The US vice-president, JD Vance, was being put forward as a probable chief negotiator in talks with Iran, the Guardian reported.

Axar.az informs according to publication, Iranian sources have said they would refuse to sit down with Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, or Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who led the nuclear negotiations with Iran before the war.

Sources said Iran’s parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, was the most likely to lead any talks from the Iranian side. However, Ghalibaf has so far dismissed reports of talks between the two sides as “fake news”.

Officials in Pakistan said the US and Iran could meet for negotiations in Islamabad as early as this week to discuss an end to the war, which began almost a month ago.

Islamabad has yet to be officially confirmed as the venue for any talks, which neither side has formally agreed to so far. Qatar, Turkiye and Egypt have been touted as other venues, but sources said Tehran’s preference was Islamabad.