Donald Trump has cancelled a trip by US envoys to Pakistan to hold more peace talks with Iran, shortly after Tehran’s delegation left Islamabad. The US President said special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner would be wasting “too much time” on the trip, accusing Iran’s delegation of “tremendous infighting and confusion”.
The collapse of peace talks comes in an open-ended ceasefire which has paused most of the fighting between Iran and the US and Israel. But the near-closure of the Strait of Hormuz is threatening to wreak havoc on the global economy, as the blockage of the crucial shipping passage sends fuel prices soaring and threatens supplies of natural gas and fertiliser. Peace talks have been stalled since initial Pakistan-mediated negotiations failed earlier this month.
Vance left out of talks
Vice-president JD Vance had led the initial round of talks but he was left out of the delegation for this round of negotiations before they fell through, with the White House saying Vance remained “on standby”. On Thursday, Trump announced a last-minute extension to the truce between Israel and Lebanon following talks between the countries’ envoys in Washington, opening the door to further peace discussions.
President Trump wrote on Truth Social on Saturday night: “I just cancelled the trip of my representatives going to Islamabad, Pakistan, to meet with the Iranians. Too much time wasted on travelling, too much work! Besides which, there is tremendous infighting and confusion within their ‘leadership’.”
Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, left Pakistan on Saturday morning before the negotiations were meant to take place, Associated Press has reported.
‘All they have to do is call’
Araghchi had met with Pakistan to brief them on Iran’s red lines for the negotiations, which Iran had said would be indirect. Vance’s omission from the envoy delegation for this round of talks suggested that a major breakthrough was not expected by either side. “If they want to talk, all they have to do is call,” Trump said on social media.
The world’s leading energy economist said on Friday that the Iran oil crisis has changed the fossil fuel industry forever. Fatih Birol, boss of the International Energy Agency, told the Guardian the surging oil prices caused by the conflict will reduce public and governmental faith in fossil fuels and stimulate investment in renewables.
Trump’s decision to call off Witkoff and Kushner’s trips to Pakistan came on the same night that the President was evacuated from a White House correspondents’ dinner after shots were fired. Trump was unharmed and later held a press conference at the White House, and a suspect is being held in custody.
