Iran denies that FM Abbas Araghchi's trip to Pakistan will include new talks with US, rejecting reports that Trump is sent his negotiating team to restart negotiations.
24/7 shuttle diplomacy(via Al Jazeera): There’' been shuttle diplomacy, and as one diplomat said, it's beenrelentless diplomacy that has been put forward by Pakistan from all sides.
Iran's military says finger on the trigger: "greater power & readiness than before."
Pakistani mediators are"cautiously optimistic"despite it being clear negotiations havebeen at a stalemate.
Not too much that's new or bombshell happened overnight, with a second round of US-Iran negotiations still in limbo, but with theUS delegation led by Witkoff-Kushner said to be departing Saturday or else en route. A small Iranian team has already been there since Friday, engaging the Pakistanis, also amid reports that theywill submit a written presentation of their conditionsfor ceasefire and where things stand from Tehran's point of view.
Iran has denied that Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi's trip to Pakistan will include new talks with Washington, rejecting reports that President Trump is sending envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to actually restart negotiations. So once the US side arrives, it would be interesting to see what happens next. Potentially they could start in separate rooms with messages delivered, and thus the interaction would be indirect.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said in a post on X early Saturday that"no meeting is planned to take place between Iran and the US"during the visit and that Tehran’s positions will instead be conveyed to Pakistan. Araghchi said earlier he is undertaking a"timely tour" of Islamabad, Muscat, and Moscowto "closely coordinate" with partners on bilateral issues and consult on regional developments. Iranian state media said the three-leg trip forms part of Tehran's ongoing diplomatic push to secure an end to US-Israeli aggression.
At the moment there's no direct contact between Tehran in Washington on the diplomatic front. The Pakistanis have been back at the center of shuttling messages back and forth between US and Iranian officials. Al Jazeera has presented commentary Saturday citing "optimism" but also an ongoing stalematedsituation:
So we are still in that stalemate, but Pakistani officials are telling us that their presence here and the Americans coming is an indication that behind-the-scenes diplomacy is working.
There’s been shuttle diplomacy, and as one diplomat said, it’s been relentless diplomacy that has been put forward by Pakistan from all sides.
Source: ZeroHedge News
