Trump sends envoys Witkoff and Kushner to take part in fresh Iran talks without JD Vance

LAST UPDATE | 16 hrs ago

US ENVOYS STEVE Witkoff and Jared Kushner will travel to Pakistan for a second round of talks with Iran on ending the war. 

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed to Fox News that the former real estate developer and US president Donald Trump’s son-in-law will leave for Islamabad tomorrow for talks with representatives from the Iranian delegation. 

“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.”

Vice president JD Vance, who led a first round of talks over two weeks ago and was due to lead a second round of negotiations that never materialised this week, will not travel with the US delegation “for now”, Leavitt said.

“Everyone will be on standby to fly to Pakistan if necessary,” she added.

Witkoff and Kushner had been negotiating with Iran when the US and Israel launched attacks on 28 February, 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 programme.

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.

Advertisement

Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi arrived in Islamabad this evening, Pakistan’s ministry of foreign affairs confirmed. 

Araghchi “will hold meetings with Pakistan’s senior leadership to discuss the latest regional developments as well as ongoing efforts for regional peace and stability”, the ministry said in a statement, without directly referencing talks with Washington.

Tehran’s official IRNA news agency had said Araghchi will also travel to Muscat and Moscow following the visit to Pakistan in what was described as a “regional tour”. 

Oil prices slid this morning amid hopes that any fresh peace talks would see an end to the stand-off between rival US and Iranian blockades of the Strait of Hormuz, which has all but choked off maritime trade through a channel that before the war carried around 20% of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies.

Iran’s parliament speaker said earlier this week that it was “impossible” to open the strait while the US blockade remains in place, calling it a “flagrant breach of the ceasefire”. 

Trump extended the ceasefire with Tehran on Tuesday until “discussions are concluded one way or the other”. He added that the US blockade would remain in place.

European Council president António Costa said today that the strait “must immediately reopen without restrictions and without tolling”.

“This is vital for the entire world,” he added.

Trump had previously indicated he was in no rush to end the war with Iran, saying he had “all the time in the World, but Iran doesn’t”.

The USS George HW Bush aircraft carrier recently arrived in the Middle East, the US military said, bringing the number of the massive warships operating in the region to three.

Today’s announcement of fresh talks comes after a US-led ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon was extended for three weeks after talks at the White House. 

With reporting from © AFP 2026 

Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone...
A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.
Learn More Support The Journal