JD Vance’s key role in Iran talks presents him with a thorny predicament

Vice President JD Vance listens as US President Donald Trump speaks to the media in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, 23 April 2026 Photograph: Will Oliver/Pool/Will Oliver - Pool/CNP/ShutterstockView image in fullscreenVice President JD Vance listens as US President Donald Trump speaks to the media in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, 23 April 2026 Photograph: Will Oliver/Pool/Will Oliver - Pool/CNP/ShutterstockJD VanceAnalysisJD Vance’s key role in Iran talks presents him with a thorny predicamentRobert Tait in WashingtonVice-president faces challenges as he assumes potential role of point man in endeavor to end a war he opposedTue 28 Apr 2026 06.00 EDTLast modified on Tue 28 Apr 2026 06.01 EDTShareAs a man who wears his Christian beliefs on his sleeve, JD Vance is no doubt acutely conscious of Jesus Christ’s dictum from his sermon on the mount declaring that “blessed are the peacemakers”.Yet the US vice-president, a Catholic convert who recently found himself at odds with Pope Leo, is discovering the difficulties of living up to that standard while serving a mercurial political master who is waging a war Vance once cautioned against.“Jesus Christ does not support genocide,” a heckler shouted as Vance spoke during a meeting of the rightwing Turning Point USA group at the University of Georgia this month.The episode illustrated the predicament facing the vice-president as he seeks to keep younger voters opposed to overseas military adventures on board while eyeing up a run for the presidency in 2028.The challenge is only getting tougher for Vance as he assumes the potential role of point man in an endeavor to bring an early end to the war with Iran that he previously warned for years that the US should avoid.With hostilities suspended yet nascent peace talks at an impasse, the vice-president’s role may become pivotal after Iranian regime insiders identified him as the person in the Trump administration they needed to reach to conclude a negotiated settlement.Last week, Vance – a sworn opponent of “forever wars” – had been about to embark on his second diplomatic mission to Islamabad to face off against Iranian negotiators.The trip was scheduled to take place on Monday, then Tuesday, before being called off altogether. It would have followed the previous week’s 21-hour session in the Pakistani capital with the Islamic regime’s top level negotiating team, which reportedly made significant progress before before the Iranian side baulked and re-closed the strait of Hormuz – apparently offended by Trump’s declaration of victory in a series of triumphalist social media posts.Amid fears that fighting was about to resume after a two-week pause in hostilities, Trump instead surprised almost everyone by declaring an indefinite ceasefire extension, saying that he was giving Tehran’s “seriously fractured” leadership time to come up with a “unified proposal”.Vance’s centrality to what lies ahead appeared to be further underlined at the weekend after the White House announced that a renewed round of talks would go ahead without him. Trump’s personal envoy Steve Witkoff, and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, were to be dispatched instead to meet a less high-powered Iranian team than the broad-based delegation that attended the previous week’s session. That trip, too, was subsequently cancelled, with Trump dubbing it a “waste of time”.Thus Vance’s re-entry to the diplomatic arena – while on hold – may be only a…

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