Trump Calls Off Envoys’ Pakistan Visit As Araghchi Leaves Islamabad, Peace Talks In Limbo
Trump calls off US envoys’ Pakistan visit as Iran’s foreign minister leaves Islamabad, putting peace talks on hold. Image courtesy: Wikimedia commons
US President Donald Trump on Saturday (April 25, 2025) called off a proposed visit of his envoys to Pakistan to engage in peace talks with Iran, even as Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi left Islamabad on his onward journey to Oman and Russia without waiting for the American delegation.
“I’ve told my people a little while ago they were getting ready to leave, and I said, ‘Nope, you’re not making an 18-hour flight to go there. We have all the cards. They can call us anytime they want, but you’re not going to be making any more 18-hour flights to sit around talking about nothing,” Trump told an American media house.
The Trump announcement came soon after Araghchi and his team flew out of Islamabad after holding talks with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and other top officials, without waiting for the US envoys to reach Pakistan.
In Pakistan, Araghchi laid out Iran’s demands and its concerns over the US positions, even as Islamabad made a fresh bid to get the Iranian delegation to the negotiation table with the US envoys to end the West Asian war.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Araghchi was meeting only the Pakistan leadership to convey Iranian concerns and observations, with no meetings or talks planned with the US delegation.
On Araghchi’s Telegram channel, the Iranian foreign minister said, he “explained our country’s principled positions regarding the latest developments related to the ceasefire and the complete end of the imposed war against Iran.”
Meanwhile, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian conveyed a firm “no” to direct talks with the US as long as the current American naval blockade of Iranian ports continued.
In his telephone conversation with Sharief on Saturday (April 25), Pezeshkian noted that Iran would not be coerced into a deal through “pressure or threats.”
The Iranian President said, “Iran will not enter into negotiations under pressure, threats, or blockade…As long as hostile actions and pressures of the US do not stop, rebuilding trust and progress in the path of dialogue would remain difficult.”
He asked the US to demonstrate its seriousness about dialogue by removing the military and economic barriers that define the current conflict. “Our advice to the US to first remove obstacles, including the naval blockade, to resume dialogue and provide a platform for resolving issues,” he said.
On the Lebanon front, Israel on Saturday (April 25) launched fresh airstrikes on Khiam and Yohmor al-Sharif, signalling a renewed escalation amidst an ongoing ceasefire.
The Israel Defence Forces carried out new attacks in southern Lebanon with two air raids. On Friday (April 24), the Israeli forces and Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah exchanged fire, just a day after the US announced the extension of the Israel-Lebanon ceasefire.
The IDF had claimed it hit Hezbollah rocket launchers in Yater and Kafra, noting that these sites posed a threat to its troops and civilians.
Hezbollah retaliated by targeting Israeli armoured personnel carriers in Ramyah. It said in a statement that the attack was carried out in response to Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon.
