Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson says Tehran’s concerns will be conveyed to mediator Pakistan
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi talks with Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar and Chief of Army Staff, Field Marshal Asim Munir during a meeting in Islamabad, Pakistan. PHOTO: MINISTRY OF INFORMATION
US negotiators are scheduled to leave for Pakistan on Saturday, but Iran said its officials did not plan to meet the Americans to discuss ending the war that has killed thousands of Iranian and Lebanese civilians and roiled global markets.
US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner are due to depart on Saturday morning for talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, the White House said.
Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters that Iran had a chance to make a “good deal” with the United States.
“Iran knows that they still have an open window to choose wisely,” he said. “All they have to do is abandon a nuclear weapon in meaningful and verifiable ways.”
No direct talks
Araghchi arrived in the capital, Islamabad, on Friday. But an Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson posted on X that Iranian officials did not plan to meet with US representatives and that Tehran’s concerns would be conveyed to mediator Pakistan. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Iranian statement.
Read: Iran ‘surprise’ resurrects faltering peace process
Washington is at a costly impasse with Tehran as Iran has largely closed the Strait of Hormuz, which normally carries one-fifth of global oil shipments, while the US blocks Iran’s oil exports. The US-Israeli war on Iran, entering its ninth week, has pushed energy prices to multi-year highs, stoking inflation and darkening global growth prospects.
Trump claims Iran planning to make offer
Trump told Reuters on Friday that Iran planned to make an offer aimed at satisfying US demands but that he did not know what the offer entailed. He declined to say who Washington was negotiating with, “but we’re dealing with the people that are in charge now”.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the US had seen some progress from the Iranian side in recent days and hoped more would come this weekend, while Vice President JD Vance was ready to travel to Pakistan as well.
Vance, Witkoff, Kushner and Araqchi, as well as the speaker of Iran’s parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, took part in inconclusive talks in Islamabad two weeks ago.
Araghchi, who posted on X that he would also be visiting Pakistan, Oman and Russia, met Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Friday at the Serena Hotel, where the earlier talks were held, while a US logistics and security team was in place in Islamabad, according to Pakistani sources.
Ceasefires in place, few ships crossing Hormuz
Trump unilaterally extended a two-week ceasefire on Tuesday to allow more time for the negotiators to reconvene.
Oil prices surged this week, with Brent crude futures soaring 16%, on uncertainty over the fate of the peace talks and as violence flared in the region.
Shipping data on Friday showed that five ships had crossed the Strait of Hormuz in the previous 24 hours, compared to around 130 a day before the war that the US and Israel launched on February 28. The ships included an Iranian oil-products tanker, but none of the vast crude-carrying supertankers that normally feed global energy markets.
On Thursday, Israel and Lebanon extended their ceasefire for three weeks at a White House meeting brokered by Trump, but there was little sign of an end to the fighting in southern Lebanon.
Israel has been attacking Lebanese territory for the past year, and invaded its northern neighbour last month to root out Iran’s Hezbollah allies after the militant group fired across the border. Tehran says a ceasefire in Lebanon is a precondition for talks.
Read more: Hezbollah defiant in face of ceasefire extension
Lebanese authorities reported an Israeli strike killed six people, and Hezbollah downed an Israeli drone. Israel’s military said it had killed six armed Hezbollah members in southern Lebanon, in addition to the thousand-plus civilians and multiple journalists that Israel has killed or otherwise targeted.
With input from Web Desk.
