Iran says no meeting with U.S. negotiators planned in Pakistan

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met with the head of Pakistan’s military, Asim Munir, the Iranian embassy in Pakistan said in a post on X on Saturday, as prospects for a second round of direct talks over the weekend between Iran and the U.S. seemed uncertain.

A senior Iranian official said his government’s representatives have no plans to meet with senior U.S. negotiators headed to Pakistan for talks.

“No meeting is planned to take place between Iran and the U.S. Iran’s observations would be conveyed to Pakistan,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei said in a post on X late Friday.

Also on Friday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner will head to Pakistan on Saturday morning to engage in “direct talks” with their Iranian counterparts.

“The Iranians reached out” and asked for an in-person conversation, as President Donald Trump had asked them to do, Leavitt said on Fox News.

“So 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,” she said.

Vice President JD Vance, who led a prior U.S. delegation to Islamabad for an initial round of negotiations with Iran, will not be attending this weekend’s talks, Leavitt said.

Trump told Reuters in a phone call later Friday that Iran will be “making an offer,” adding that he did not know what it would be yet and “we’ll have to see.”

Araghchi, earlier Friday said he was “embarking on a timely tour” of Islamabad, Muscat and Moscow in order to “closely coordinate with our partners on bilateral matters and consult on regional developments.”

The Islamabad talks will be “intermediated by the Pakistanis,” Leavitt said in the Fox interview.

The first round of peace talks, held two weeks ago in Islamabad and led on the U.S. side by Vance, ended with no deal.

A U.S. delegation including Vance was expected to head back to Pakistan earlier this week for further negotiations, but the trip was delayed as Iranian officials reportedly said they would not show up.

Much of the mutual prickliness has centered on the Strait of Hormuz, the major oil-shipping route that has seen traffic slow to a trickle amid Iranian threats and, as of last week, a retaliatory U.S. naval blockade.

Trump, in the Reuters interview, said the U.S. will not lift its blockade of Iranian ports until a deal is struck.

“China-based independent teapot refineries continue to play a vital role in sustaining Iran’s oil economy, and Hengli is one of Iran’s largest customers for crude oil and other petroleum products, having purchased billions of dollars’ worth of Iranian petroleum,” the Treasury Department said in a statement.

The tensions have further strained an already-fragile ceasefire, which was announced April 7 amid threats by Trump that Iran’s “whole civilization will die” unless a deal is struck.

Despite the continued stress in the strait, Trump on Tuesday unilaterally extended the ceasefire shortly before it was set to expire.

After the war started on Feb. 28, the Trump administration repeatedly said that it expected operations to be brief and to conclude within four to six weeks.

Since passing that deadline, the administration has reframed its timeline, while stressing that prior U.S. conflicts have lasted far longer.

“Unlike the endless wars of the past that dragged on for years and for decades with little to show for it, Operation Epic Fury has delivered a decisive military result in just weeks,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said at a press briefing Friday morning.

– Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.