Vice President JD Vance, who was skeptical about starting the Iran war in the first place, is about to become the face of US diplomacy with Tehran. The White House says he'll lead a delegation to Islamabad, Pakistan, on Saturday for direct talks with Iranian officials, reports the BBC. The big question is whether the two sides can forge a permanent end to the war after this week's shaky-looking ceasefire. Both the White House and Tehran have been claiming victory in the war, notes the Washington Post, but both have incentives to strike a longer peace deal: Iran's leadership is decimated, while President Trump is facing political pressure over rising energy prices.
"It's going to be a very messy, imperfect cease-fire," Suzanne Maloney of the nonpartisan Brookings Institution tells the New York Times. "But my sense is that both sides want to at least test what's possible at the negotiating table."
- Lebanon: Details of the talks remain under wraps, though one big source of disagreement over the ceasefire remains Lebanon: Israel continues to bombard Beirut, insisting the pact doesn't apply to its war with Hezbollah, but Iran disagrees.
- The strait: Also unclear on Thursday was whether Tehran has fully opened the Strait of Hormuz to shipping traffic. However, new reports suggest it could take a while: Semiofficial news agencies in Iran say the Revolutionary Guard placed mines in the strait during the war, reports the AP.
- Oil, stocks: The shakiness of the ceasefire is reflected in the markets. Brent crude, the international benchmark, ticked up to over $98 a barrel after falling sharply on Wednesday, notes CNBC. Dow futures were down more than 200 points on Thursday morning.
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