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From critic to negotiator: JD Vance to spearhead US efforts in Iran ceasefire talks

It was a war JD Vance never wanted. Now the United States vice president has been tasked with ending it. Vance headed to Pakistan today with orders from President Donald Trump to turn the shaky Iran ceasefire into a lasting peace deal. For the 41-year-old Vance, who has kept a notably low profile during the Middle East conflict, it will be one of the biggest moments of his career. But the man widely regarded as a leading contender in the 2028 US presidential election will face huge challenges too when talks begin Saturday in Islamabad. “I cannot think of a case where the vice president ran formal negotiations like this,” Aaron Wolf Mannes, a lecturer at the University of Maryland School of Public Policy and an expert on the American vice presidency’s role in foreign policy, told AFP. “This is high risk, high reward.” Vance built his political brand as an avowed anti-interventionist who wanted to keep America out of any more foreign wars, such as in Iraq, where he ser...
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Fact check: Viral video does not show new US troop deployment to Middle East

Multiple people on social media platform X have been sharing a clip of military aircraft since Wednesday, claiming that it shows the deployment of United States troops in the Middle East amid the current tensions. However, the clip is old from June 2023 and shows a deployment homecoming ceremony in California. Backchannel diplomatic efforts by Pakistan paid off, as the United States and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire on Wednesday, after weeks of escalating hostilities triggered by US-Israeli strikes on February 28, which quickly spiralled into a wider regional conflict. Pakistan emerged as a central diplomatic actor in securing the ceasefire between the US and Iran, actively facilitating communication between the two sides at a critical stage of the conflict. The effort resulted in a two-week ceasefire. Pakistan will now host talks between the two sides on Friday, with delegations from Iran and the US arriving in Islamabad. How it started On Wednesday, an account on X shared a video of military aircraft landing. The caption of the post read: “Breaking: According to Reuters, the US has more than 50,000 troops deployed in the Middle East, within the area of responsibility of Central Command (CENTCOM), and this number is still increasing. According to officials, the process of transferring thousands of Marines from San Diego to the region is currently ongoing.” The post gained 491,000 views. Another user shared the same clip with a similar caption, gaining 2.2 million views. A pro-Iranian account, based on their profile picture and past posts, posted the same clip with the following caption: “Urgent – Massive US Military Deployment Reuters: The United States has deployed more than 50,000 troops across the Middle East, with numbers continuing to grow. Thousands of Marines are being rapidly transported from San Diego directly to the region.” The caption further wrote, “Anyone who believes that President Trump sent this entire fleet — from naval fleets and Marines and others — just to accept a ceasefire with Iran is completely deluded. A large-scale ground intervention is inevitably coming.” The post accumulated 289,000 views. Subsequently, other X users also shared the same claim, as seen here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here; collectively garnering over 360,000 views. Methodology A fact-check was initiated to determine the veracity of the claim due to its high virality and keen public interest in the ceasefire between the US and Iran amid the ongoing conflict, along with Pakistan’s role as mediator. A reverse image search was conducted, which yielded a blog on the official website of the US Defence Visual Information Distribution Service (DVIDS), dated June 6, 2023, with the following headline: “B-Roll: VMM-362 (Reinforced) Deployment Homecoming”. The blog post’s video features the same visuals as the viral video. According to the accompanying description, US Marine Corps aircraft with the Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron (VMM) 362 (Reinforced), Marine Aircraft Group 16, 3rd Marine Air Wing conducted a flyover on Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, June 6, 2023. The location of the video was given as Marine Cops Air Station Miramar, California. Further reverse image search yielded a YouTube video dated June 15, 2023, titled: “VMM-362 (Reinforced) Deployment Homecoming,” featuring the same visuals as seen in the viral clip. A keyword search was also conducted to corroborate whether Reuters or any other credible mainstream international or American news outlet had reported such a development, yielding no results. Instead, a news report of Reuters dated March 30, 2026, was found with the following headline: “Thousands of US Army paratroopers arrive in Middle East as buildup intensifies.” According to the report, over 2,500 Marines arrived in the Middle East as President Donald Trump considered his next steps in the war against Iran. The news report was published last month, before the US-Iran ceasefire deal. Fact-check status: False The claim that a viral video shows US troops being deployed in the Middle East is false. The video is from June 6, 2023 and shows a US military ceremony in California. This fact check was originally published by iVerify Pakistan — a project of CEJ-IBA and UNDP.

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