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Status of Iran Negotiations Uncertain. Aired 11:30a-12p ET

Aired April 21, 2026 - 11:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: What I am told, Wolf and Pamela, is that there are going to be further policy meetings on this today here at the White House to figure out the path forward, and that the vice president is expected to participate in those meetings.

[11:30:06]

So, clearly, if he's coming to the White House, very much unclear when he could be actually leaving for Pakistan, if he does at all.

I want to read for you what I was told from a White House official. They said that additional policy meetings are taking place at the White House in which the vice president will participate.

Now, just a little context as well. One of the key questions, of course, as we have been talking about in reporting out this potential second meeting in Pakistan, was whether or not the Iranians were going to send their delegation as well. And, as of today, they still have not yet confirmed whether or not they were sending their top officials to participate in these talks.

So I think that's part of what's really kind of playing a factor into all of this, casting doubt on the path forward here. We have heard the president this morning saying that he still hopes the deal could be had, that he still hopes that diplomacy will prevail here, but that he's also prepared to move forward with the plans he had before the cease-fire, this two-week cease-fire, went into effect to continue moving forward with that threat to bomb Iranian infrastructure and different civilian targets.

And so it's very much unclear where things stand as of now. But we had gone into today expecting the V.P., as well as Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, to head to Pakistan for these talks. Very much unclear whether or not that's moving forward at this point.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Well, it's clear, Alayna, that if the Iranians don't send a serious, very high-level delegation to Islam about Pakistan to re-continue these -- to continue these negotiations with the U.N. -- with the U.S., I should say, there's no, absolutely no interest in sending J.D. Vance and the others to Pakistan if there's no one to talk to there about continuing the cease-fire or moving on to a broader peace, right?

TREENE: No, that's exactly right. And, look, there -- this is not something that is a final decision. I

think there's still a lot of conversations, of course, that are happening here behind the scenes about the best way to move this forward.

But you're exactly right. And there's also a question of whether they just send lower-level officials to talk with maybe lower-level Iranian officials. These are all questions that we still have and that we don't have answers to at as of this moment.

But, of course, the vice president, who was expected to lead the U.S. delegation for this very serious, of course, second round of discussions, they're not going to send the vice president if they're not going to have a representative on the other side of a similar stature.

And so these are all questions we have to figure out really what's going to happen. I'd also want to be clear we don't know if this -- this trip is definitely off. All we do know is that it is definitely delayed and that we should expect to see now the vice president here at the White House for meetings today, not leaving this morning on that plane, as we had previously reported.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: Yes, and quite the change from Friday, when there was this flurry of TRUTH Socials from President Trump indicating that there were these breakthroughs. You had a leader in Iran saying that the Strait of Hormuz would be open and so forth.

And you have reporting, Alayna, that the president's sort of negotiating and public through TRUTH Social and proclaiming certain things has really impacted where things stand with the negotiations behind the scenes, right?

TREENE: No, that's right.

I have spoken with a number of people who are familiar with these negotiations, different people throughout the administration, essentially telling me that they believe many of the TRUTH Social posts that the president has shared in the last several days, as well as the many phone interviews he's done with different reporters who have been calling him up, some of those have been detrimental, they have told me, to these talks and really toward the progress they were trying to make.

And that was particularly true on Friday, when you saw the Pakistani intermediaries. They were meeting with Iranians in Tehran, really optimistic at that point for a potential breakthrough. And then we saw the president kind of come out and say that the Iranians had agreed to things that I was told hadn't even been finalized.

So that's definitely played a role here as well, Wolf and Pam.

BLITZER: Yes, a lot of dramatic developments unfolding right now.

Excellent reporting. Alayna, thank you very much. We will get back to you. I know you're continuing to work all your sources. But, right now, I want to go to CNN's international diplomatic editor,

Nic Robertson. And he's in Islamabad, Pakistan. That's where the talks were expected to be taking place coming up in the coming hours.

And you have some -- a new statement, I take it, coming in from the Pakistanis about the proposed cease-fire? What are you learning, Nic?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, a couple of things happening here, Wolf.

Just sort of setting the scene a little bit, earlier on in the day, just a few hours ago, it really did seem, although the Iranians hadn't said they were coming, everyone here sort of in the diplomatic circles close to the talks understood and felt that they were coming, even though they hadn't made that statement.

Then U.S. Marines in the Indian Ocean boarded that Botswana-flagged tanker that had previously been used for carrying sanctioned Iranian oil. So, fast-forward to where we are now. This sort of momentum, the Iranians expected to arrive, that's evaporated. J.D. Vance hasn't got on his plane.

