Trump Cancels Envoys’ Trip to Pakistan as Iran Talks Stall

President Trump said Saturday that he canceled a planned trip by envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Pakistan for talks with Iran, ending hopes for a new round of negotiations that day, CBS News and the Associated Press reported.

“I just cancelled the trip of my representatives going [to] Islamabad, Pakistan, to meet with the Iranians. Too much time wasted on traveling, too much work!” Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social. He cited “tremendous infighting and confusion” within Iran’s leadership: “Nobody knows who is in charge, including them. Also, we have all the cards, they have none! If they want to talk, all they have to do is call!!!” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt had said Friday the pair would go to Islamabad for “direct talks,” CBS News reported.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was in the Pakistani capital on Saturday, where he met Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, then left for Oman, the AP reported. He wrote that he had “shared Iran’s position concerning workable framework to permanently end the war,” adding, “Have yet to see if the U.S. is truly serious about diplomacy.” The AP said Iran’s foreign ministry had already said any talks would be indirect, with Pakistani officials passing messages, and that officials in Tehran question how they can trust Washington after it began blockading Iranian ports.

Neither side is backing down. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Friday that the blockade will stay in place “as long as it takes,” signaling no hurry for a deal, CBS News reported. Iran’s joint military command warned of a “strong response” if the U.S. continues “naval blockades, banditry, and piracy,” according to the AP. The AP also reported that Mr. Trump has ordered the military to “shoot and kill” small boats that could be placing mines in the strait.

The economic toll keeps growing. CBS News reported that the Strait of Hormuz, which normally carries about one-fifth of the world’s oil, remains disrupted, oil prices have jumped, and the conflict has pushed U.S. inflation to its highest level in nearly two years. The AP said Brent crude is nearly 50 percent above its pre-war level.

The AP counted at least 3,375 people killed in Iran and at least 2,496 in Lebanon, where fighting between Israel and Hezbollah began two days after the Iran war started on Feb. 28, along with 23 in Israel and 13 U.S. service members in the region. Mr. Trump announced Thursday that Israel and Lebanon agreed to extend their ceasefire by three weeks, but the truce was shaken Saturday as each side fired on the other, the AP reported.