Vance Trip for Iran Peace Talks Delayed, Summoned to White House
Vice President JD Vance was expected to board a plane and lead a U.S. negotiating team in talks in Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad, but was unexpectedly called back to the White House on Tuesday amid uncertainty over Iran’s participation.
CNN’s Alayna Treene reported that Vance will not go to Islamabad as planned, but he will go to policy meetings at the White House on Tuesday. Sources told Treene that it is still unclear if Vance’s trip will happen at all.
“We don’t know if this trip is definitely off,” she told The Situation Room anchors Wolf Blitzer and Pamela Brown. “All we do know is that it is definitely delayed and that we should expect to see now the vice president at the White House for meetings today, not leaving this morning on that plane as we had previously reported.”
Vance flew to Pakistan earlier this month to lead talks in Islamabad along with special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner. The VP said the Iranians refused to agree to the main point the Americans were seeking — an “affirmative commitment” the country will not pursue nuclear weapons.
The meeting failed to result in a deal being made
The meeting failed to result in a deal being made.
“The bad news is that we have not reached an agreement,” Vance said at the time. “And I think that’s bad news for Iran, much more than it’s bad news for the United States of America.”
Since the U.S. started blocking ships from entering or leaving Iranian ports, U.S. Central Command said on Tuesday that U.S. forces have told 28 ships to turn around or go back to port.
official declined to say whether any ships have entered Iranian ports, but they stated that, if any have, they would be unable to get past the blockade in the Gulf of Oman when they leave
A U.S. official declined to say whether any ships have entered Iranian ports, but they stated that, if any have, they would be unable to get past the blockade in the Gulf of Oman when they leave.
The two-week ceasefire between the U.S., Israel, and Iran is about to end, but it’s still not clear if Iranian officials will come to Islamabad to talk.
The Pakistani information minister, Attaullah Tarar, said as of 7:30 p.m. Pakistani time (10:30 a.m. U.S. Eastern time), a “formal response from [the] Iranian side about confirmation of delegation to attend Islamabad Peace Talks is still awaited.”
However, Tarar did say Pakistani mediators were in “constant touch” with the Iranians and emphasized the talks were “critical.”
However, Tarar did say Pakistani mediators were in “constant touch” with the Iranians and emphasized the talks were “critical.”
In a bad sign for negotiations, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian criticized Trump and the negotiations in a post on X, writing, “The level of understanding and comprehension of the requesters from Iran regarding their presence in Islamabad is even lower than Trump’s level of understanding and comprehension…!”
U.S. Chargé d’Affaires Natalie Baker, who heads up the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, met with Pakistani Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar on Tuesday to discuss diplomatic efforts to end the Iran war, which Pakistan has spearheaded for weeks.
Dar “underscored Pakistan’s consistent emphasis on dialogue and diplomacy as the only viable means to address challenges and achieve lasting regional peace and stability,” the Pakistani Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a readout of the meeting posted on X
Dar “underscored Pakistan’s consistent emphasis on dialogue and diplomacy as the only viable means to address challenges and achieve lasting regional peace and stability,” the Pakistani Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a readout of the meeting posted on X. “He stressed the need for engagement between the United States and Iran, urged both sides to consider extending the ceasefire, and to give dialogue and diplomacy a chance.”
President Trump has indicated he does not want to extend the ceasefire, hoping instead for a permanent solution.
“I don’t want to do that. We don’t have that much time,” Mr. Trump told CNBC about extending the two-week ceasefire, which he has said will end Wednesday. “Iran can get themselves on a very good footing if they make a deal. They can make themselves into a strong nation again, a wonderful nation again.”
Nearly 150,000 California Mail Ballots Rejected In Primary
California election officials are examining why nearly 150,000 mail-in ballots were rejected during the state’s June primary, with late-arriving ballots accounting for most of the increase.
The higher rejection rate comes despite years of election law changes designed to make voting more accessible and ensure more ballots are ultimately counted.
According to data compiled by the California Secretary of State’s office, 148,241 mail-in ballots were rejected during the June primary, representing 1.73% of all mail ballots returned.
That marks an increase from the 2024 primary, when 108,982 ballots were rejected, or 1.56% of all mail ballots cast.
The largest reason for rejection was ballots arriving too late to qualify under California law.
State data shows that 93,479 ballots were rejected because they failed to meet the state’s deadline requirements.
California allows mail ballots to arrive up to seven days after Election Day, provided they are postmarked on or before Election Day.
Voting experts believe many of the rejected ballots received postmarks dated after Election Day, making them ineligible to be counted even if they arrived within the seven-day grace period.
Kim Alexander, president of the nonpartisan California Voter Foundation, said the timing of postal processing appears to be a significant concern.
“Ballots rejected due to lateness are caused primarily to being postmarked too late to count, not because they arrived too late to count,” Alexander said.
Election experts have questioned whether recent operational changes within the U.S. Postal Service may be contributing to delayed postmarks.
Earlier this year, a group of mostly Democratic U.S. senators wrote to the Postal Service expressing concern that mail-processing changes could affect ballot handling during federal elections.
Updated Postal Service procedures mean postmarks may reflect when mail is processed at regional facilities rather than when it first enters the mail system.
Because processing centers have been consolidated in some areas, election officials have warned that postmark timing could be affected.
Before the June primary, California election officials encouraged voters to mail ballots as early as possible because of potential postal delays.
The June election also featured a highly competitive race for governor, which some experts believe encouraged many voters to wait until the final days before casting ballots.
In addition to late-arriving ballots, approximately 44,000 ballots were rejected because election officials determined the voter’s signature did not match the signature on file.
Another 8,300 ballots were rejected because the return envelope did not contain a signature.
State records also show that 743 ballots were rejected because those voters had already cast another ballot.
Other rejected ballots involved missing ballots inside return envelopes or multiple ballots submitted in a single envelope.
The highest rejection rate in the state occurred in Tulare County, where 3.52% of returned mail ballots were rejected.
Alpine County and Merced County followed closely, each recording rejection rates of 3.36%.
California has frequently faced criticism for taking weeks to complete vote counting after major elections, largely because state law permits ballots meeting certain requirements to continue arriving after Election Day.
Following the June primary, President Donald Trump again criticized California’s election system, while the Department of Justice opened an investigation into election administration in Los Angeles County.
Election experts emphasize that the increase in rejected ballots should not be interpreted as evidence of widespread voter fraud.
A 2025 report by the Brookings Institution found documented cases of mail ballot fraud remained extremely rare, estimating roughly four cases for every 10 million mail ballots cast, The Associated Press reported.
State officials have not identified evidence of widespread fraud connected to the June primary, but the increase in rejected ballots is expected to receive additional scrutiny as election administrators evaluate whether changes in postal operations, voter behavior or election procedures contributed to the higher rejection rate.
