Trump cancels US envoy’s trip to Pakistan for Iran talks
President Donald Trump has canceled a planned trip by U.S. envoys to Pakistan, where they were expected to discuss the conflict involving Iran, according to a White House correspondent for Fox News.
“I’ve told my people a little while ago they were getting ready to leave, and I said, ‘Nope, you’re not making an 18-hour flight to go there. We have all the cards,” Trump reportedly said. “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.”
This comes after Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met with Pakistan’s Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday in Islamabad.
During the meeting, which lasted around two hours, Sharif “emphasized the importance of dialogue and diplomacy for the peace and stabilit in the region and beyond,” Pakistan’s Foreign Minister, Ishaq Dar, said.
“Was pleased to meet H.E. Seyed Abbas Araghchi, Foreign Minister of Iran, and his delegation in Islamabad today,” Sharif said on social media. “Had a most warm, cordial exchange of views on the current regional situation.”
After the meeting, Araghchi left Pakistan.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said Friday that the Iranian delegation would not meet with the U.S.
Trump on Tuesday announced that a ceasefire agreement between the U.S. and Iran would be extended “until such time as their leaders and representatives can come up with a unified proposal.”
Still, he said a U.S. naval blockade on any ships entering or exiting Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz would continue.
The Khatam al-Anbia Central Headquarters of Iran said on Saturday that if the U.S. continues this blockade, and what it called “banditry and piracy” in the region, it will face a strong response from Iran’s armed forces.
Iran’s Khatam al-Anbia Central Headquarters said Saturday that continued U.S. “banditry and piracy” in the region would draw a strong response from Iran’s armed forces. The country’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reported the command said Iran “possesses greater might and readiness than before to defend the country’s sovereignty, territory, and national interests.”
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Friday that the blockade is expanding, with a second aircraft carrier expected to join U.S. forces in the coming days.
Israeli attacks kill 4 in Lebanon
Lebanon’s Health Ministry said Israeli airstrikes on Saturday killed four people in the town of Yohmor, despite a temporary ceasefire that was agreed to on April 17.
Both sides have said that the other has violated the ceasefire agreement. The Israeli military said Saturday that two projectiles were launched from Lebanon toward Israel.
Trump said Thursday that the ceasefire was extended by three weeks. However, Hezbollah deemed it “meaningless” after Lebanese authorities said two people were killed by an Israeli strike on Friday.
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Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
