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<\/p>\nPresident Donald Trump is sending his envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Pakistan to meet with Iran\u2019s foreign minister, the White House said Friday, as officials in the South Asian nation pushed to revive ceasefire talks between the U.S. and Iran.<\/p>\n
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An Iranian worshipper wears a banner showing portraits of the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, bottom, late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, top right, and the late revolutionary founder Ayatollah Khomeini, during Friday prayers ceremony at the Tehran University campus, in Tehran, Iran, Friday, April 24, 2026.<\/p>\n
Vahid Salemi \/ AP<\/p>\n
The talks planned for Saturday come as much of the world is on edge over a war that has snarled crucial energy exports through the Strait of Hormuz<\/a>, clouded the global economic picture and left thousands dead across the Middle East.<\/p>\n Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived in Islamabad late Friday. Earlier on social media, he wrote that he was traveling to Pakistan on a trip focused on \u201cbilateral matters and regional developments.\u201d He didn\u2019t specify who he would meet.<\/p>\n Shortly after Araghchi touched down, the country\u2019s government made it clear there would be no direct negotiations with American government representatives during this visit.<\/p>\n Foreign ministry spokesman Esmael Baqaei said on X that, \u201cNo meeting is planned to take place between Iran and the U.S.\u201d<\/p>\n Instead, Baqaei said Pakistani officials would convey messages between the delegations. Baqaei thanked the Pakistani government for its \u201congoing mediation & good offices for ending American imposed war of aggression.\u201d<\/p>\n White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt had said in an interview on Fox News Channel that Witkoff and Kushner would meet with Araghchi.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re hopeful that it will be a productive conversation and hopefully move the ball forward to a deal,\u201d Leavitt said.<\/p>\n She said Vice President JD Vance would not travel but that he remains \u201cdeeply involved,\u201d and would be willing to go to Pakistan \u201cif we feel it\u2019s a necessary use of his time.\u201d<\/p>\n Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the president\u2019s national security team are on \u201cstandby\u201d to fly to Pakistan if needed, Leavitt said.<\/p>\n Araghchi and the two Trump envoys held hours of indirect talks in Geneva on Feb. 27<\/a> over Tehran\u2019s nuclear program, but walked away without a deal. The next day, Israel and the United States started the war against Iran. <\/p>\n Leavitt said the president decided to send Witkoff and Kushner to Pakistan \u201cto hear the Iranians out.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve certainly seen some progress from the Iranian side in the last couple of days,\u201d Leavitt said. She did not offer any details about what U.S. officials were hearing.<\/p>\n Islamabad has sought to reinject momentum into the negotiations between Iran and the United States, which did not resume this week as had been expected. <\/p>\n Trump extends the Jones Act waiver for 90 days <\/p>\n Separately Friday, the White House said Trump issued a 90-day extension to the Jones Act waiver<\/a>, making it easier for non-American vessels to transport oil and natural gas.<\/p>\n He first announced a 60-day waiver in March in a move intended to stabilize energy prices and ease oil and gas shipments to the U.S. following the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz. <\/p>\n \u201cNew data compiled since the initial waiver was issued revealed that significantly more supply was able to reach U.S. ports faster,\u201d the White House post on social media said.<\/p>\n The price of Brent crude oil,<\/a> the international standard, retreated on the news, vacillating between $103 a barrel and more than $107 \u2014 still early 50% higher than where it was on Feb. 28, when the war began.<\/p>\n The squeeze on shipments through the strait has rippled through global maritime trade flows, including through the Panama Canal<\/a> nearly halfway around the world.<\/p>\n Pakistan forges ahead with diplomatic efforts<\/p>\n Pakistan has been trying to get U.S. and Iranian officials back to the table after Trump this week announced an indefinite extension of the ceasefire with Iran<\/a>, honoring Islamabad\u2019s request for more time for diplomatic outreach.<\/p>\n That hasn\u2019t lowered tensions<\/a> in the strait<\/a>, a strategic waterway through which a fifth of the world\u2019s oil and natural gas is shipped during peacetime. <\/p>\n Iran has kept its stranglehold on traffic through the strait, attacking three ships earlier this week, while the U.S. is maintaining a blockade on Iranian ports and Trump has ordered the military to \u201cshoot and kill\u201d small boats<\/a> that could be placing mines.<\/p>\n