US-Iran Peace Talks In Limbo With End of Truce Nearing

US Vice President JD Vance is poised to travel to Pakistan talks to end the war with Iran — but it’s not clear who he’d meet with, as Tehran hasn’t confirmed its attendance.

President Donald Trump, meanwhile, said the US is in a strong negotiating position and Iran has “no choice” but to send a delegation to Pakistan. The US is ready to resume its bombing campaign if there’s no breakthrough, he told CNBC.

An Iranian official said it doesn’t want to negotiate “under the shadow of threats,” and issues including access to the Strait of Hormuz remain unresolved. Now, the world’s top oil traders are warning of deepening demand destruction because of the war, with possibly steep economic costs.

Gunvor Group said today that the amount of lost consumption may double next month to 5 million barrels a day — roughly 5% of world supplies — and could trigger a global recession if Hormuz remains closed for three months. Trafigura and Vitol Group, two other major oil traders, have similarly warned about a potentially steep reduction in oil demand. — Philip Lagerkranser

Olly Robbins, the former top British bureaucrat fired by Prime Minister Keir Starmer last week, told lawmakers today that he felt political pressure to clear Peter Mandelson to become ambassador to the US. Robbins’s public testimony is likely to be damaging for Starmer, whose appointment of Mandelson has created a months-long political scandal. Starmer picked Mandelson, who had ties to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, to be his US envoy after Trump was elected to his second term in 2024.