US President Donald Trump has said that the cancellation of a US delegation to Islamabad to attend the second round of peace talks with the Iranian delegation does not automatically mean war with Iran will resume.
Asked if canceling the trip meant he would start a war again, Trump told US media outlet Axios, “No, it doesn’t mean that. We haven’t thought about that yet.”
Witkoff and Kushner were scheduled to travel to Islamabad on Saturday morning local time in Washington, DC. But Trump canceled the US delegation’s visit after Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, who was in Islamabad, left Pakistan with his entourage.
Araqchi visited the Pakistani capital Islamabad on Friday. At the time, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman XA posted that Iranian officials did not plan to meet with US representatives during their visit to Pakistan and that Tehran’s concerns would be conveyed to Pakistan, which is acting as a mediator.
The visiting Iranian foreign minister met with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and other senior officials in Islamabad on Saturday. During the meeting, he highlighted Tehran’s objections to Iran’s claims and the position of its adversary.
In Islamabad, the Iranian delegation held day-long talks with Pakistani mediators, discussing in detail what Tehran’s red lines are and where they have room for compromise.
Al Jazeera reported that Araqchi left Islamabad after the high-level meeting, but little is known about what Araqchi said at the meeting, Reuters reported.
Shortly after news broke that the Iranian delegation led by Araqchi had left Islamabad, Trump announced that he had canceled the planned visit of the US delegation to Islamabad.
The US side was ready to participate in the second round of peace talks with Iran in Islamabad, but it collapsed due to Tehran’s reluctance. But despite this setback, the US president has said that war with Iran is not imminent.