Trump called off Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner’s trip to Pakistan to meet with the Iranians. "Too much time wasted on traveling, too much work!" Trump wrote in a social media post announcing the cancellation.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has arrived in Oman after leaving Pakistan, semi-official news agency Fars News reported.
Araghchi is expected to meet Omani officials in Muscat as part of a “timely tour” he said on X yesterday.
“Purpose of my visits is to closely coordinate with our partners on bilateral matters and consult on regional developments,” he wrote. “Our neighbors are our priority.”
Trump has called off Witkoff and Kushner’s trip to Pakistan to meet with the Iranians, he said in a Truth Social post.
“Too much time wasted on traveling, too much work! Besides which, there is tremendous infighting and confusion within their ‘leadership,'” Trump wrote. “Nobody knows who is in charge, including them. Also, we have all the cards, they have none! If they want to talk, all they have to do is call!!!”
This comes after news that Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi left Islamabad following meetings with Pakistani officials. Araghchi had previously said that no meetings with the U.S. had been planned in Islamabad.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has left Islamabad after meeting Pakistani officials, including Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, according to Iranian state news agency IRNA.
This seemingly cements that Araghchi will not be meeting with the American delegation for peace talks in the city. Special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner were expected to lead an American delegation in Pakistan today.
In an X post, Araghchi said he had a “fruitful” visit to Pakistan, adding that he has “yet to see if the U.S. is truly serious about diplomacy.”
If the U.S. continues its blockade of Iranian ports it will “face the response of Iran’s powerful armed forces,” Iran’s top military command said today, as reported by the semiofficial Tasnim news agency.
Iran possesses “greater authority and readiness than before to defend sovereignty, territory, and national interests,” Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters said, addressing the U.S.
“We are ready and determined, while monitoring the behaviour and movements of enemies in the region,” it said.
American military bases and other equipment in the Persian Gulf region suffered extensive damage from Iranian strikes that is far worse than publicly acknowledged and is expected to cost billions of dollars to repair, according to three U.S. officials, two congressional aides and another person familiar with the damage.
The Iranian regime swiftly retaliated after the Trump administration attacked on Feb. 28, hitting dozens of targets across U.S. military bases in seven Middle Eastern countries.
Those attacks struck warehouses, command headquarters, aircraft hangars, satellite communications infrastructure, runways, high-end radar systems and dozens of aircraft, according to the U.S. officials and an assessment by the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank in Washington, D.C.
Read the full story here.
MarineTraffic data analyzed by NBC News shows that two U.S.-sanctioned ships moved through the Strait of Hormuz on Friday night into Saturday morning. One of the ships, a tanker called Ocean Jet, is on the U.S. sanctions list for its role in allegedly facilitating and financing the clandestine sale of Iranian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
Another ship, the Curacao-flagged Lumina Ocean, traveled through the strait from the Persian Gulf after previously making the reverse journey earlier in April. The ship has been sanctioned by the U.S. since last December, classified as part of Iran’s “shadow fleet” of petroleum tankers.
An Iranian cargo ship also moved through the strait, hugging the coast of Iran.
Along with these ships, four cargo ships, an Omani passenger ferry and a Russian pleasure yacht moved in the strait between 5 p.m. ET Friday night and 5 a.m. ET this morning. The Russian yacht, the Nord, sailed through the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday after leaving port in Dubai on Friday. It traveled through the strait on a route south of Larak Island.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi and the Iranian delegation in Islamabad for talks have arrived at the house of Pakistani Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, the prime minister’s office said today.
The “current regional situation will be discussed in the meeting,” his office said.
Pakistan’s deputy prime minister and foreign minister, Sen. Mohammad Ishaq Dar, and its chief of defense forces, Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, are also present in the meeting, it added.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi thanked Pakistan for its efforts in establishing a ceasefire following talks with the leader of the country’s armed forces today.
Araghchi met with Pakistan Field Marshal Asim Munir today and said on Telegram that the two discussed the latest developments “related to the ceasefire and the end of the war.”
In this meeting, Araghchi “expressed appreciation for the good offices and valuable efforts of the Government of Pakistan,” the post read.
Munir also “announced his country’s readiness to continue Pakistan’s mediation efforts until a result is achieved,” according to Araghchi’s post.
Iran’s internet blackout has lasted for 57 days, an internet monitoring group said, with the regime’s ban on access to global networks continuing past 1,340 hours.
