Islamabad, Pakistan – As United States Vice President JD Vance prepares to fly to Islamabad, Pakistan is racing against time and the odds to try to convince Tehran to join talks with the US aimed at ending their war, now in its eighth week.But while Pakistani officials close to the mediation efforts remain cautiously hopeful that Iran might send a negotiating team for the talks by Wednesday, a series of escalatory steps taken by the US over the past 48 hours had by Tuesday evening injected a dose of scepticism into Islamabad’s peacemaking efforts.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of listIran continues to publicly insist that it has no plans to return to the negotiating table, even as Pakistan and other mediators work behind the scenes to bring Tehran back into the room before a two-week ceasefire expires on Wednesday evening US time — early Thursday morning in the Middle East.At least nine US aircraft have landed in Pakistan over the past three days, bringing personnel and equipment to be used by the Vance-led negotiating team.Vance is expected to depart from the US on Tuesday evening Pakistan time — morning in the US — and arrive in Islamabad late morning on Wednesday. US President Donald Trump’s Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner are expecte …
