Donald Trump cancels US envoy trip to Pakistan for ceasefire talks with Iran
Donald Trump has confirmed the cancellation of his plan to send US envoys for ceasefire talks in Pakistan, saying “too much time” has been “wasted on traveling”.
“I just cancelled the trip of my representatives going is Islamabad, Pakistan, to meet with the Iranians,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“Too much time wasted on traveling, too much work! Besides which, there is tremendous infighting and confusion within their ‘leadership.’ Nobody knows who is in charge, including them,” he added. “Also, we have all the cards, they have none! If they want to talk, all they have to do is call!!!”
Key events
Summary of the day so far
Donald Trump canceled his plan to send US envoys for ceasefire talks in Pakistan. “I just cancelled the trip of my representatives going is Islamabad, Pakistan, to meet with the Iranians,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Too much time wasted on traveling, too much work!”
Trump said later that Iran “offered a lot but not enough” after he announced the cancellation. He claimed he received a better offer from Iran just minutes after the trip was called off. “They gave us a paper that should have been better, and interestingly, immediately, when I canceled it, within 10 minutes, we got a new paper that was much better,” Trump told reporters.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered his military to “vigorously attack Hezbollah targets in Lebanon”, according to a statement from his office, despite a ceasefire with Lebanon that Trump recently said had been extended by three weeks.
Another four people have been killed in Israeli strikes in the southern Lebanese town of Yohmor al-Shaqif, according to the official Lebanon National News Agency. Lebanon’s ministry of health announced on Saturday that the death toll from Israeli attacks had risen to 2,496.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it had also killed 15 Hezbollah fighters in southern Lebanon, despite the three-week extension of the Israel-Lebanon ceasefire.
Pakistan’s prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, issued a brief statement on social media following his meeting with the Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi. “Had a most warm, cordial exchange of views on the current regional situation. We also discussed matters of mutual interest, including the further strengthening of Pakistan-Iran bilateral relations,” Sharif said.
Turkish foreign minister Hakan Fidan has conducted telephone conversations with his Iranian and Pakistani counterparts to discuss the latest developments in the US-Iran negotiation process, sources within the Turkish foreign ministry told Reuters.
Thousands of people in Tehran gathered in Revolution Square on Saturday evening to protest against the US and Israel.
Netanyahu orders Israeli military to ‘vigorously attack Hezbollah targets in Lebanon’
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday ordered his military to “vigorously attack Hezbollah targets in Lebanon”, according to a statement from his office, despite a ceasefire with Lebanon that Trump recently said had been extended by three weeks.
Four people were killed on Saturday in Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon, Lebanon’s state news agency reported, while the Israeli military said Hezbollah had fired rockets at Israel.
A wave of Israeli strikes, artillery fire and drone activity have been reported elsewhere in southern and eastern Lebanon in a sign of escalatory attacks despite an ongoing ceasefire.
Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi is expected to visit mediator Pakistan again after completing his trip to Oman and before traveling to Russia, Iran’s Mehr news agency reported on Saturday.
Araghchi earlier left the Pakistani capital Islamabad without any sign of a breakthrough in peace talks with Pakistani prime minister Shehbaz Sharif and other senior officials over the Iran war.
Trump claims he received better offer from Iran minutes after calling off trip
Donald Trump said on Saturday that Iran “offered a lot but not enough” after he announced the cancellation of US envoys visiting Pakistan for ceasefire talks.
He claimed he received a better offer from Iran just minutes after the trip was called off.
“They gave us a paper that should have been better, and interestingly, immediately, when I canceled it, within 10 minutes, we got a new paper that was much better,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One.
The president wouldn’t offer specifics about what was in the latest proposal other than saying: “They offered a lot.” But he stressed that one of his conditions is that Iran “will not have a nuclear weapon”.
Pakistan’s prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, said on Saturday he had spoken with the Iranian president, Masoud Pezeshkian, on the evolving regional situation.
“Pakistan remains committed to serve as an honest and sincere facilitator – working tirelessly to advance durable peace and lasting stability in the region,” Sharif said in a post on social media.
Republican senator Lindsey Graham, a staunch Trump ally who has been openly in favor of the US war on Iran, praised the president’s decision to cancel the planned trip by US envoys to Pakistan for ceasefire talks.
