US President Donald Trump’s envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner will depart on Saturday for Pakistan where they will hold direct talks with Iranian negotiators, the White House announced on Friday. “Special Envoy Witkoff and Jared Kushner will be off to Pakistan again tomorrow morning to engage in direct talks intermediated by the Pakistanis… with representatives from the Iranian delegation,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said during a Fox interview.
“The Iranians reached out… and asked for this in-person conversation. The President is dispatching Steve and Jared to go hear what they have to say, and we’re hopeful that it will be a productive conversation and hopefully move the ball forward towards a deal,” Leavitt added. Leavitt didn’t specify with whom the US envoys would meet, but she appeared to be referring to Iran Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who arrived in Islamabad on Friday evening. However, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson said in a post on X that there were no plans for a meeting, and that Tehran’s “observations” would be conveyed to Pakistani officials.
While US Vice President JD Vance headed the US negotiating team during the first round of talks with Iran in Pakistan earlier this month, he was not slated to join Witkoff and Kushner. Vance’s counterpart in the talks was Iran parliament speaker Mohammed Bagher Ghalibaf, who did not make the trip with Araghchi. CNN reported that Vance would be on standby to travel to Islamabad if negotiations progress. Araghchi was set to discuss proposals for restarting peace talks with the United States while in Islamabad. (Ed note: Lets see, Iran reached out, but Araghchi won't be there, Steve and Jared arrive late Saturday night to pick up a note, and everyone's hoping for peace? Any guesses on what's going to happen?) (Read More)
