April 10 (UPI) -- U.S. Vice President JD Vance was due to fly to Islamabad, Pakistan, on Friday ahead of the start of talks to tie-down a fragile cease-fire with Iran with the larger aim of agreeing a permanent peace, if possible.
The assignment heading up the U.S. negotiation team comes at high personal political risk for someone who has until now been engaged in a delicate balancing act of vocally backing the war in public, while opposing it in private, two unnamed White House officials told MS Now.
"Vance's national security team is extremely wary. So many people are afraid of being on the outs," one of the officials said.
The success or failure of Trump's Iran gambit is highly consequential for the remainder of his term and by association, Vance, who is viewed as Trump's most likely successor and the person in line to win the Republican Party nomination for president in 2028.
"This is probably the toughest thing he'll do as vice president. It's not going to be easy," a former administration official told The Hill, referencing the gulf between the United States and Iran on everything from nuclear enrichment and the Hormuz Strait to Lebanon, which Tehran insists is covered by the cease-fire.