[11:35:05]

And there is intense diplomacy under way here. The U.S. charge d'affaires, Natalie Baker, went in and had a meeting with the foreign minister here today. The Foreign Ministry reported out their lines from that, stressing the need for diplomacy, but also saying that it would be important to get a cease-fire extension.

That's quite unusual for the mediators to kind of step in at that level. They haven't really sort of taken the lead on this since that cease-fire was established and the talks kind of got off the ground two weeks ago.

Secondly, we have heard from the minister of information here, stressing that the diplomacy is going on in the background, stressing the -- Pakistan, the mediators here have yet to have a clear decision coming from Iran, also saying that Iran needs to give its position and make its position clear before the cease-fire.

And a little bit of detail here that may or may not become important over the next few hours is that Pakistan's understanding of the cease- fire is that it expires at 4:50 in the morning tomorrow morning. That's tonight here. It is a different understanding than what President Trump has given.

The Pakistanis, the mediators, believe that that cease-fire is going to expire essentially East Coast time late tonight. So, the pressure, the heat is clearly on the mediators to try to get this done. They're speaking out publicly more about it. The cease-fire is really coming into view as a key thing and the pressure mounting on Iran to just make their position clear.

BLITZER: Yes, the cease-fire is supposed to end in the coming hours. We will see how that unfolds. Nic, thank you very, very much. We will stay very close to you.

I want to go back to Alayna Treene over at the White House.

Alayna, assuming they don't extend the cease-fire now -- and it looks like they're not going to be able to do that -- does that mean all-out war between the U.S. and Iran resumes?

TREENE: You know, I think it's unclear.

I think, clearly, from the president's public rhetoric, and when I said that he was committing to moving forward with -- the words that the present used in a CNBC interview this morning was that he would go back to bombing, that he wants to be prepared to do that and at least take that posture as of now.

It's unclear if that's actually what would happen. From all of the conversations I have had in the last couple of days and the last couple of hours has been that the White House really is giving diplomacy kind of -- they want that to be the priority here. They do want to have some type of deal worked out between Washington and Tehran to avoid all-out war again.

But, of course, we have to see what happens with these talks and how, behind the scenes, these negotiations are going as well. And so it's unclear. I mean, one thing that is clear is they're going to keep this naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, trying to remove that as a piece of leverage for the Iranians.

But as for the type of military operations we can see, very much unclear, depending on whether or not they believe that a deal could ultimately get reached. Now, one of the reasons, I would argue, as well that, from my conversations with sources, that the president does not want to have this formal extension, particularly a long -- another two-week extension of the cease-fire, is because he wants to keep this pressure on the Iranians.

There is a lot of concern inside the Trump administration that a longer deadline just gives the Iranians more opportunity to drag these talks out. And that is something they do not want. And so there are a lot of moving parts here.

I'd remind you as well that the president did say this morning -- and we know this from our reporting -- that they have used this time, though, with the cease-fire to rearm the U.S. military, to get more weapons into their possession, more people on the ground who are standing by in the Middle East.

So, if the president does ultimately decide to move forward with some sort of military attack, they would be ready to do so. But, again, I still think that the priority is diplomacy at this point in time. We just really have to see what happens with this state of play with these latest round of talks.

BROWN: All right, Alayna Treene, live for us from the White House, thank you so much. Stand by, as we wait to learn more about whether J.D. Vance, the vice

president, will go to Islamabad, Pakistan, for talks over the Iran war.

We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:44:03]

BLITZER: All right, there's major breaking news on the U.S. war with Iran that's unfolding right now.

I want to go back to Alayna Treene over at the White House.

You broke the news just a few moments ago that J.D. Vance, the vice president, is now unlikely to be heading to Islamabad, Pakistan, to resume talks with the Iranians on extending the cease-fire, working towards a broader peace in this war situation.

But update our viewers right now on the latest developments.

TREENE: Yes, so, what we had expected heading into today, Wolf, was that the vice president would leave earlier this morning to fly to Islamabad for a second round of talks with Iranian officials.

Now, the latest I'm hearing from my conversations with people familiar with the plans is that it is now unclear when he would leave and if he will leave. Today, there's going to be further meetings here at the White House about how to really push a potential peace deal forward.

And I was told by a White House official that the vice president is expected to participate in those meetings, essentially saying that he is going to be coming to the White House now, rather than getting on that plane and departing for Islamabad.

[11:45:12]

But I do want to be clear. We do not yet know if this trip could be totally off, if it is just delayed, or if they are waiting for more guidance from the Iranians. I will tell you that one thing that, of course, is a factor here is that it is not clear from the Iranians yet whether or not they were going to be sending a delegation to Pakistan.

As of just moments ago, we heard the Pakistani mediators come out and say that the Iranians had not committed to sending their high-level officials to Islamabad to engage in these talks. So I think that is one factor here.

