US President Donald Trump has cancelled the planned visit of a US delegation led by Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and senior adviser Jared Kushner to Islamabad, where they were scheduled to hold the second round of peace talks with Iran aimed at resolving hostilities in West Asia. According to Fox News White House correspondent Aishah Hasnie, Trump described the long-distance engagement as “unnecessary and unproductive,” adding that such extended travel for discussions was not needed. The decision comes amid ongoing diplomatic efforts involving Pakistan as a potential mediator in US-Iran negotiations.
Hasnie was on a direct phone conversation with the US President.
“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 as quoted by Fox News.
This comes moments after the Iranian delegation, led by Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, departed Islamabad on Saturday evening (local time) after a day of high-level meetings with the Pakistan leadership, leaving Pakistan’s ambitious claims of brokering a US-Iran peace deal as part of the second round of negotiations in tatters.
As reported by Al Jazeera, the delegation left the Pakistani capital after delivering an “official list of demands” to Pakistani leaders for the US and Israel in order to achieve a complete solution to the conflict in West Asia.
The departure effectively signals the end of Islamabad’s hopes to facilitate the much-anticipated second round of direct dialogue, as Araghchi is now set to travel to Oman and Russia.
According to a statement issued by Araghchi in Telegram, the Iranian foreign minister explained Iran’s “principled positions regarding the latest developments related to the ceasefire and the complete end of the imposed war against” the Islamic Republic by US and Israeli forces to the Pakistani side.
This weekend’s diplomatic theatre is rapidly mirroring the failures of the past. The first round of talks hosted in Islamabad – featuring US Vice President JD Vance and Iranian Parliamentary Speaker MB Ghalibaf – dragged on for a gruelling 21 hours without yielding a single breakthrough.
(With ANI Inputs)
Sofia Babu Chacko is a journalist with over five years of experience reporting on Indian politics, crime, human rights, gender issues, and stories about marginalized communities. She believes journalism plays a crucial role in amplifying unheard voices and bringing attention to issues that truly matter. Sofia has contributed articles to The New Indian Express, Youth Ki Awaaz, and Maktoob Media. She is also a recipient of the 2025 Laadli Media Awards for gender sensitivity. Beyond the newsroom, she is a music enthusiast who enjoys singing. Connect with Sofia on X: https://x.com/SBCism
