. We’ll find out what’s going on. They’re militarily defeated,’ Trump said as he boarded Air Force One Friday.

Trump also said he would not allow Iran to impose tolls on the Strait of Hormuz.

‘It’s international water. If they’re doing that, nobody knows if they’re doing that, but if they’re doing that, we’re not going to let that happen,’ he said.

Trump added that the Strait will ‘open up automatically,’ despite the fact that limited traffic has been able to pass through the critical trade route since the temporary ceasefire was called earlier this week.

‘The strait will open up. If we just left the strait, otherwise they make no money. So the strait is going to open,’ Trump said. He added that the US doesn’t use the Strait, so ‘other countries’ will ‘help out.’

‘It won’t be easy. It won’t be, I would say this, we will have that open fairly soon,’ the president said.

He insisted that he doesn’t ‘need a backup plan’ and asserted that his administration would ‘open up the Gulf with or without them,’ referring to the Iranians, who have effectively shuttered the critical waterway.

The Athens-based Marine Traffic said on Friday that only 14 vessels, half of which were laden, have crossed the Strait of Hormuz since a ceasefire was declared on April 8, according to a statement on X.

Donald Trump wished JD Vance good luck as the Vice President headed for Islamabad to begin peace talks between the United States and Iran

A US Air Force Boeing C-17A Globemaster III aircraft prepares to land at Pakistan’s Nur Khan military airbase in Rawalpindi

Pakistan’s deputy prime minister Ishaq Dar (R) walking with Iran’s parliamentary Speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf (2-R), Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi (2-L), and Pakistan’s CDF Field Marshal Asim Munir (L) upon the Iranian delegation’s arrival at Nur Khan Airbase in Rawalpindi, Pakistan

Vessels exiting the Persian Gulf accounted for 70 percent of all crossings.

‘Sanctioned or shadow-fleet-linked vessels accounted for nearly two-thirds of all crossings,’ added the statement.

Before the conflict, over 100 ships passed through the Strait each day — many carrying oil to Asia.

The President expressed optimism in the three men he’d sent to Islamabad to try and end the conflict.  

‘We’ll see how it turns out. So it’s JD and Steve and Jared. We have a good team, and they meet tomorrow. We’ll see how it all works out.’

Trump also noted that these talks would be tense but he believes his men will get the job done.  

‘It won’t be easy. It won’t be, I would say this, we will have that open fairly soon,’ he said.