PODCAST:
April 21, 2026 ~ Chris Renwick and Lloyd Jackson talk with Jason Roe, a political strategist with Roe Strategic. They discuss the ongoing ceasefire and negotiations with Iran, and J.D. Vance’s role as lead negotiator.
IRAN ~ The U.S. is reportedly set to send a delegation to Pakistan this week to restart direct negotiations with Iran, only a day after the U.S. captured an Iranian cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz.
Vice President JD Vance will lead the delegation to Islamabad to try to reach an agreement with Iran before the current two-week ceasefire expires on Wednesday. However, Iran has shown little public interest in attending the talks after the U.S. set a blockade of the Strait and seized the cargo ship.
“We do not accept negotiations under the shadow of threats, and in the past two weeks, we have prepared to reveal new cards on the battlefield,” said Iran’s parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.
President Donald Trump told reporters Monday that Iran will “see problems like they’ve never seen before” if Iran doesn’t attend the negotiations. He also repeated threats over the weekend that the U.S. would target civilian infrastructure in Iran, like power plants and bridges, if a deal wasn’t reached.
