Donald Trumpon Saturday cancelled US special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner's visit toPakistanfor participating in the second round of Iran peace talks, AP reported. The development comes after Iranian foreign minister Seyed AbbasAraghchi, who was already inIslamabad, left the city without waiting for the US delegation that was earlier scheduled to arrive. As per the reports, Araghchi had already told Pakistani mediators that Iran was not interested in holding direct negotiations with the US delegation but they conveyed their concerns about Tehran's deadlines, as back channel diplomacy continues.
Donald Trump also took to Truth Social and informed about his decision to cancel US officials’ Islamabad visit, saying, "I just cancelled the trip of my representatives going to Islamabad, Pakistan, to meet with the Iranians. Too much time wasted on traveling, too much work! Besides which, there is tremendous infighting and confusion within their "leadership." 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!!!"
Meanwhile, speaking to Fox News, Trump echoed similar statements and said that US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner will no longer be heading to Pakistan for talks with Iran. It's not worth the US delegation taking an 18-hour flight to Islamabad when the US holds all the cards in the conflict with Iran.
Trump, however, added that the Iranians can call the US at any time if they want to talk.
"I've told my people a little while ago they were getting ready to leave, and I said, 'Nope, you're not making an 18-hour flight to go there. We have all the cards. They can call us anytime they want, but you're not going to be making any more 18-hour flights to sit around talking about nothing,’" Trump said.
Earlier today, two Pakistani officials said that Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had left Pakistan without meeting US officials.
Senior Pakistani officials were at an airport near Islamabad to see him off. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
Araghchi had met with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir and other senior officials about matters including Iran’s red lines in negotiations.
During Saturday talks in Islamabad, Iran's top diplomat discussed with Pakistani delegation about efforts to launch a new round of talks with the United States.
Amid fast paced developments, Araghchi on Telegram said that he met with Pakistan’s Field Marshal Asim Munir and explained Iran’s views on ending the war between the Islamic Republic and the US.
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