Pakistan's army soldiers stand guard on a street leading to the Red Zone area after tightened security measures ahead of the expected U.S.-Iran peace talks in Islamabad, Friday. Iran's state media confirmed that Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi would travel on Friday to Pakistan, which has been mediating between the Islamic Republic and the United States in a bid to end the Middle East war. AFP-Yonhap
ISLAMABAD/WASHINGTON — Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi was expected in the Pakistani capital Islamabad on Friday to discuss proposals for restarting peace talks with the United States, but Pakistani sources said he was not due to meet U.S. negotiators there. Islamabad was the venue for talks between the U.S. and Iran on ending their war that collapsed earlier this week.
Araqchi wrote on X that he was visiting Pakistan, Oman and Russia to coordinate with partners on bilateral matters and consult on regional developments, adding that Iran's neighbours remained Tehran's priority.
The tour will include consultations on the latest efforts to end the war, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson later told state media.
Two Pakistani government sources aware of the discussions said Araqchi's visit would be a brief one to discuss Iran's proposals for talks with the U.S., which mediator Pakistan would then convey to Washington. U.S. President Donald Trump plans to send special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Islamabad soon for talks with Araqchi, a U.S. official told Reuters, although it was not clear when that meeting would take place. Fox News reported the pair would leave the U.S. on Saturday morning. Speaking earlier, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, told a briefing that Iran had a chance to make a "good deal" with the United States.
"Iran knows that they still have an open window to choose wisely ... at the negotiating table. All they have to do is abandon a nuclear weapon in meaningful and verifiable ways," he said.
Reports on Araqchi's trip in Iranian state media and the Pakistani sources made no mention of Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, the speaker of Iran's parliament, who was the head of its delegation at the only talks held so far, earlier this month.
Pakistani sources had said earlier that a U.S. logistics and security team was already in place in Islamabad for potential talks.
The last round of peace talks had been expected on Tuesday but never took place, with Iran saying it was not yet ready to commit to attending and a U.S. delegation led by Vice President JD Vance never leaving Washington.
Trump unilaterally extended a two-week ceasefire on Tuesday at the 11th hour to allow more time to reconvene the negotiators.
Source: Korea Times News
