Donald Trump has called off a planned trip to Pakistan by US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, which was intended to revive ceasefire negotiations with Iran. The president told Fox News: “They can call us anytime they want.” The cancellation came shortly after Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, left Islamabad late on Saturday, having met Pakistani leaders to discuss Tehran’s red lines.
Pakistan had been preparing for the talks, which would have been the latest effort to end fighting that began after US and Israeli strikes on Iran two months ago. An open-ended ceasefire has paused most hostilities, but global trade remains disrupted by the near-closure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil normally passes. Oil prices remain nearly 50% higher than before the war.
Iranian officials have questioned how they can trust the US after previous nuclear talks ended with an attack. While the White House confirmed Witkoff and Kushner were to travel, Iran insisted any talks would be indirect, with Pakistani officials acting as intermediaries. The first round of direct US-Iran talks in Pakistan, led by JD Vance, lasted over 20 hours and was the highest-level face-to-face meeting since 1979.
Since the war began, at least 3,375 people have been killed in Iran, more than 2,490 in Lebanon, 23 in Israel, and dozens more including US, Israeli, and UN personnel. Trump also announced an indefinite extension of the ceasefire and a three-week extension of the Israel-Hezbollah truce, though Hezbollah did not participate in that diplomacy.
