President Donald Trump on Friday dispatched Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to engage in renewed peace talks with Iran in Pakistan. The move was confirmed by White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on Friday, but was then canceled by the president on Saturday.
"I told my people a little while ago, they were getting ready to leave, and I said 'nope,' you're not going to make an 18-hour flight to go there, we have all the cards, they can call us any time they want, but you're not going to make any more 18-hour flights to talk about nothing," Fox News reported in an exclusive.
On Friday, Leavitt said "The Iranians reached out as the President called on them to do, and asked for this in-person conversation, so the President is dispatching Steve and Jared to hear what they have to say."
“We’re hopeful that it will be a productive conversation and hopefully move the ball forward to a deal," Leavitt added in her interview on Fox News. She also said that Vice President JD Vance will be on standby if the talks turn out to be productive.
The move from the Iranians come as the Trump administration has ordered a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz after the Iranian regime has tried to shut down shipping in the key waterway. Iran relies on exports of oil to prop up their economy, but the blockade has been preventing the regime from shipping out exports to other nations such as China.
Earlier on Friday, Foreign Minister of Iran Seyed Abbas Araghchi said in a post o X, "Embarking on timely tour of Islamabad, Muscat, and Moscow. Purpose of my visits is to closely coordinate with our partners on bilateral matters and consult on regional developments. Our neighbors are our priority."
As the US has blockaded the Strait of Hormuz, the IRGC has also fired on shipping vessels in the waterway. On Friday morning, Department of War Secretary Pete Hegseth said that the US would be going after Iranian ships that were able to go out to see before the blockade went into place, and that the blockade would continue to grow “by the day.”
"The United States has imposed an ironclad blockade that grows more powerful by the day. From the Gulf of Oman to the open oceans, our Navy is enforcing this blockade without hesitation or apology," Hegseth said at the time.
This article was updated with the White House's change of plans.
