The failure of the talks in Islamabad. Trump cancels Kushner's mission and Iran flies to Moscow

The Iranian delegation, led by the country's Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi, left the capital of Pakistan, Islamabad, on Saturday, Reuters reported, citing sources in the Pakistani government. This information was confirmed by the BBC and the Iranian news agency IRNA.

According to Iranian media, Aragchi in Islamabad met, among others, with the Prime Minister of Pakistan Shehbaz Sharif. NHowever, a second round of talks with the US delegation took place.

“We had an extremely cordial exchange of views on the current situation in the region. We also discussed issues of mutual interest, including further strengthening of bilateral relations,” X Sharif wrote on the platform.

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On Friday, White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt stated that on Saturday morning, US President Donald Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, and the head of state's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, would go to Pakistan for talks with a delegation of the Iranian authorities. Trump previously claimed that Iran wanted to talk and explore the possibility of reaching an agreement and that he planned to present an offer aimed at meeting US demands.

The Associated Press on Saturday reported that it was not known whether Witkoff and Kushner had flown from Washington to Islamabad. The White House declined to comment on the matter. On Saturday afternoon, Donald Trump told Fox News that he had canceled Witkoff and Kushner's trip to Pakistan for talks with Iran.

Contrary to the statements of the US authorities, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Bagei announced on Friday that there would be no direct talks between the delegations of both countries in Islamabad. “Aragchi – the spokesman said – will meet in Pakistan only with high-ranking representatives of the country's authorities. Then he will go to Oman and Russia to coordinate activities with our partners, including consultations on events in the region.”

On Saturday, Reuters reported that Aragchi had provided the Chief of the General Staff of the Pakistan Armed Forces, Field Marshal Asim Munir, with a response to US proposals for a peace agreement, containing Tehran's demands and reservations about Washington's position.

Also on Saturday, as reported by AFP via Iranian media, a spokesman for Iran's defense ministry said that the US was looking for a way to withdraw from the war with a face. In turn, the Pakistani news agency ANI described the current situation as a “deepening diplomatic stalemate.”

As the AP writes, there was an almost complete lockdown in Islamabad before the expected talks. City residents had difficulty traveling even short distances due to dense checkpoints, closed roads and detours. Typically busy thoroughfares leading to the airport and the heavily protected government Red Zone were largely deserted. Security forces were stationed at key intersections and helicopters circled the city.

On Saturday, Iran resumed commercial flights from Tehran International Airport for the first time since the outbreak of the war, according to the Associated Press. Iranian state television reported that the flights were to Istanbul, the capital of Oman, Muscat, and Medina, Saudi Arabia.

The first round of US-Iran peace negotiations took place on April 11 in Islamabad, but ended in failure.

A truce has been in force since April 8 in the US-Israeli war with Iran, which interrupted the fighting that had been going on since February 28. The ceasefire expired after two weeks, but was extended by Trump for an indefinite period. (PAP)

change / ap /