Trump scraps latest peace talks after Iranian officials depart Pakistan

President Trump announced on Saturday that he canceled U.S. officials’ planned travel to Pakistan for another round of negotiations with Iran.

Special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner were set to travel to Islamabad on Saturday to take part in these talks, but the president said in a Truth Social post on Saturday afternoon that he called off the trip. Iranian officials had declined to meet directly.

“I just cancelled the trip of my representatives going is Islamabad, Pakistan, to meet with the Iranians,” Trump wrote.

“Too much time wasted on traveling, too much work! Besides which, there is tremendous infighting and confusion within their ‘leadership,'” he continued. “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!!!”

Earlier on Saturday, an Iranian delegation met with Pakistani mediators amid ongoing negotiations with the U.S. to reach a peace agreement. The two sides are currently engaged in a ceasefire, after President Trump announced an extension to a temporary halt in fighting earlier this week.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi called the Saturday talks with Pakistan “very fruitful” in a  Saturday post on social platform X.

Araghchi said Iranian officials shared their country’s proposal for a “workable framework to permanently end the war on Iran.”

“Have yet to see if the U.S. is truly serious about diplomacy,” he added.

Iran’s embassy in South Africa said on Saturday that Tehran is prepared to launch the “largest missile strike in history” against U.S. and Israeli bases in West Asia if the two countries attack.

“Iran has prepared for the ‘largest missile strike in history’ against Israel and U.S. bases in West Asia, to be launched immediately upon detecting any signs of an attack,” the embassy posted on X.

Additionally, Iranian officials have disputed a claim from the White House that the two sides were set to engage in direct talks this weekend.

Esmaeil Baqaei, a spokesperson for Iran’s foreign ministry, wrote in an X post Friday afternoon that Iran only agreed to indirect conversations through Pakistani officials.

“No meeting is planned to take place between Iran and the U.S. Iran’s observations would be conveyed to Pakistan,” Baqaei wrote in the Friday post.

Brett Erickson, a geopolitical expert and managing principal of Obsidian Risk Advisors, warned of economic repercussions following the canceled talks.

“We are really all-in on this economic warfare campaign, and Iran is calling our bluff here,” Erickson told The Hill. “If we lose on the flush here, we’re now several more weeks into this conflict with no progress being made, and the global economy is going to suffer for it.”

The president’s naval blockade in the Strait of Hormuz, a critical trade route for global energy markets, has sent the price of crude oil skyrocketing. The waterway was previously shut off due to Iranian counter strikes on U.S. targets in the Gulf states.

Iran and the U.S. are working to iron out a deal that would address disputes over control of the strait and a nuclear agreement.

Erickson said that prolonging the strait’s closure could cause “hyperinflation” in the Iranian economy, stressing that time is of the essence in these ongoing negotiations.

“The Trump administration has really bought in to be able to force Iran to capitulate and produce favorable diplomatic outcomes as a result of this economic warfare campaign,” he continued. “But they underestimate, throughout this entire conflict, the resolve of the Iranian leadership.”

Updated at 1:45 p.m. EDT.

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