West Asia tensions: Trump calls off Kushner-Witkoff mission to Pakistan as Iran’s Araghchi hands over demands in Islamabad

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Reports that Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is in Islamabad, holding high-level meetings emerge. Araghchi is said to have met with Pakistan's army chief and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif so far. This while US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff are still awaited in Islamabad, where they are travelling for what the US insists will be meetings with Iranian negotiators. Iran, however, has said there will be no direct talks.

Steve Witkoff, Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf. File pic and Abbas Araghchi. File pic

This after reports of Israeli attacks emerge from southern Lebanon despite a three-week extension of a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. Just before this newspaper went to print it was reported that Iran's delegation including Araghchi, has departed Islamabad after meetings all day.
The delegation did though, hand over a list of demands to Pakistani leaders.

Trumps calls back Witkoff and Kushner

JD Vance. Pic/PTI

US President Donald Trump cancels envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner's trip to Pakistan for talks on the war with Iran, US media reports.

Yesterday the White House said the pair would head to the country on Saturday - but Trump now tells Fox News: "I've told my people a little while ago they were getting ready to leave, and I said, ‘Nope, you're not making an 18-hour flight to go there. We have all the cards. They can call us anytime they want, but you're not going to be making any more 18-hour flights to sit around talking about nothing,'" Trump said.

Trump takes the call as Iranian officials headed to Oman and then Russia after departing from Islamabad. This was going to be the second round of negotiations after the first was held on April 11 and 12 failed.

This, as the USS Rafael Peralta confronts Iranian-flagged vessel attempting to reach a port in Iran, United States Central Command (CENTCOM) says, as the US military enforces the blockade on Iranian ports.

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