The White House announced on Friday, April 24th that Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, Donald Trump’s envoys, would travel to Pakistan on Saturday to resume peace talks with the Iranians, while Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived in Islamabad on Friday evening, officially to discuss with his Pakistani counterparts.
As often since the ceasefire between Tehran and Washington took effect – and its indefinite extension by Donald Trump earlier in the week – the statements from both parties are completely contradictory.
“Iranians contacted us, as the President [Trump] had invited them to do so, and requested this meeting in person,” Fox News spokesperson Karoline Leavitt, White House spokesperson, assured. “Therefore, the President appointed Steve and Jared to be there to listen to what they have to say. We are hopeful that it will be a productive conversation and will help to move things towards the conclusion of an agreement,” she added.
“New Response” from Iran
The Iranians “made us an offer, so we will see,” Donald Trump confirmed in a telephone interview with the Reuters agency, as reported by The New Arab.
According to The New York Times, who spoke to two senior Iranian officials on Friday, Mr. Araghchi did indeed plan to “present a new written response to an American peace agreement proposal” and to “meet with the two American representatives.”
However, things took a turn during the day, and as Mr. Araghchi was on his way to Islamabad, his spokesperson declared on social media that “no meeting [was] planned between Iran and the United States” and that “Iran’s observations would be transmitted to Pakistan,” with the Pakistani mediators tasked with communicating them to the American delegation.
The Iranian Minister’s visit to Islamabad would therefore now allegedly be just the first step of a regional tour, leading next to Oman and Russia.
But as noted by Dawn, Pakistani sources “indicated that a small negotiating team was to accompany” Mr. Araghchi and that a “second round of peace talks with the United States” was indeed planned, with an American team “responsible for logistics and security already present” in Islamabad.
“No Diplomatic Progress” in Recent Days
Al-Jazeera therefore wants to believe that “diplomacy is not broken between the United States and Iran” and relies on Pakistan’s “mediation efforts.”
However, Axios observes that despite the ceasefire extension, “diplomatic efforts have made no progress in recent days. This trip aims to break the impasse and restart discussions on an agreement,” before Donald Trump “considers military options again.”
One thing is certain, however: American Vice President J.D. Vance, who participated in the first round of discussions, will not be making the trip. At least not yet.
The White House explains that they “want to hear what the Iranians have to say,” notes Al-Jazeera. “If the exchanges prove fruitful, substantial, and conducive to the conclusion of an agreement, J.D. Vance – as well as [Secretary of State] Marco Rubio – will then be dispatched to Islamabad to finalize the agreement.”
