Iran refuses to meet the U.S. delegation in Islamabad
Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner arrive in Pakistan for talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
U.S. negotiators are scheduled to travel to Pakistan this Saturday, but Iran has stated that its officials do not intend to meet the Washington delegation to discuss ending the war that has claimed thousands of lives and triggered turbulence in global markets.
The White House said that Steve Witkoff, special envoy of President Donald Trump, and the president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner would depart on Saturday morning for talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters that Iran has an opportunity to reach a “good deal” with the United States, adding that “Tehran knows it has a chance to choose wisely… all it needs to do is abandon the nuclear weapon in tangible and verifiable ways.”
Araghchi arrived in Islamabad on Friday. However, a spokesperson for Iran’s Foreign Ministry said on the X platform that Iranian officials do not plan to meet U.S. representatives and that Tehran’s concerns will be conveyed to Pakistan, which is acting as a mediator.
The United States and Iran are facing a costly stalemate: Tehran has almost completely closed the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly one-fifth of global oil shipments normally pass, while Washington is blocking Iranian oil exports. The conflict, now in its ninth week, has pushed energy prices to their highest levels in several years, worsening inflation and casting a shadow over global growth prospects.
Trump told Reuters on Friday that Tehran intends to present a proposal aimed at meeting Washington’s demands, but he said he did not know what the offer contained. He declined to specify with whom the United States was negotiating, adding, “But we are dealing with the responsible people at the moment.”
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the United States had observed some progress on the Iranian side in recent days and hoped to achieve more during talks scheduled for the weekend. She also indicated that U.S. Vice President JD Vance was prepared to travel to Pakistan as well.
Vance, Witkoff, Kushner, and Araghchi, along with Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, had taken part in talks in Islamabad two weeks earlier that did not produce decisive results.
Araghchi, who stated on the X platform that he would visit Pakistan, the Sultanate of Oman, and Russia, met on Friday with Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar at the Serena Hotel, where previous discussions had been held, while Pakistani sources reported that a U.S. team providing logistical and security support is present in Islamabad.
