Vance warns Iran not to 'play us,' expects negotiations to be 'positive'

WASHINGTON, April 10 (Yonhap) -- U.S. Vice President JD Vance on Friday expected the upcoming negotiations with Iran to be "positive" but warned it not "to play us," as he departed for Pakistan to join the talks aimed at ending the war with the Islamic Republic.

Vance, Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, will attend the first round of negotiations set to take place in Islamabad on Saturday morning (local time), after the United States and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire deal Tuesday.

"We're looking forward to negotiation. I think it's going to be positive," Vance said.

"As the president of the United States said, if the Iranians are willing to negotiate in good faith, we're certainly willing to extend the open hand. If they're going to try to play us, then they're going to find the negotiating team is not that receptive."

Trump gave the U.S. negotiating team "some pretty clear guidelines," the vice president said. He did not elaborate.

On the eve of the negotiations, concerns lingered over what appeared to be a fragile ceasefire amid Israel's continued strikes targeting the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militia in Lebanon and Iran's restrictions on traffic through the crucial Strait of Hormuz.

During the weekend negotiations, the Iranian side is expected to be represented by Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council Mohammad Baqer Zolqadr; Mohammad Baqer Ghalibaf, the parliamentary speaker; and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, according to reports.

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