Sources: Iran to Send Delegation for Peace Talks

April 21—Sources in Washington and the Middle East report that Iran will send a delegation to Islamabad for meetings aimed at finalizing a peace plan with the United States and Israel.

The announcement of the new round of talks has been delayed while wording is being worked out, said sources who reported that the Trump administration had communicated to Iran that it will lift its blockade of Iranian port traffic through the Strait of Hormuz while the peace deal is under discussion. Yesterday, the U.S. Navy seized an Iranian cargo ship that attempted to run the blockade, which was put into effect after the last round of talks failed to produce a deal. These sources say that the ship and crew will be returned to Iran.

President Donald Trump had announced that a U.S. team, headed by Vice President JD Vance, was on its way to Islamabad, but as of late yesterday Vance had not left Washington. Sources close to the White House said Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and presidential son-in-law Jared Kushner, who also led the team, had already left for the talks.

Haaretz sage strategic analyst Amos Harel reports today on the rifts in Iranian leadership circles that are reflected in their attitude towards the negotiations: "Israel sees growing rifts among Iranian leaders. The new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, is apparently still partially functioning after being injured during the Israeli assassination of his father, Ali Khamenei, on February 28. His ties with other members of the leadership are weak (possibly also because he is in hiding), which affects the decision-making process.

"It appears that the group leading the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is skeptical about renewed negotiations with the U.S., while the country's civilian leaders favor them, if for no other reason than to delay a new U.S.-Israeli attack. Trump has already warned that a resumption of the war will wreak havoc on Iran, specifically attacks on major power plants throughout the country.

"The British weekly The Economist reported on Monday that disputes in the Iranian delegation were so acute during the first round of talks that Pakistani mediators spent as much time trying to resolve differences among the Iranians themselves as they did on talks with the U.S. Inside Iran, reports say the country is on high military alert while supporters of the most extreme wing of the regime are holding rallies where they chant slogans against the country's political leaders."

Framework of a Potential Agreement

The sources say that there is already agreement on much of what will comprise the deal, and that negotiations, some involving Pakistani mediation with President Trump directly, have been ongoing since the talks broke off two weeks ago. It is unclear whether a full agreement will be produced during this round of talks, or whether a Memorandum of Understanding will be agreed to. Sources report that a MoU was on the table and close to agreement during the last round.

"The agreement is complicated," said a source, "It has many moving parts—an agreement to end Iran's ambition for a nuclear weapon and a restriction of its nuclear research capabilities, the removal of enriched Uranium above 60% that could be used to make a bomb from Iran, freedom of access to the Strait of Hormuz through which 20% of the world's energy exports pass, the end of Iranian support for proxy groups like Hamas and Hezbollah to attack, reasonable limitations of Iran's drone and missile production, relief from sanctions and the release of billions in seized or frozen Iranian assets. Each of these requires elaboration and details on implementation. The key first step is to agree to the principles that will govern this process and to lay out what is agreed to. This has been done for much of this."

Key Sticking Points and Ceasefire Extension

This and other sources say that Iran will want an agreement that prohibits future attacks from Israel or the United States. Israel will want Iran's recognition of its right to exist, which one source said would itself be a revolutionary development.

It is likely that the parties will agree to extend the ceasefire, which, according to Trump, expires tomorrow night, especially if there is some signed agreement that emerges from the process.

The sources all noted that while Trump wants out of the war with Iran and would agree to a lessened military profile in the region, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu wants the war to continue until he succeeds in bombing Iran back to the Stone Age. He has told associates that he will never believe that Iran will give up its nuclear ambitions. It will be Trump's responsibility to force Bibi to sign on to any agreement.

Regional Dynamics and Strategic Pressures

Two weeks ago, Trump forced Bibi to agree to a ceasefire in Lebanon and the West Bank in its fight against Iranian-backed Hezbollah. He did this when Tehran threatened to pull out of the ceasefire and future talks. In so doing, Trump set in motion talks between Iran and Lebanon in Washington, brokered by the United States. The next round of those talks is scheduled for April 23.

Trump, sources close to the White House report, wants both wars to end, and finally get going plans for peaceful development in the region, including under the brokered peace deal in Gaza. Trump said he went to war this time in Iran to end its nuclear threat, but he had claimed that threat ended with bombing of Iran last summer. Trump, sources report, bought into Israeli intelligence pushed by Bibi that said if the U.S. and Israelis bombed Iran, they could bring about a popular uprising that would topple the theocratic regime of the mullahs in Tehran. This intelligence has been proven false by the results of the war, which appears, despite Israeli efforts to decapitate its leadership, to have made the regime stronger.

Bibi has told Trump that to take out the regime would require a decisive defeat of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, the highly trained and heavily armed force that really rules Iran, and that to do this would require American boots on the ground. Trump and his top military advisors, with the exception of Christian Zionist Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, have all rejected this advice and support Trump's efforts to end the war.

But several sources say that Iran already possesses something more powerful than a nuclear weapon—control of the energy chokepoint in the Strait of Hormuz. Cutting off oil and other energy traffic from the Gulf threatens severe damage to the world economy, which is already evidenced. Trump must end the war and open the Strait to avoid a severe global economic collapse. "Bibi really set him up," said a source in Washington. "and Trump is pissed. Let's hope this state of mind drives him to make peace."