US Delegation’s Pakistan Trip Cancelled as Iranian Foreign Minister Departs

A planned US delegation visit to Pakistan has been cancelled after Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi left Islamabad without holding a second round of the Islamabad Peace Talks with American officials.

Araghchi had spent the day in Islamabad holding high-level meetings with Pakistani leaders, but Iran maintained that it was not seeking direct negotiations with the United States. Less than 24 hours earlier, Tehran had also publicly denied requesting face-to-face talks.

The situation shifted further when President Donald Trump said he had personally cancelled the planned trip by Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, who had earlier been expected to travel to Pakistan.

Trump said too much time would be wasted on travel and suggested there was no point in making the visit under the circumstances.

That effectively ended hopes of a second round of Pakistan-linked diplomacy involving the US and Iran, at least for now.

The cancellation came after conflicting signals through the day. Earlier, the White House had indicated that the two US figures would travel to Pakistan, but Iran continued to insist there would be no direct engagement. Araghchi then departed Islamabad without any meeting taking place with the American side.

The development is the latest sign of how fragile and uncertain the current diplomatic track remains. Pakistan appeared to be serving as a possible venue for backchannel engagement, but that effort has now stalled after Iran’s refusal to enter direct talks and Trump’s decision to call off the US visit.

Both kushner and witkoff have literally 0 experience in diplomatic negotiations. It’s like sending your toddler on a board meeting of a trillion dollar company