Kushner and Witkoff to Talk With Iranian Officials in Pakistan

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, will also be in Islamabad this weekend, and Iranian officials said he planned to meet with the two Americans.

Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, two of the United States’ lead negotiators in peace talks with Iran, will travel to Pakistan on Saturday to hold discussions with Iranian officials, an administration spokeswoman said. Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, also arrived in Islamabad, according to Iranian state media, and Iranian officials said he planned to meet with the two U.S. representatives.

“Steve and Jared will be heading to Pakistan tomorrow to hear the Iranians out,” Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said on Friday afternoon. “We hope progress will be made,” she said, adding that “the president, the vice president, the secretary of state will be waiting here in the United States for updates.”

The Iranian foreign minister plans to present a new written response to a U.S. proposal for a peace deal, according to two senior Iranian officials familiar with the trip who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomatic matters.

President Trump announced an extension of the cease-fire in the war on Iran earlier this week. While that halted an all-out bombardment of Iran and Iran’s retaliatory attacks on Israel and Gulf countries, the war has morphed into a costly standoff over the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial oil and gas conduit. Both the United States and Iran are blocking the transit of ships through the waterway in an effort to gain leverage in any peace talks.

The news of the scheduled meeting in Pakistan came after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that the U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ships and ports would continue for “as long as it takes” to get Iran to agree to a deal. Iranian leaders have made lifting the blockade a condition of resuming peace talks with Washington.

Many sticking points remain between the two sides, chief among them the status of the strait and Iran’s nuclear program. The last U.S.-Iran negotiations took place in mid-April in Islamabad and ended with no agreement. Iran War Live Updates » | Luke Broadwater, Helene Cooper, John Ismay, Farnaz Fassihi and Max Bearak | Reporting from Washington and New York | Friday, April 24, 2026

We can all relax now, then, knowing that Witkoff and Kushner are being sent to Pakistan to deal with those pesky Iranian officials! Between them, they have a wealth of diplomatic experience to draw on to sort out any problems they will encounter! At this rate, the war will be over in no time! 😊