Vice President JD Vance led an urgent round of Sunday-night negotiations aimed at securing a ceasefire with Iran, working through Pakistani intermediaries while President Trump warned he would "blow up everything" if Tehran failed to reach a deal by Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET.
The talks unfolded against a backdrop of rising gas prices, an active military conflict, and a dramatic rescue operation that pulled a wounded American airman out of the Iranian mountains over the weekend. Together, the developments framed the most consequential 48 hours of the crisis so far, and put Vance at the center of the administration's diplomatic gambit.
Reuters reported that Vance and other U.S. envoys pushed for an immediate ceasefire followed by further talks within a 15-to-20-day window during the Sunday-night negotiations brokered by Pakistan. Pakistan's army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, coordinated the proposed plan through backchannel talks with Vance and Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi represented Tehran.
The two sides remain far apart on substance. The Trump administration is insisting that Iran fully end uranium enrichment and halt all nuclear development. Tehran is demanding the removal of U.S. sanctions and trade restrictions.
Iran's foreign ministry said Tehran had "formulated positions and demands based on its interests and communicated them through intermediaries." A second regime official went further, calling the American approach "incompatible with ultimatums and threats to commit war crimes."
A senior Iranian source told reporters that Iran would not reopen the Strait of Hormuz as part of any temporary ceasefire, a sticking point that complicates the picture. A White House official said the negotiated plan was unlikely to immediately reopen the strait and had not yet received the president's approval.
Trump has previously threatened strikes on Iran's power plants and bridges if the strait stayed closed, and the Tuesday deadline underscores that the administration views the waterway's status as non-negotiable in the long run.
The vice president's role in the Iran track has grown steadily. Newsmax reported that Vance communicated with Pakistani intermediaries about the conflict as recently as Tuesday. At Trump's direction, he privately signaled that the president was open to a ceasefire if U.S. demands were met, including reopening the Strait of Hormuz, while delivering what one source described as a "stern message" that Trump was impatient and that pressure on Iranian infrastructure would grow unless Tehran agreed to a deal.
Iranian officials have reportedly preferred to deal with Vance, viewing him as a more anti-war interlocutor. The New York Post reported that Trump named a broader negotiating team, including Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Jared Kushner, and Witkoff, while insisting that he alone decides who represents the United States.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt put it plainly:
"President Trump and President Trump alone decides who negotiates on his behalf."
Trump himself confirmed the roster in characteristically blunt fashion:
"Well, he's involved in them, JD is involved, and Marco's involved, and Jared Kushner is involved, very smart guy, and Steve Witkoff, smart guy, is involved. And I'm involved."
That Vance has emerged as the point man on the overnight push fits a pattern. His reported private skepticism about the Iran war, voiced as the U.S. death toll climbed and gas prices spiked, may be exactly what makes him credible to both sides: tough enough for Trump, pragmatic enough for Tehran.
While the diplomatic track ground forward, the military delivered a moment that cut through the fog. U.S. special operations forces rescued the second of two crew members from an F-15 jet shot down over southern Iran on Friday. The weapons officer had spent more than 24 hours alone in the Iranian mountains, hiking up a 7,000-foot ridgeline to evade capture.
The CIA tracked the airman, provided his exact location to the Pentagon, and launched a disinformation campaign inside Iran to cover the operation. Dozens of aircraft flew behind enemy lines. Three additional aircraft had to be sent before commandos were finally able to fly out with the wounded officer. Some aircraft were abandoned at a remote makeshift airfield during the mission.
Trump announced the rescue Sunday morning, calling it "one of the most daring" operations in U.S. history. He said the officer was "now safe and sound" but had been "seriously wounded." The president said no casualties had been sustained in the operation itself.
The rescue carried an additional dimension. Fox News reported that CENTCOM Commander Admiral Brad Cooper directed a simultaneous strike on an underground IRGC headquarters near Tehran, using B-2 bombers and bunker buster bombs. Sources told Fox News the headquarters was "obliterated." The dual operation, recovery and strike at the same time, showed the administration's willingness to use force even as it pursued talks.
That combination of diplomatic outreach and military pressure has defined Trump's broader approach to Iran throughout the crisis.
Americans are feeling the conflict at the pump. Oil prices remain well above $100 per barrel. The national average for gas sits around $4.10 a gallon, up more than a dollar since the start of the conflict. Oil prices dipped slightly on reports of the negotiations, but the relief was marginal.
Those numbers matter more than any diplomatic communiqué for millions of voters. A ceasefire that fails to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly a fifth of the world's oil passes, would do little to ease the squeeze. And Iran's refusal to budge on the strait as part of a temporary deal suggests the economic pain could persist even if guns go quiet.
The biggest question hanging over the talks is whether Trump will approve the framework Vance helped negotiate. The White House official's acknowledgment that the plan had not yet received presidential sign-off means the entire effort could still collapse before the Tuesday deadline.
Iranian officials, meanwhile, have their own trust deficit. Axios reported that Iranian officials fear any future deal could mirror past ceasefires in Gaza or Lebanon, agreements that proved temporary and left Tehran exposed. That skepticism, combined with the regime's public insistence that negotiations cannot proceed under "ultimatums and threats," suggests Iran may be slow-walking the process to test American resolve.
The administration's response has been to keep both tracks running. Vance talks. The military strikes. Trump sets deadlines. The question is whether Tehran reads the combination as an off-ramp or a trap.
Trump is due to address the nation from the White House at 1 p.m. ET, ostensibly about the rescue mission. But with the Tuesday deadline looming and the ceasefire framework still unsigned, the speech could easily become the most consequential moment of the crisis. What the president says, and what he leaves unsaid, will signal whether the overnight push bought time or whether the clock is about to run out.
The broader diplomatic track has already survived setbacks that would have ended lesser efforts. Whether it survives this week depends on whether Iran's leaders fear what comes after Tuesday more than they fear the deal on the table.
Strength got the airman out of those mountains. It may be the only thing that gets a deal out of Tehran.
