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US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner will head Saturday to Pakistan for a new round of talks with Iran on ending the war, the White House said.
“I can confirm Special Envoy Witkoff and Jared Kushner will be off to Pakistan again tomorrow morning to engage in talks,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News on Friday.
“The Iranians reached out, as the president called on them to do, and asked for this in-person conversation,” she said.
“We’re hopeful that it will be a productive conversation and hopefully move the ball forward towards a deal.”
The talks would come more than two weeks after Vice President JD Vance held a first round of talks with Iranian representatives in Pakistan.
Vance was ready earlier this week to fly back out but put his trip on hold after Iran did not confirm participation.
Leavitt said that Vance remained ready to fly to Pakistan but will not for now.
“Everyone will be on standby to fly to Pakistan if necessary,” she said.
Witkoff, a Trump business associate turned globe-trotting negotiator, and Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, had been negotiating with Iran just before Israel and the United States launched attacks on February 28, leading Tehran to accuse them of deceit.
During the first round of talks in Pakistan, Vance said that Iran refused US demands on constraints on its contested nuclear program.
Trump has indefinitely extended a ceasefire, after earlier issuing genocidal threats to destroy all Iranian civilisation.
“The president always wants to give diplomacy a chance. It’s always his first option, and he’s willing to do that here again,” Leavitt said.
Meanwhile, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived in Islamabad on Friday for a new round of talks aimed at ending the conflict.
Araghchi is expected to hold key meetings with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar during his visit, which officials say could pave the way for the second round of negotiations between Tehran and Washington.
An American logistics and security team is already present in Islamabad ahead of the negotiations, signalling preparations for high-level engagement.
Iranian state media said Araghchi’s regional tour also includes planned visits to Muscat and Moscow, focusing on bilateral consultations and the evolving situation following what Tehran has described as a US- and Israel-imposed conflict.
