US President Donald Trump said he cancelled the planned visit of Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and adviser Jared Kushner to Pakistan for talks with Iran, which the White House had announced earlier.
The development came after the Iranian delegation arrived in Islamabad late Friday and reportedly left on Saturday without holding any formal meeting with US officials.
In an interview with Fox News, Trump said Witkoff and Kushner would no longer travel to Pakistan for negotiations.
“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.
Following his interview, the president also took to his account on social media platform Truth Social.
He wrote, “Too much time wasted on travelling, too much work! Besides which, there is tremendous infighting and confusion within their “leadership.”
He added, “Nobody knows who is in charge, including them. Also, we have all the cards, they have none! If they want to talk, all they have to do is call!!!” he wrote.
Earlier, expectations were high that the Iranian delegation, led by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, would participate in the second phase of the “Islamabad Talks.” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt had also confirmed to Fox News that Kushner and Witkoff would fly for joining the US–Iran negotiations in Pakistan, since the Iranian leaders were in Pakistan.
