Washington DC [US], April 19 (ANI): US Vice President JD Vance is set to arrive in Islamabad on Monday evening to lead a high-level American delegation in a second round of ceasefire negotiations with Iran, CNN reported, citing White House on Sunday.

The visit comes as the current two-week ceasefire window, brokered on April 8, is set to expire on April 22. The atmosphere surrounding the talks has turned increasingly combative following reported ceasefire violations and a public ultimatum from President Donald Trump.

The US team, which includes Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and presidential adviser Jared Kushner, aims to break a deadlock that paralysed the first round of talks, CNN said, citing White House. The primary sticking points remain Iran's nuclear capabilities and the status of the Strait of Hormuz.

CNN also reports that Iranian sources suggest a delegation will arrive on Tuesday to discuss an extension. However, hardliners in Tehran, via the Tasnim News Agency, have pushed back, stating no talks will proceed while the US, naval blockade of Iranian ports remains in effect.

In a Sunday interview with Fox News, President Trump alluded to internal friction within the Iranian regime, citing a struggle between 'moderates' and 'crazies' as a factor in the negotiation's volatility, while confirming that Kushner and Witkoff were departing for Islamabad for talks.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump had warned of severe repercussions, including an attack on Iranian energy and civil infrastructure, if Iran 'doesn't take the deal.'

President Trump has signalled that the era of 'shadow diplomacy' is over. In a series of posts on Truth Social and his Fox News interview, he threatened the destruction of Iranian civil infrastructure if a deal is not signed immediately.

'If the deal isn't done, the deal that we made, then I'm going to take out their bridges and their power plants,' Trump said. 'If they don't sign this thing, the whole country is going to get blown up,' Fox News cited Trump as saying.

'We're preparing to hit them harder than any country has ever been hit before because you cannot let them have a nuclear weapon,' the US President continued as per the US broadcaster. Trump went on to say that Iran has 'agreed to much' of the deal already.

Meanwhile, in a post on Truth Social today, he said, 'Iran decided to fire bullets yesterday in the Strait of Hormuz -- A Total Violation of our Ceasefire Agreement! Many of them were aimed at a French Ship, and a Freighter from the United Kingdom. That wasn't nice, was it? My Representatives are going to Islamabad, Pakistan -- They will be there tomorrow evening, for Negotiations.'

Trump claimed the IRGC's own closure of the Strait of Hormuz is costing Iran $500 million per day, while asserting the US remains unaffected as tankers reroute to load up in Texas and Alaska.

He reiterated the assertion of a fair deal on the table for Iran and said that he would no longer remain a 'nice guy' and that the US would strike Iran's power plants and bridges.'

Iran recently announced that they were closing the Strait, which is strange, because our BLOCKADE has already closed it. They're helping us without knowing, and they are the ones that lose with the closed passage, $500 Million Dollars a day! The United States loses nothing. In fact, many Ships are headed, right now, to the U.S., Texas, Louisiana, and Alaska, to load up, compliments of the IRGC, always wanting to be 'the tough guy!' We're offering a very fair and reasonable DEAL, and I hope they take it because, if they don't, the United States is going to knock out every single Power Plant, and every single Bridge, in Iran. NO MORE MR. NICE GUY! They'll come down fast, they'll come down easy and, if they don't take the DEAL, it will be my Honor to do what has to be done, which should have been done to Iran, by other Presidents, for the last 47 years. IT'S TIME FOR THE IRAN KILLING MACHINE TO END!', Trump said.

The two-week ceasefire is set to end on April 22. The first round of ceasefire negotiations ended in a gridlock between Tehran and Washington over the energy artery, the Strait of Hormuz and Iran's nuclear capacities.

With the ceasefire set to lapse on Wednesday, the Islamabad talks represent the final diplomatic off-ramp before a potential escalation into full-scale infrastructure warfare.

As the world watches the Serena Hotel in Islamabad, the stakes have never been higher. While the US maintains that a 'fair and reasonable' deal is on the table, the Iranian leadership's refusal to negotiate under the 'shadow of a blockade' suggests that the 21-hour marathon of the previous round may have been just a prelude to a much darker confrontation. (ANI)