But, of course, we have to really see what these meetings produced today and what this could mean, as we know that the cease-fire for this, the president -- it was expected to expire tonight, that two- week cease-fire. The president said yesterday that he was giving the Iranians until tomorrow, so a lot of different moving parts here and a lot of -- a lot of uncertainty of really how this is going to progress further here. BROWN: Right, two different timelines for when this is going to end,

the cease-fire, from President Trump and the Iranians.

I want to go to our Nic Robertson in Islamabad, Pakistan. That is where these talks are supposed to take place, where the vice president, J.D. Vance, was supposed to leave for this morning. Now that is uncertain whether he will make the trip.

What are you hearing from officials there on the ground, Nic?

ROBERTSON: They are in the first instance pushing every diplomatic effort that they can. That is what the Pakistani mediators are telling us.

The foreign minister here met with the U.S. charge d'affaires, Natalie Baker, this -- late this afternoon. The statement issued by the Foreign Ministry talked about the importance of diplomacy, talked about the importance of getting the United States and Iran around the table together.

And then the Foreign Ministry statement did something that they haven't really done for a couple of weeks. Of course, they were at the forefront of helping get the cease-fire, of drafting all of that up and creating the platform and space for these talks to happen.

But the foreign minister today in the statement said he thought that a cease-fire would be helpful, an extension of the cease-fire would be helpful to try to get the talks up and running again. And that's really -- the mediators here really taken a public position on this, where they've really sort of stayed in the margins, haven't said every -- anything, let the two sides continue.

And then we had a statement from the Information Ministry here, saying they are trying all diplomacy they can, that they have had this -- no formal response from Iran whether or not they will come.

Now, the Pakistani understanding of the cease-fire is, it expires in about eight hours' time. And what the Information Ministry here is saying is, they want Iran to state its position clearly before that cease-fire expires in eight hours' time. And it is not clear what Iran is going to do.

And Iran does -- had been perceived here in Islamabad -- and I have to say this is a very, very clear perception behind the scenes -- an expectation that, earlier today, the Iranians were going to come. They weren't making a public statement, but they were expected to come. That was the reason we all understood that J.D. Vance would get on the plane, because they were they were planning to come.

What seemed to have happened in the middle of the afternoon was U.S. Marines boarding that Botswanan-flagged tanker in the Indian Ocean that had previously, as we understand, carried sanctioned Iranian oil. And that seems to have triggered a falling out on the Iranian position.

And it really isn't clear if they will come. And the statements we're beginning to hear sound like the statements we were hearing from them 24 hours ago, before that sort of rhetoric softened down a bit. They want the U.S. blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, they want that lifted.

That appears to be where they are at the moment. But it isn't clear. But what is clear is, mediators here are going public in a way they haven't before. And they are really doubling down on their diplomacy. But we don't know if it can be effective yet.

BLITZER: Yes, this is really, really, Nic, a very, very delicate moment, because this all-out war between the U.S. and Iran presumably could explode if the cease-fire is not extended.

And, earlier, I think it's significant President Trump said, in his words, it's -- quote -- "highly unlikely," his words, highly unlikely that the U.S. would extend the cease-fire further if a deal is not reached. And if there are no negotiations going on in Islamabad, Pakistan, it's clear that no deal is going to be reached to extend the cease-fire.

I want to bring in Sabrina Singh, our global affairs commentator -- she was deputy Pentagon press secretary during the Biden administration -- and our political director, Washington bureau chief, David Chalian, as well.

Sabrina, are we on the verge right now of all-out war breaking out?

[11:50:03]

SABRINA SINGH, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS COMMENTATOR: Well, I think that remains to be seen.

I mean, I think we have a few hours until it's decided if J.D. Vance is going to get on that flight or not to Islamabad.

BLITZER: He's clearly not going to go if the Iranians...

SINGH: Right.

BLITZER: ... don't send a high-level delegation to Islamabad. And they're suggesting they're not going to do that.

SINGH: That's right.

So I think we have a few hours left to determine, to see if the cease- fire still holds. I think what could happen is, Donald Trump might have to eat some of his words and extend the cease-fire to allow some more negotiations. I mean, you're basically seeing how diplomatic talks work out in real time, except, this time, it's with the vice president, one of the highest-level people in this administration, engaging in these talks.

But I think we might still have some time. I think -- I think both sides don't want to restart kinetic strikes. I think it is in their interest, both on the U.S. side and Iran, to find a way -- an off-ramp here. So maybe Donald Trump extends the cease-fire a bit so they can get

some agreement on that three-page, like, framework, so that then they can start going back to the negotiating table. But we are looking at hours now to really make that determination, which is kind of fascinating that it's all playing out very much in real time.

