White House Sends Team to Pakistan as Iran Balks at Talks
(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump will send envoys to Pakistan with the intention of meeting with Iranian officials, while Tehran sounded a pessimistic tone on the prospects for talks to end the eight-week war roiling the global economy.
Special envoy Steve Witkoff and the president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner are set to depart Saturday for talks this weekend, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a Fox News interview on Friday.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is also set to be in Pakistan but hasn’t publicly agreed to sit down with Trump’s representatives. No talks are slated to take place between US and Iranian officials during the foreign minister’s trip, semi-official Tasnim news agency reported earlier.
Araghchi earlier posted on social media that the purpose of his travel is to consult with partners on bilateral matters. Still, Leavitt claimed the Iranians had reached out to the US to arrange the fresh round of talks.
“We’re hopeful that it will be a productive conversation and hopefully move the ball forwards towards a deal,” Leavitt said on Fox. She later told reporters that the US has “certainly seen some progress from the Iranian side in the past couple of days,” without elaborating.
Vice President JD Vance, the lead negotiator for the US, will not be headed to Pakistan for now, she said.
“Everybody will be on standby to fly to Pakistan if necessary,” she added. “The president is dispatching Steve and Jared to see what they have to say.”
Officials in Pakistan familiar with the matter said earlier they expected a second round of peace talks between the US and Iran, while declining to say when the negotiations would happen or at what level.
Investors have scrutinized signals from each delegation as they weigh prospects for a reopening of the vital Strait of Hormuz. Friday’s developments put the S&P 500 on track for its longest weekly advance since 2024, and US crude dropped below $94.
The developments came as the US increased pressure on Iran with its naval blockade, seeking to get Tehran to agree to talks, while Israel and Lebanon are set to extend a ceasefire for three weeks.
Trump ordered the US Navy to shoot any boat putting mines in the Strait of Hormuz, after the military intercepted two oil supertankers that tried to evade restrictions on traffic to and from Iran’s ports.
The move by Trump, who claimed Iran is laying sea mines in the strait, is part of the White House’s attempt to cut off the country’s oil exports, squeezing it economically and forcing it to make concessions that will help end the war.
“I have all the time in the World, but Iran doesn’t — The clock is ticking!” Trump said in a Truth Social post.
Pete Hegseth, Trump’s defense secretary, on Friday said a second aircraft carrier will join the blockade in just a few days.
Trump’s allies say the blockade will force Iran to start shutting down crude production — its main source of foreign-exchange earnings — within about two weeks. JPMorgan Chase & Co. analysts have said it may take closer to a month for the US to achieve that goal.
The US naval operation has caused many Iran-linked vessels to turn around rather than go through the Hormuz strait. Still, at least some are making the crossing, according to ship-tracking firms, potentially giving Iran the ability to withstand the restrictions for longer.
A US-sanctioned supertanker laden with Iranian oil appeared to halt its transit on Friday. Traffic through the waterway — through which one-fifth of the world’s supplies of oil and liquefied natural gas normally flow — remains at a virtual standstill.
The White House has given a 90-day extension to a shipping waiver that makes it easier to move oil, fuel and fertilizer around the US, marking the latest effort to counter supply disruptions caused by the war.
US gasoline pump prices now average more than $4 a gallon, the highest level since 2022 and adding to the war’s unpopularity among the majority of Americans.
Some of Trump’s advisers believe his tough, brash messaging on social media and the continuation of the blockade are hindering the chances of a peace deal with Iran, Bloomberg reported on Thursday.
Iranian negotiators have said Trump’s posts are aimed at humiliating Tehran’s leaders and making them less inclined to strike a deal, according to several officials with knowledge of the diplomatic efforts to end the war.
Iranian authorities said the strait was reopening for all commercial traffic last Friday. But they quickly reversed their decision when it became clear the US would not suspend its blockade in tandem.
The standoff means there’s no guarantee a return to hostilities will be avoided. The war, which saw Iran strike Israel and Gulf Arab states with thousands of drones and missiles, has already killed more than 5,000 people.
Trump, late on Thursday, said Israel and Lebanon will extend their ceasefire, which was due to end on Sunday, lifting one roadblock to ending the war with Iran.
Trump announced the deal in a social-media post after meeting Israeli and Lebanese envoys at the White House. He said he would host Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanon President Joseph Aoun in the near future. Neither leader confirmed that and it would be politically sensitive as the countries don’t formally recognize one another.
Israel has been waging war against Hezbollah, an Iran-backed militant group in Lebanon. Trump wants to avoid a return to hostilities in the Arab country because Iran has said that’s crucial to striking a broader peace agreement with the US.
Israel invaded southern Lebanon and launched airstrikes across the capital Beirut and other areas after Hezbollah, in solidarity with Iran, began firing rockets at the Jewish state in early March. More than 2,000 Lebanese people have been killed in the war and more than one million have been displaced, according to the Lebanese government.
Israel says the attacks and the occupation of swathes of southern Lebanon were necessary to protect its own northern communities. The ceasefire there began on April 16 and has broadly held, though each side has accused the other of violating the agreement with attacks.
(Updates with markets data in ninth paragraph.)
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