As Iranian foreign minister led a delegation to Pakistan on Friday, US announced that two of its negotiators, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, would be flying to Islamabad to hold talks with Tehran officials. However, Tehran maintained that no meeting was planned as such. On Saturday, the hopes for another round of talks to end the Middle East flare up were dashed completely as Iran delegation left Pakistani capital without meeting US officials. Track updates on US Iran war
This prompted US to call off its envoys’ Pakistan visit with President Trump saying, “You’re not going to be making any more 18-hour flights to sit around talking about nothing.”
President Trump also hinted at chaos within Iran as he claimed there was “tremendous infighting and confusion within their leadership.”
Also read: Trump’s ‘unauthorised’ war on Iran to hit 60-day limit soon. What happens next?
“Nobody knows who is in charge, including them. Also, we have all the cards, they have none! If they want to talk, all they have to do is call,” Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social account.
Trump told reporters in Florida that he decided to call off the planned visit by Witkoff and Kushner because the talks in Islamabad involved too much travel and expense, and Iran’s latest peace offer was not good enough for him, Reuters reported.
Before boarding Air Force One on Saturday for a return flight to Washington, Trump said Iran had improved an offer to resolve the conflict after he cancelled the visit, “but not enough.”
‘Islamabad talks’ that never happened
All eyes were set on Islamabad over the weekend after Iran foreign minister Araghchi led a delegation there on Friday. Soon, US announced that it would be sending Witkoff and Kushner for talks. Vice president JD Vance, the chief negotiator for last round of talks, was kept on standby. But as Iran delegation adhered to its bilateral engagement with Pakistan leadership and left on Saturday without any mention of direct talks, the US too called off the visit.’
In a post on X after leaving Islamabad, Araghchi said he had “shared Iran’s position concerning (a) workable framework to permanently end the war”, but he had “yet to see if the US is truly serious about diplomacy”.
Also read: Iran’s big remark as Islamabad peace talks fail to take off: ‘If US is truly serious’
The last round of talks was held in Islamabad on April 11 and 12 and lasted nearly 20 hours but hit a stalemate as it ended without a deal. Iran’s nuclear programme and control over Strait of Hormuz remain key sticking points between the two sides.
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