U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance speaks to the media before boarding the Second Air Force, scheduled to depart for Pakistan for talks on Iran, at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, U.S., April 10, 2026.
Jacqueline Martin | via Reuters
Iran’s parliament speaker warned on Friday that planned negotiations to end the war with the United States cannot begin unless Israel halts its attacks on Lebanon and the United States releases Iran’s frozen assets.
Chairman Mohammad Berger Ghalibaf issued the ultimatum after a US delegation led by Vice President J.D. Vance flew to Islamabad for talks with Iran. The delegation reportedly includes Ghalibaf and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
Ghalibaf’s terms put a strain on Iran’s already fragile two-week ceasefire with the United States, which began on Tuesday.
“Two of the mutually agreed upon measures between the parties have not yet been implemented: a ceasefire in Lebanon and the release of blocked Iranian assets before negotiations begin,” Ghalibaf told XPost.
“These two issues must be met before negotiations can begin,” he wrote.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump expressed frustration that Iran continues to block most shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.
This strait is the world’s most important oil transportation route. Before the war, 20% of the world’s crude oil was transported through this passage.
Earlier Friday, Vance told reporters he thought the negotiations would be “positive” and warned Iran not to “leave us at its mercy.”
In addition to Vance, the U.S. delegation for the meeting also includes special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and adviser, the White House said.
“I look forward to the negotiations,” Vance said. “As the president of the United States has said, if the Iranian side is willing to negotiate in good faith, we would certainly be willing to help.”
“If they try to play us, they will find that the negotiating team is not very welcoming,” he added.
“So we’re trying to have positive negotiations. The president… has given us pretty clear guidelines, so we’ll see.”
In an announcement Tuesday night, President Trump said the United States would agree to a two-week cease-fire conditional on Iran agreeing to fully and immediately reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
But since then, shipping traffic through the strait has remained almost as severely restricted as it has been since the war began on February 28.
In a post on Truth Social Thursday night, President Trump raged: “There are reports that Iran is charging tankers to transit the Strait of Hormuz. It better not be like that, and if it is, it needs to stop now!”
Iran “is doing a disgraceful, some would say, very poor job of allowing oil to pass through the Strait of Hormuz,” the president wrote in a follow-up post. “That’s not our agreement!”
