ISLAMABAD — Vice President JD Vance departed Washington for Islamabad, Pakistan, to lead the U.S. negotiating team in the first face-to-face peace talks with Iran. President Donald Trump tasked Vance with negotiating a resolution to the war between Iran, the United States, and Israel.

A temporary ceasefire between the United States and Iran is in effect. The talks are also expected to address the status of the Strait of Hormuz, which is not fully open to shipping at this time. Ensuring the strait remains open to maritime traffic is a goal of the negotiations. "Iran is doing a very poor job of allowing tankers through the Strait of Hormuz," Trump said. He also suggested that the U.S. and Iran could jointly charge fees for ships to pass through the waterway.

The question of Iran's nuclear materials has produced mixed signals from the administration. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that Iran must turn over its enriched uranium as a red line. Trump, however, said in an interview that he did not care about Iran's enriched uranium and suggested on social media that the two countries dig up uranium together.

"So if it doesn't happen, I'm blaming JD Vance. If it does happen, I'm taking full credit," Trump said.

Vance, an Iraq War veteran, has long been skeptical of foreign military interventions and has been outspoken about sending troops into open-ended conflicts. His political brand included opposition to American wars in the Middle East. During earlier rounds of indirect negotiations, he questioned the Iranian negotiating team's communication. "I actually wonder how good he is at understanding English because there are things that he said that, frankly, didn't make sense in some - in the context of the negotiations that we've had," Vance said.

The talks face several obstacles. Iran said it would not attend peace talks with the U.S. in Pakistan if the truce was not extended to Lebanon. Israel said it would continue striking the Iran-backed militia and criticized Pakistan's role in mediating the ceasefire talks after remarks by Pakistan's defense minister. The United States and Iran have been adversaries for nearly half a century.

Nicholas Burns, who served as lead U.S. negotiator on Iran's nuclear program and as U.S. ambassador to NATO after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, is among those with prior experience in such diplomatic engagements with Tehran. The Islamabad talks represent the first direct peace negotiations of the current conflict.