Defense & National Security Newsletter

Iran’s waiting game

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by Ellen Mitchell - 04/20/26 6:56 PM ET

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by Ellen Mitchell - 04/20/26 6:56 PM ET

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Iran’s waiting game

A high-stakes meeting between U.S. and Iranian officials to extend a ceasefire and avoid returning to open conflict is looking tenuous with two days until the current deal expires.

AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, Pool

Iranian officials have not yet publicly committed to appearing in Islamabad, where Trump has said he’s sending his “A-Team,” including Vice President Vance, special envoy for peace missions Steve Witkoff, and Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner. Vance is set to arrive Wednesday for talks.

Iran’s Speaker of Parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who has led Tehran in the talks, said in an X post on Monday afternoon, “We do not accept negotiations under the shadow of threats, and in the past two weeks, we have prepared to reveal new cards on the battlefield.”

Trump is rejecting an extension of a ceasefire, which expires on Wednesday evening, and calling for Iran to sign a deal with the U.S. blocking its pathway to a nuclear weapon or risk “lots of bombs” dropping on the country.

Iranian officials have been sending mixed signals over the talks, though Iran watchers in the U.S. say that may be more a question of tactics than representing a divergence of goals.

Iran is nominally under the leadership of Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of the previous Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the opening day of the U.S. and Israeli strikes. But the younger Khamenei has not yet been seen in public amid rumors that he was badly wounded, and has only communicated through written statements.

Iran’s top negotiators are the Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.

Trump on Monday implored Iran’s leading officials to come to a deal.

“And if Iran’s new leaders (Regime Change!) are smart, Iran can have a great and prosperous future!” he wrote on his social media site TruthSocial.

Iran has found leverage with the U.S. in the Strait of Hormuz, which it has closed throughout the war, leading to skyrocketing oil prices. That has imposed pain on Americans at the pump ahead of midterm elections where GOP majorities in the House and Senate are on the line.

Read the full repot at thehill.com.

Welcome to The Hill’s Defense & National Security newsletter, I’m Ellen Mitchell — your guide to the latest developments at the Pentagon, on Capitol Hill and beyond.

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