admin Security in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad was stepped up visibly on Sunday ahead of peace talks between the United States and Iran in the coming days.
President Donald Trump said US negotiators will be in Pakistan on Monday to resume talks on ending the war with Iran, little more than a week after face-to-face talks in Islamabad on April 11 ended without agreement.
“My Representatives are going to Islamabad, Pakistan — They will be there tomorrow evening, for Negotiations,” he wrote on Truth Social.
Police personnel stand guard as they inspect vehicles at a checkpost beside a large screen displaying Army Chief Asim Munir at the Red Zone area in Islamabad. AFP
Authorities earlier announced road closures and traffic restrictions across the city, as well as in neighbouring Rawalpindi.
AFP journalists saw armed guards and checkpoints near Islamabad’s most secure hotels, including the Marriott and the Serena, where the last round of talks between US and Iranian delegations took place.
Most streets leading to the Serena Hotel were closed on Sunday, with barbed wire, barricades, heavy security and traffic diversions.
“Citizens are earnestly requested to cooperate with the security agencies,” a city official posted on X.
Earlier, Trump said he was sending negotiators to Pakistan for new talks with Iran on ending the war — but that Vice President JD Vance would not lead the delegation. The news that Vance — who led the last round of talks with Tehran in Islamabad, but came away with no deal — would not travel this time emerged in a confusing manner, as members of Trump’s cabinet had said he would in fact go.
“It’s only because of security,” Trump told ABC News, dismissing any notion that Vance was removed from the trip due to concerns about his ability to secure an agreement with the Islamic republic. “JD’s great,” Trump added.
Vance will lead the US delegation for talks with Iran in Pakistan, a White House official said on Sunday, after Trump indicated Vance would not make the trip. Vance, special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner will attend the talks, a White House official told AFP on condition of anonymity when asked about the makeup of the delegation after Trump’s comments.
Washington’s envoy to the United Nations, Mike Waltz, had told ABC News’s “This Week” programme: “As the president announced, the vice president with our key negotiators looks like they are going to head out for another round.”
Energy Secretary Chris Wright told CNN’s “State of the Union” that Vance had been “leading the negotiations from the start” though he did not explicitly say he would travel this time. It was thus not clear who would lead the US team for talks expected to begin on Monday.
Police personnel stand guard at a closed road leading to the Serena Hotel in the Red Zone area of Islamabad. AFP
Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner were on hand last time around on April 11-12.
Earlier in a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump accused Iran of a “Total Violation” of the countries’ two-week ceasefire with attacks on Saturday in the Strait of Hormuz — and threatened to destroy its power plants and bridges if no deal is reached.
Trump said he was offering Iran “a reasonable deal” and if Tehran refuses, “the United States is going to knock out every single Power Plant, and every single Bridge, in Iran. NO MORE MR. NICE GUY!” “They’ll come down fast, they’ll come down easy and, if they dont take the DEAL, it will be my Honor to do what has to be done, which should have been done to Iran, by other Presidents, for the last 47 years,” he wrote.
Waltz said he believed the new round of talks would lead to an “incredibly consequential” outcome. The Strait of Hormuz remained closed on Sunday amidst the st
Agence France-Presse