BROWN: Yes.

And, actually, we have reporting, David, that this sort of public negotiating that the president has done has had a big impact on these talks and has upset some of the Iranians, who say that he has come out publicly and said things were agreed upon that weren't actually agreed upon.

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Yes, I'm not sure that's public negotiating or positioning of where he wants to be. It's the negotiations that will determine this, of course.

And you're right. And even some of his own advisers, our reporting indicates, would prefer him not to sort of be positioning as vocally as he is in public on this stuff.

Here -- there's no doubt we're watching this unfold in real time, which is fascinating. And this is obviously a very tenuous moment. It's hard to take the president at his word that the cease-fire will not be extended, because, if there's an avenue here to that off-ramp Sabrina's talking about, then of course the cease-fire will be extended in some way.

I also heard the president say this morning on CNBC, Wolf, that he thinks a deal is inevitable and that it has to end here in a deal, which again begs the question, well, how are you going to get there if you don't have people in the room actually hammering out what is required to get to that deal?

The fact that the press, whatever, waiting for the vice president to show up and get on the plane and head over there, but instead at the White House and in these meetings on this topic to determine whether or not it's viable for him to get on the plane and go over there, is high drama right now.

It is also high stakes. And so how they navigate these next few hours is going to be something very important for us to understand.

BLITZER: I'm sure you have -- I have heard from U.S. officials, military officials they don't necessarily want to see a cease-fire, because that gives the Iranians an opportunity to regroup, to rebuild, to get themselves organized and to fight, and the U.S. doesn't want to see Iran get into that position.

SINGH: I think that there is concern from the U.S. military of Iran sort of consolidating and regrouping their command-and-control.

The reality is, I don't think that would necessarily happen in just a few days' time. I mean, Iran's military has been degraded pretty significantly. I think there are factions within the Iranian government, including within the IRGC, that there is confusion on what is the right path forward.

I think what the U.S. military wants to do is give the president optionality, which is why you have those Marines there, you have another carrier in the region now. You have three carrier groups there. You're giving the president the optionality, so if he wants to start those kinetic strikes again, he can turn it on at a moment's notice.

But is that -- I mean, you're seeing on the CNN ticker right there gas prices are reacting to what the president puts out on TRUTH Social and to the comments that he makes. So I don't think this administration wants to go back into war, but it's clear the president is giving himself that room in case the cease-fire -- in case he doesn't want to extend that cease-fire.

BROWN: Yes.

And he really has been -- as you noted, been all over the map on the cease-fire. And according to our recent CNN -- right, there was a recent question-and-answer with the president. He was asked five separate times whether he would extend the cease-fire, and he offered three different answers to that, so clearly not being definitive as it pertains to that.

And one of the big sticking points here...

CHALIAN: But that's also part of that optionality, Pam, right?

BROWN: Yes, exactly.

CHALIAN: Like, by him -- giving those three different answers allows him to choose different paths here in terms of seeking that off-ramp.

BROWN: Right, which, as we know, is part of his playbook, right?

SINGH: Right.

BROWN: But one of the big sticking points, as Nic noted, is that U.S. blockade on Iranian ports. And, of course, there was a seizure of the ship with the sanctioned Iranian oil.

Do you see that the U.S. relenting on that and removing that blockade as a way to move forward here?

SINGH: You know, what's so interesting is, when this war started, it was all about the nuclear enrichment, the uranium enriched material that was in Iran. Now it's about the strait. And I think both sides would claim victory if the strait opened.

Iran wants the U.S. to end their blockade because they are suffering. I mean, we are going after their economic assets right now. And, of course, we want the strait open and Iran to allow freedom of navigation. I think this is the biggest negotiating point.

[11:55:07] And that's why you're seeing J.D. Vance, I think, pull back or delay his trip, is because what happens to the strait is what happens to the markets, which means, I think, broader, more politically for the president, what also happens in the midterms.

He knows there's a political stake here riding on the strait. They need to get that opened. And I think Iran knows that they have time on their side, and they can continue to inflict damage on costs.

CHALIAN: Yes. When you say that blockade is like the biggest negotiating point right now...

BROWN: Yes.

CHALIAN: ... that's just the negotiating point to get to the negotiations.

SINGH: Right.

BROWN: Yes.

SINGH: Exactly.

(CROSSTALK)

BROWN: Just to get to -- to move forward, yes.

(CROSSTALK)

CHALIAN: Exactly, just to get to the table.

BLITZER: All right, David Chalian, thank you. Sabrina Singh, thank you very, very much.

And, to all of our viewers here in the United States and around the world, thanks very much for joining us.

"INSIDE POLITICS" with our friend and colleague Dana Bash will start right after a very quick break.