Trump sending Witkoff and Kushner to Pakistan to resume talks on Iran war | US-Israel war on Iran
Donald Trump is sending Middle East envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Pakistan to restart negotiations to end the nearly eight-week war with Iran.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed the trip on Friday, saying Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Kushner would meet with Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi in Islamabad.
He said: “We hope this will be a productive discussion and lead to progress towards reaching an agreement.”
Araghchi had announced A tour of Pakistan, Russia and Oman to see if there was a basis for restarting peace talks that could result in a permanent US-Israeli commitment to halt attacks on Iran, one of Tehran’s key demands.
Vice President JD Vance, who led the US delegation to Islamabad in the previous round of peace talks, is not traveling to Pakistan but will remain “on standby” if there is a breakthrough.
“The president, vice president and secretary of state will be waiting here in the United States for updates,” Leavitt said, and Vance was “on standby” and “ready to send to Pakistan if we think his time is warranted.”
The leader of the Iranian negotiating team, Mohammed Bagher Galibaf, is not expected to attend the first round of talks. at this stage.
Araghchi is also likely to discuss a possible and permanent new arrangement regarding the management of the Strait of Hormuz with Oman, which controls the south of the Strait.
Iran has said it will not resume talks until the United States lifts its blockade of Iranian ports, while the United States has been demanding verifiable assurances that Tehran will end its nuclear program and lift its own crippling blockade of the strait.
In one new idea floated, Iran is considering splitting its 400kg stockpile of highly enriched uranium into parcels and agreeing to sequentially dilute the enrichment level of each parcel in exchange for the lifting of certain sanctions. Iran is also still trying to see if China can be included as a guarantor in any deal.
When Araghchi visits Moscow, Russia is likely to revive its offer to Iran to buy some of the stockpiles, as it has done in the past.
Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei told Iranian television that the main issue in the negotiations was no longer the nuclear issue, but rather “ending the war in a way that secures the country’s interests.”
We will accept a ceasefire only if it is the first step to ending the war on all fronts. “In terms of the country’s demands, issues such as compensation, the Strait of Hormuz, and the lifting of sanctions are of critical importance for the future of the country.”
He emphasized that non-aggression commitments are expected not only from the United States, but also from Israel, which is not a party to the negotiations. Trump extended the ceasefire in Lebanon, a move resisted by Israel.
Baghaei said that in Iran’s view, the lifting of the US blockade was part of the original ceasefire agreement. If you do not fulfill your minimum commitments in the ceasefire, how can you be trusted to implement the comprehensive solution? he asked.
At the Pentagon briefing, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Trump had said the United States “has all the time in the world and is not worried about a deal.”
He said a total of 34 ships had been turned back as part of the US blockade of Iran’s ports, adding that a second aircraft carrier would be joining the blockade next week. He said the blockade had become global. “No one can sail through the Strait of Hormuz to anywhere in the world without permission from the US Navy.”
He said that the Iranians acted like pirates with flags by trying to prevent ships from passing through the Bosphorus and laying mines.
“If there are reckless and irresponsible attempts to lay more mines, we will deal with that. This is a violation of the ceasefire.” Comparing the exercise to the targeting of drug ships in the Caribbean, he said the US navy would shoot and kill anyone on mine-laying boats without hesitation.
He also dealt another blow to Europe after the countries refused military intervention: “We do not pin our hopes on Europe, but they need the Strait of Hormuz much more than we do.
“Maybe it’s time for Europe to talk less and stop holding flashy conferences; maybe they should just get on a boat and come here. This is their fight more than ours.”
Iran has so far attacked five ships and captured two as part of its efforts to enforce the blockade. Hegseth said that some passages occurred through the strait.
“There are open roads,” he said. “Transit is much more limited than anyone would like to see and carries more risk than anyone would like to see, but that’s because Iran is doing irresponsible things with small, fast boats.”
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine said the US military is ready to resume major combat operations as soon as Trump orders.
Anwar Gargash, diplomatic advisor to the United Arab Emirates, claimed that Iran’s “callous” behavior towards the Gulf states meant that it would take decades to rebuild trust, and predicted that more countries in the region would want to open political communications with Israel as they now see Iran as a strategic threat.
“It is inevitable that relations will return at some stage, but trust and confidence are different. Iran will be seen as a strategic threat to the region for decades to come.”
He also claimed that there were political jockeys between the military and political wings in Iran and that there was no possibility of recreating the old harmonious political order.
The UAE has always been one of the Gulf countries closest to Israel. Following Iran’s attacks on the Gulf countries, it is in its own interest to direct Saudi Arabia towards closer relations, especially with Israel.
Gargash also predicted that the stalemate in the Strait of Hormuz could last another two weeks, but said it was in the interests of both Iran and the United States to restart negotiations. “The conflict in the Strait will take some time, but it cannot continue forever,” he said.
