Iran said it has no direct meeting planned with the United States as Trump administration envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner prepare to travel to Pakistan for another round of diplomacy tied to ending the war, according to The Washington Post.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi would meet Pakistani officials as part of Islamabad’s mediation effort. He said Iran’s views would be passed to Pakistan, not delivered in a direct U.S.-Iran meeting.
“No meeting is planned to take place between Iran and the U.S.,” Baqaei said in a post on X.
The U.S. delegation is expected to be led by Witkoff and Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law. Vice President JD Vance, who led the previous U.S. delegation to Islamabad earlier this month, is not expected to join this round.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters at the White House that the Trump administration had seen “some progress” from the Iranian side in recent days, though she did not give details, according to Fox News.
“Steve and Jared will be heading to Pakistan tomorrow to hear the Iranians out,” Leavitt said. “We hope progress will be made and we hope that positive developments will come from this meeting.”
Vice President JD Vance is not currently planning to attend, Leavitt said. She said Vance would remain on standby to travel to Islamabad if the discussions advance.
The Washington Post reported, citing U.S. officials, that the decision not to send Vance reflects the lower level of the latest round after the previous trip ended without a deal. Iran also is not sending parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who has been its highest-level negotiator in the process.
Araghchi said Friday that his visit to Islamabad is part of a wider trip that also includes Muscat and Moscow for talks on bilateral issues and regional developments. Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said he welcomed the Iranian delegation and looked forward to discussions focused on regional peace and stability.
Leavitt said the administration hoped “progress will be made” and that “positive developments will come from this meeting.” She also said the United States had seen “some progress from the Iranian side in the last couple of days,” but did not provide further details.
A U.S. official told The Washington Post that Witkoff and Kushner had received confirmation from Tehran before their planned departure. Iran has not publicly announced that it will take part in direct talks with U.S. officials.
The earlier round in Islamabad lasted more than 20 hours and ended without an agreement. Trump later described the negotiations as “very intensive” and said they became “very friendly” near the end.
Trump said Thursday on Truth Social that he was not in a hurry to end the war, writing that he had “all the time in the World” but Iran did not. He said any deal would have to be good for the United States, its allies and the wider world.
Iranian officials pushed back Friday after Trump described Iran’s leadership as divided between radicals and moderates. Senior officials posted a response messages on X saying there were “no radicals or moderates” in Iran and that the country remained united.
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