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The United States (US) President Donald Trump has cancelled the planned visit of US officials to Pakistan for talks with Iran.
Trump said there was no point “sitting around talking about nothing” with Iran and dismissed Tehran’s negotiating position. He, however, said that Iran had revised its proposal within minutes of his decision.
“They gave us a paper that should have been better and — interestingly — immediately, when I cancelled it, within 10 minutes, we got a new paper that was much better,” Trump told reporters.
Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and special envoy Steve Witkoff were to depart for Pakistan on Saturday for talks with Iran aimed at moving “toward a deal,” but Trump later cancelled the trip.
He said he had told his team that the US has “all the cards” and that US officials won’t embark on “18-hour flights to sit around talking about nothing”.
When reporters asked him whether the trip cancellation meant a return to hostilities, Trump said, “No, it doesn’t mean that. We haven’t thought about it yet.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had wrapped up a visit to Islamabad after meeting with Pakistan’s military chief, Asim Munir, a key mediator, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar.
Araghchi had left for Muscat and would return to Pakistan on Sunday after meetings in Oman, before travelling on to Russia for talks on ending the war launched by the United States and Israel on February 28.
He described his trip to Pakistan as “very fruitful” but expressed doubt about the intentions of Trump’s administration.
“Have yet to see if the US is truly serious about diplomacy,” he said.
Prospects for talks were uncertain, with Iranian state television saying Araghchi had no plans to meet US officials and that Islamabad would act as a conduit, before Trump cancelled the trip.