“President Trump’s decision to cancel the Witkoff-Kushner visit to Pakistan to pursue further negotiations with Iran at this time was very wise,” Graham posted on X.
The senator also added that the top priority for the US should be “to establish firm control over the Strait of Hormuz”, and said that more military operations may be required to achieve this.
“When it comes to achieving that goal, US military engagement may be required in the short term. It is more than worth the risk associated with regaining freedom of navigation of the strait,” Graham said.
Iran’s joint military command issued a warning in a statement Saturday that if the US continued its “naval blockades, banditry, and piracy in the region”, Iran would respond with “powerful” military action.
The statement, carried by the state-run IRNA news agency, added that if the US and Israel renewed their aggression, the countries would face more losses.
It remains unclear whether Iran and the US will resume negotiations soon following Donald Trump’s cancellation of US envoys visiting Pakistan for ceasefire talks.
Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said that his recent trip to Pakistan was “very fruitful” but questioned whether the US was “truly serious about diplomacy”.
“Very fruitful visit to Pakistan, whose good offices and brotherly efforts to bring back peace to our region we very much value,” he wrote on social media. “Shared Iran’s position concerning workable framework to permanently end the war on Iran. Have yet to see if the US is truly serious about diplomacy.”
Donald Trump cancels US envoy trip to Pakistan for ceasefire talks with Iran
Donald Trump has confirmed the cancellation of his plan to send US envoys for ceasefire talks in Pakistan, saying “too much time” has been “wasted on traveling”.
“I just cancelled the trip of my representatives going is Islamabad, Pakistan, to meet with the Iranians,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“Too much time wasted on traveling, too much work! Besides which, there is tremendous infighting and confusion within their ‘leadership.’ Nobody knows who is in charge, including them,” he added. “Also, we have all the cards, they have none! If they want to talk, all they have to do is call!!!”
Witkoff, Kushner no longer going to Pakistan for talks with Iran, Fox reports
Donald Trump has canceled the planned trip to Pakistan by envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff for peace talks with Iran, Fox News reported on Saturday.
The network said Trump told Fox about the trip’s cancellation, quoting him as saying: “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.”
Lebanon’s ministry of health announced on Saturday that the death toll from Israeli attacks has risen to 2,496, with an additional 7,725 people injured since the start of the war on 2 March.
The ministry said the total number of displaced people sheltering in evacuation centers is now more than 120,000 and the number of displaced families in these centers has reached about 31,000.
Pakistan PM hails ‘warm’ meeting with Iran foreign minister
Pakistan’s prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, has issued a brief statement on social media following his meeting with the Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi.
“Had a most warm, cordial exchange of views on the current regional situation. We also discussed matters of mutual interest, including the further strengthening of Pakistan-Iran bilateral relations,” Sharif said.
IDF says it has killed 15 Hezbollah fighters in southern Lebanon amid ceasefire
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it has killed 15 Hezbollah fighters in southern Lebanon, despite a three-week extension of the Israel-Lebanon ceasefire.
In a statement on social media, the IDF said three Hezbollah members “who were travelling in a van armed with weapons” were killed in southern Lebanon, without giving a specific location. It said it killed another Hezbollah member “who was riding a motorbike” south of what it described as the “forward defence line” (or “yellow line”), an area deep in Lebanese territory from the border with Israel occupied by IDF troops.
It is not clear whether the deaths are connected to earlier reports by Lebanese media of Israeli attacks on a lorry and a motorbike in the southern Lebanese town of Yohmor al-Shaqif in the Nabatieh district, killing four people.
The IDF said two more Hezbollah members were killed in an airstrike in the Litani area, claiming they “posed a threat to IDF forces operating in southern Lebanon”.
The health ministry in Lebanon reported six people killed in Israeli airstrikes in the south yesterday.
The IDF said the 15 Hezbollah members were killed over the weekend, which runs from Friday to Saturday in Israel.
The Lebanese news outlet al-Mayadeen has reported that the Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, has left Islamabad after holding meetings with Pakistani officials.
It is not clear when the US delegation is due to arrive in Pakistan.
