Vance Trip for Iran Peace Talks Delayed, Summoned to White House
Vice President JD Vance was summoned back to the White House on Tuesday, delaying his planned trip to lead U.S. negotiations with Iran in Islamabad amid uncertainty over Tehran’s participation in the talks.
Vance was scheduled to board a plane and head a U.S. negotiating team in Pakistan’s capital but was unexpectedly called back for policy meetings at the White House. CNN’s Alayna Treene reported that the trip’s status remains unclear, with officials unsure whether it will proceed at all.
“We don’t know if this trip is definitely off,” Treene told 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.”
Earlier Failed Negotiations
Vance led a similar mission to Islamabad earlier this month alongside special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump adviser Jared Kushner. The talks ended without agreement after Iran refused to commit to abandoning its nuclear weapons program, which the U.S. had sought as a central condition.
“The bad news is that we have not reached an agreement,” Vance said following those talks. “And I think that’s bad news for Iran, much more than it’s bad news for the United States of America.”
Current Blockade and Ceasefire Status
The U.S. military has increased pressure on Iran by blocking maritime traffic in the region. U.S. Central Command reported on Tuesday that American forces have directed 28 ships to turn around or return to port.
A two-week ceasefire between the U.S., Israel, and Iran is set to expire Wednesday, with President Trump signaling he does not intend to extend it. “I don’t want to do that. We don’t have that much time,” Trump told CNBC, adding that Iran could improve its position through negotiations.
Iran’s Uncertain Response
As of Tuesday evening, Pakistani officials said they were still awaiting formal confirmation from Iran that it would send a delegation to the Islamabad talks. Pakistani Information Minister Attaullah Tarar stated that mediators remained “in constant touch” with Iranian officials about the “critical” negotiations.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian criticized the U.S. approach on social media, writing that American understanding of Iran’s position was “even lower than Trump’s level of understanding and comprehension.”
Diplomatic Efforts Continue
U.S. Chargé d’Affaires Natalie Baker met with Pakistani Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar on Tuesday to discuss ongoing diplomatic efforts. Dar stressed that dialogue and diplomacy were the only viable paths to regional peace and urged both the U.S. and Iran to extend the ceasefire and pursue negotiations.
This story has been updated. CNN’s Alayna Treene contributed to this report.
My Husband Slapped Me Twice in His Jewelry Store—Then I Discovered He'd Forged My Signature to Steal My Mother's Company
My husband slapped me twice in his luxury jewelry store while his mistress smiled. I left my wedding ring on the counter and warned him about his shares. But he had no idea I'd discovered a forged document giving him control of my inheritance. With my twenty-ninth birthday approaching, he was preparing to sell my mother's beloved workshop. Then an old photograph arrived from Vermont. The man in it was my father—the man I'd buried seventeen years earlier. And my husband already knew he was alive.
PART 1.
Nathan's hand connected with my face before I could finish saying his name.
The first slap sent my head turning toward a glass display filled with emerald necklaces.
The second knocked me backward against the counter, and I lost my balance, landing hard on the polished marble floor of his Madison Avenue jewelry store.
For a moment, all I could hear was the soft music playing through the ceiling speakers.
Nathan stood over me, breathing heavily.
Celeste Rowan watched from beside a brightly illuminated jewelry case, wearing a champagne-colored silk dress and a smile that made my stomach turn.
She didn't move to help me.
"Why are you here?" Nathan demanded.
"Are you following me now? You can't just show up and cause a scene."
I touched my cheek.
Blood filled my mouth where my teeth had cut the inside of it.
Near the entrance, an employee stopped arranging a tray of jewelry.
Another worker looked down at the floor.
Nobody said anything.
Four years earlier, Nathan had slipped a diamond ring onto my finger and promised that we would build something beautiful together.
Now he had struck me in front of the woman he'd been sleeping with for six months.
I pushed myself upright.
"I came to give you something back."
My fingers trembled as I removed my wedding ring.
I placed it carefully on the glass counter.
Celeste's smile widened.
"I guess she finally understands," she murmured.
I ignored her.
"My lawyer will be claiming half your shares by tomorrow," I told Nathan.
His expression changed.
The anger disappeared so quickly that it almost frightened me.
"Emma, wait."
I turned toward the entrance.
"Emma, you don't understand what you're doing."
"That's funny," I said quietly.
"Because for the first time in four years, I think I do."
He followed me halfway across the showroom.
"Don't make this ugly."
I looked back at the woman standing beside him.
"You already did."
Outside, I climbed into a cab and photographed my swelling cheek before calling Maya Ortiz.
Maya had been my attorney for only eight days.
In those eight days, she'd uncovered enough irregularities in my mother's company records to make me question almost everything I believed about my marriage.
"Did you go to the store?" she asked.
"Yes."
"What happened?"
"Nathan hit me. Twice."
She went silent.
Then her voice sharpened.
"Are you safe?"
"I'm in a cab."
"Go directly to urgent care. I'll meet you there. And Emma?"
"Yes?"
"Don't speak to him again."
I stared through the window at the traffic moving along Madison Avenue.
"I need you to preserve the security footage," I said.
"We will."
"And I need that shareholder meeting stopped."
Maya exhaled.
"We're working on it."
The meeting was scheduled for Friday.
My twenty-ninth birthday.
It was also the day a document bearing my forged signature supposedly transferred the voting rights attached to my forty-two percent ownership interest in Vale Atelier to Nathan.
My mother, Louise Vale, had spent thirty years building the workshop.
Nathan intended to sell it.
And unless we could prove the document was fraudulent, he might have enough voting power to make that happen.
The signature looked convincing.
The notary stamp appeared legitimate.
But I had been in Portland, Oregon, with my aunt on the day I supposedly signed it.
I had never authorized Nathan to vote my shares.
That evening, after a doctor examined my injuries and I gave a statement to the police, my phone vibrated.
The message came from Ruth Miller, my mother's retired bookkeeper.
There was a photograph attached.
A gray-haired man stood outside a small repair shop in Vermont.
He held a jeweler's loupe against one eye.
His faded green field jacket looked painfully familiar.
So did the pale scar running across his left thumb.
I enlarged the photograph.
My breath stopped.
I had seen that face in framed photographs, birthday albums, and dreams for seventeen years.
Martin Vale.
My father.
The man whose empty coffin I had watched disappear into the ground when I was twelve.
Below the photograph, Ruth had written:
Emma, I think you deserve the truth.
Then another message arrived.
Please don't tell Nathan I've contacted you. I believe he's already found your father.
Full story in the first comment.
#Betrayal #MarriageDrama #FamilySecrets #ForgedSignature #HiddenFather #JewelryWorkshop #LegalDrama #EmotionalRevenge
