Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is scheduled to fly to Islamabad on Friday night to discuss the next steps in stalled peace talks with the United States, a Pakistani official involved in the matter told MS NOW.
Araghchi and a small team will consult with Pakistani mediators about the possibility of a second round of negotiations with the United States, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue, MS NOW reported.
The first round of peace talks was held in Islamabad about two weeks ago, with Vice President JD Vance leading the US side, but ended without an agreement.
A U.S. delegation, including Vance, was scheduled to return to Pakistan earlier this week for further negotiations, but the visit was postponed after Iranian officials reportedly said they would not show up.
Much of the mutual thorniness has centered on the Strait of Hormuz, a major oil shipping route, but traffic is slowly dwindling due to threats from Iran and, as of last week, a retaliatory naval blockade by the United States.
The tensions are further straining an already fragile ceasefire announced on April 7, amid President Donald Trump’s threat that Iran’s “entire civilization will be destroyed” if no deal is reached.
Despite continuing tensions in the Strait, President Trump unilaterally extended the ceasefire on Tuesday just before it was due to expire.
Since the war began on February 28, the Trump administration has repeatedly said it expects the operation to be short-lived and over within four to six weeks.
Since that deadline passed, the administration has restructured its schedule, but stressed that previous U.S. conflicts have lasted much longer.
“Unlike the endless wars of the past, which lasted years or decades with little success, Operation Epic Fury produced decisive military results in just a few weeks,” Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said at a press conference Friday morning.
Hegseth echoed Trump, saying the wars in South Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan “all took years and decades,” had “vague missions, shifting sands,” and “few results.”
Hegseth claimed that Iran’s operations were focused on the goal “from the beginning that Iran would never have a nuclear weapon.” Indeed, the administration initially advocated a changing narrative about the war’s objectives, including concerns about regime change and the safety of Iranian protesters.
President Trump said Thursday that the war has not had as much of an impact as expected on both stock prices and oil prices, and that he is in no hurry to reach a peace deal.
This is developing news. Please check back for the latest information.
