STORY: :: The White House says Vance will lead the U.S. delegation to Iran talks on Saturday
:: April 8, 2026
:: Karoline Leavitt, White House press secretary
"I can announce that the president is dispatching his negotiating team, led by the Vice President of the United States, JD Vance, special envoy Witkoff and Mr. Kushner to Islamabad for talks this weekend. The first round of those talks will take place on Saturday morning local time. And we know we look forward to those in-person meetings."
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REPORTER: "Has Iran given the administration any indication that it would simply turn over the enriched uranium, or is this an expectation the president has that he would have to send in ground troops in order to do that?"
LEAVITT: "This is on the top of the priority list for the president and his negotiating team as they head into this next round of discussions. And as I said in my opener, that is a red line that the president is not going to back away from. And he's committed to ensuring that takes place. We hope it will be through diplomacy."
REPORTER: "Have they given any indication that they would turn it over?"
LEAVITT: "They have. They have."
The confirmation of the talks came after relief over a truce between the United States and Iran gave way to alarm that fighting was still raging across the region, as Israel launched its biggest attacks yet on Lebanon, and Iran struck Gulf neighbors' oil facilities.
World financial markets rose after Trump announced the agreement late on Tuesday, two hours before a deadline he had set for Iran to open the blockaded Strait of Hormuz or face the destruction of its "whole civilisation."
