Iran casts doubt over Islamabad talks

伊朗对伊斯兰堡会谈表示怀疑

Newshour

2026-04-20

47 分钟
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President Trump says a US delegation will arrive in Pakistan on Monday for negotiations with Iran. The White House says it will again be led by Vice-President JD Vance. But reports from Iran say hardliners in the leadership are against attending as long as America's blockade of Iranian ports continues. Also in the programme: The party of the pro-Russian former president, Rumen Radev, is on course to win Bulgaria's general election and more than 150 authors leave a prominent French publisher, but why? (Photo: A police officer gestures to a vehicle at a check post along a road near Faisal Masjid, as Pakistan prepares to host the U.S. and Iran for the second phase of peace talks in Islamabad, Pakistan April 19, 2026. CREDIT: REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro)
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  • Hello and welcome to NewsHour from the BBC World Service, live from London with Owen Bennett-Jones.

  • Earlier today, the White House said that the US Vice President, J.D. Vance, was on his way back to Islamabad,

  • along with Trump's former business partner, Steve Witkoff, and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner.

  • But the latest from Iran is.

  • Iran will not currently plan to attend the new US talks.

  • That's the state media.

  • We'll get an American voice in a moment.

  • But first, the BBC's chief international correspondent,

  • Lise Doucette, she is in Tehran on the condition that none of her material is used on the BBC's Persian service,

  • a restriction that applies to all international media organisations operating in Iran.

  • Right, Lise, the latest is currently planning not to attend.

  • Bit of wiggle room there.

  • Yes, I think you 'll remember that last weekend that Iran only confirmed at the 11th hour

  • that it would attend what turned out to be high-level historic face-to-face talks with the U.S. Delegation

  • headed by the Vice President J.D. Vance.

  • I was in Islamabad then and reports swirled all day.

  • Will they come?

  • Will they not come?

  • I'm not sure whether they're doing that again.

  • What Iranian officials are maintaining a stony silence in the midst