Washington, Apr 24 (PTI) US special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are travelling to Pakistan on Saturday for direct talks with an Iranian delegation as part of efforts to end the seven-week war, the White House announced on Friday.
The US delegation is expected to pick up from the April 11 talks which were led by Vice President J D Vance, but failed to get a clear commitment from Iran on its nuclear fuel enrichment programme.
“I can confirm special envoy Witoff and Jared Kushner will be off to Pakistan again tomorrow morning to engage in talks, direct talks inter mediated by the Pakistanis, who have been incredible friends and mediators throughout this entire process, with representatives from the Iranian delegation,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News.
Leavitt said President Donald Trump decided to dispatch Witkoff and Kushner following a request from the Iranians for an in-person conversation.
“Look, 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 go hear what they have to say,” Leavitt said.
“And we’re hopeful that it will be a productive conversation and hopefully move the ball forward towards a deal,” she added.
Leavitt said Vance will not be travelling to Pakistan on Saturday, but remains deeply involved in the process.
“He’ll be standing by here in the United States, along with the president and the Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and the entire national security team for updates. And, of course, everyone will be on standby to fly to Pakistan if necessary,” she said.
“But first, Steve and Jared will be going over there to report back to the president, the vice president and the rest of the team,” Leavitt said.
Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Friday said that he was travelling to Pakistan, Oman and Russia to “closely coordinate” with them on bilateral matters and consult on regional developments, reviving hopes for the second round of Iran-US peace talks to end the war in West Asia.
A senior official of the Pakistan government said that Araghchi is expected to arrive in Islamabad on Friday night with a small delegation. PTI SKU GSP GSP
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