(LEAD) Vance warns Iran not to 'play us'; Tehran calls for Lebanon ceasefire, frozen assets release before talks

▲ U.S. Vice President JD Vance speaks to the press before boarding Air Force Two at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, on April 10, 2026, in this photo released by the Associated Press. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)

(LEAD) Vance-Iran negotiations

(LEAD) Vance warns Iran not to 'play us'; Tehran calls for Lebanon ceasefire, frozen assets release before talks

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By Song Sang-ho

WASHINGTON, April 10 (Yonhap) -- U.S. Vice President JD Vance said Friday he expects the upcoming negotiations with Iran to be "positive" but warned it not "to play us," while Tehran's parliamentary speaker called for a ceasefire in Lebanon and the release of its frozen assets before peace talks begin in Pakistan this weekend.

An apparent war of nerves emerged as Washington and Tehran are set to hold the first round of talks, aimed at ending the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran, in Islamabad on Saturday (local time), following their agreement to a two-week ceasefire on Tuesday.

"We're looking forward to negotiations. I think it's going to be positive," Vance told reporters at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland before departing for Pakistan.

"As the president of the United States said, if the Iranians are willing to negotiate in good faith, we're certainly willing to extend the open hand. If they're going to try to play us, then they're going to find the negotiating team is not that receptive," he added.

President Donald Trump gave the U.S. negotiating team "some pretty clear guidelines," the vice president said. He did not elaborate.

In a social media post, Iran's parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, demanded that two conditions be met before the negotiations kick off.

"Two of the measures mutually agreed upon between the parties have yet to be implemented: a ceasefire in Lebanon and the release of Iran's blocked assets prior to the commencement of negotiations," he wrote on X.

"These two matters must be fulfilled before negotiations begin."

On the eve of the negotiations, concerns lingered over what appeared to be a fragile ceasefire amid Israel's continued strikes targeting the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militia in Lebanon and Iran's restrictions on traffic through the crucial Strait of Hormuz.

During their talks, the two sides are expected to discuss a range of tricky issues, including Iran's demands in its 10-point proposal, which Trump cast as a "workable basis on which to negotiate" a deal.

Iran's demands reportedly include the maintenance of its control over the Strait of Hormuz, the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from the Middle East, the acceptance of its nuclear enrichment right and the lifting of all primary and secondary sanctions against Tehran.

In the negotiations, the U.S. side will be represented by Vance, Trump's Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner.

Iran's delegation is expected to include the parliamentary speaker, Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council Mohammad Baqer Zolqadr, and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, according to reports.

The negotiations were arranged as the Trump administration seeks an exit from the war amid fears of a prolonged war in the Middle East and the conflict's impact on oil prices and the global economy ahead of the U.S. midterm elections slated for November.

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