WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House said Thursday night that Vice President JD Vance was delaying a trip to Switzerland, where he'd been set to lead a new round of negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program — raising questions about what's next for the tentative agreement to end the war.
The team led by Vance had been ready to leave but was postponing, the White House said, citing difficult logistics for negotiations. The announcement followed a report from Al-Mayadeen, a pan-Arab satellite channel that is politically allied with the Iranian-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, that Iran was delaying sending its delegation to Switzerland over Israel's ongoing military campaign in Lebanon.
Vance, who was initially personally skeptical of the U.S. going to war with Iran, has increasingly become the administration's face of the conflict and has been outspoken in defending the deal.
Earlier Thursday, he took the relatively unusual step of appearing at the White House to defend the initial deal to extend the ceasefire 60 days and allow for more negotiating — arguing that while it offers concessions, Iran first has to comply with U.S. demands.
"As they dial up their good behavior, we can dial up the economic relief," Vance said. "If they dial down their good behavior, we can turn it off."