The disruption “stifles the voices of Iranians, leaves friends and family out of touch and damages the economy,” NetBlocks said in a post on X today.
Iran has executed a man accused of being an agent of Israel, according to Iranian state media.
The man, identified as Erfan Kiani, was accused of carrying out “acts of destruction and setting fires to public and private property under orders from Mossad,” the Israeli spy agency, Iran’s semiofficial Tasnim news agency reported.
He was accused of spreading “fear and terror” in the Iranian city of Isfahan in January, and engaging “in violent attacks with a machete.”
The Israel Defense Forces issued a warning this morning to residents of southern Lebanon not to move beyond a certain point in the south.
“We reiterate that during the ceasefire agreement, the IDF continues to maintain its positions in southern Lebanon in response to the ongoing terrorist activities of Hezbollah,” IDF Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee said on X.
Adraee listed a number of villages that the IDF said people should not cross or return to, adding that approaching the Litani River and other areas was “also prohibited.”
Iran’s former crown prince, Reza Pahlavi, says he will fight for his country “whether or not Europe stands with us” after attempting to drum up support on a recent visit.
After holding press conferences in Berlin and Stockholm, Pahlavi hit out at European media for “criticizing America” instead of covering the persecution of civilians by the Iranian regime. Thousands were killed during nationwide protests in January, according to human rights groups.
“They seem more interested in criticizing America, asking why the United States and Israel killed the dictator that has slaughtered our people for 47 years than criticizing the regime doing the slaughtering,” he said in a post on X. “They seem more interested in asking questions about Iran’s past and history than about what is happening in Iran today or about the democratic future Iranians are seeking.”
“Even if we have to do this alone, we will fight until Iran is free,” he added.
Pahlavi, son of the U.S.-backed shah who ruled Iran from 1953 to 1979, has lived in the U.S. for decades. He encouraged the uprisings in January and said at the time that he was ready to lead the country to democracy, though it is unclear how much support he has from the Iranian people.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said today that it has carried out operations against “anti-government groups supported by the U.S.,” according to Iranian media.
“In a series of operations in Kurdistan and Kermanshah provinces, several cells affiliated with anti-government groups supported by America and the Zionist regime were identified and neutralized,” the semiofficial Fars news agency reported.
The report said more than 200 people had been arrested across the country and one killed, with thousands of rounds of ammunition seized.
“These groups were reportedly attempting to prepare for a potential military attack from the country’s western borders,” it added.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi today met with Pakistani Field Marshal Asim Munir, who leads the country’s armed forces, ahead of anticipated talks between the U.S. and Iran in Islamabad.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met with Pakistani Field Marshal Asim Munir on Saturday. Handout
Pictures of the meeting published on Araghchi’s Telegram page showed the two officials sitting side by side, flanked by the flags of their respective nations.
The chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee yesterday called for an end to negotiations with Iran and a resumption of military strikes.
Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., made the comments in a post on X in which he said, “The time is over for negotiations with Iran’s regime.”
“The radical successors of Khamenei can never be trusted to keep any promise or agreement. Our Commander-in-Chief should direct his skilled military leaders to finish destroying Iran’s conventional military capabilities and eliminating any last remnants of their nuclear program,” Wicker said in the post.
“This is the only way to ensure lasting stability in the region,” he said.
Trump said yesterday that Iran is making an offer for negotiations. An American delegation headed by Witkoff and Kushner is expected to arrive in Islamabad, Pakistan.
The State Department announced new sanctions against Iran’s oil network in China.
“The Department of the Treasury imposed sanctions today on a major, independent Chinese refinery and nearly 40 other targets — vessels and their respective owners or managers — that serve as critical lifelines for Iran’s oil exports,” State Department principal deputy spokesperson Tommy Pigott said in a statement yesterday.
Pigott added, “This action cuts revenue streams that fund the regime’s destabilizing activities across the Middle East. The Administration’s maximum pressure campaign will hold Tehran accountable for its regional aggression and threats to American interests.”
There is no meeting planned between Iranian and American officials in Pakistan, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman, Esmail Baghaie, said in a post on X.
“We arrive in Islamabad, Pakistan, for an official visit. FM Araghchi will be meeting with Pakistani high-level officials in concert with their ongoing mediation & good offices for ending American imposed war of aggression and the restitution of peace in our region,” he wrote in the post.
Baghaie added, “No meeting is planned to take place between Iran and the U.S. Iran’s observations would be conveyed to Pakistan.”
NBC News