US President Donald Trump is sending his special envoys Steve Whitkoff and Jared Kushner to Pakistan for talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi this weekend, CNN reported, citing two administration officials.
The network’s sources said Vice President J.D. Vance is not yet planning to attend the talks, as Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf will also not attend. Inside the White House, officials view Qalibaf as the head of the Iranian delegation and Vance’s vis-a-vis.
However, officials said the vice president would be willing to travel to Islamabad if the talks progressed, with members of his team in Pakistan to participate in the negotiations.
Kushner and Witkoff have been working with Iranian officials for months on a possible deal on Tehran’s nuclear stockpile.
Earlier today, media reported that Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi is scheduled to arrive in Islamabad with a small delegation late in the evening of 24 April.
The other day, Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, who led the Iranian delegation to talks with the United States in Islamabad earlier this month that did not lead to an agreement, accused the US of violating the ceasefire with the blockade. However, he made no direct comment on the prospect of a second round of talks.
Iran effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, which normally carries about one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas supplies, shortly after the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran began on 28 February. The United States imposed a naval blockade on Iran on 13 April, and Trump has said it will remain in place until an agreement is reached.