ISLAMABAD: Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi briefly visited Islamabad again on Sunday as Pakistan’s political and military leadership scrambled to reignite negotiations between Tehran and Washington to end their war, with President Donald Trump saying they could talk by phone instead.
Abbas Araghchi had left Pakistan’s capital late the previous day, creating confusion around an expected second round of talks there, but he returned before continuing on to Moscow on Sunday, Iranian state media said. He had been in Oman, which previously mediated the talks.
The White House said it would dispatch envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Islamabad to follow up on historic face-to-face talks earlier this month. But shortly after Araghchi’s departure from Islamabad on Saturday, Trump said he had called off the mission because of a lack of progress with Iran.
Araghchi returned to Islamabad on Sunday evening where he held talks with Pakistani military chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, Iranian state media reported, as regional and international efforts to bring an end to the escalating US–Iran conflict gained momentum.
“At the end of this round of the visit of the Iranian delegation... I would like to express my sincere and wholehearted gratitude and appreciation to the government, army and people of Pakistan, especially H.E. Prime Minister Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir, for their tireless efforts and good office initiative to end the war and bring lasting peace to the region,” Iran’s Ambassador to Pakistan Reza Amiri Moghadam said on X.
Trump said on Sunday that Iran could call if it wanted to negotiate an end to the war.
“If they want to talk, they can come to us, or they can call us. You know, there is a telephone. We have nice, secure lines,” he said in an interview on Fox News’ ‘The Sunday Briefing.’
Trump last week indefinitely extended the ceasefire that US and Iran agreed to on April 7 that has largely halted the fighting that began with joint US-Israeli strikes on Feb. 28. But a permanent settlement remains elusive in the war that has killed thousands of people and shaken the global economy.
Asked separately whether halting the trip of US envoys meant a return to open hostilities, Trump said: “No, it doesn’t mean that. We haven’t thought about it yet.”
Iranian state news agency IRNA reported on Sunday that Araghchi held separate telephone conversations with his Saudi, French and Qatari counterparts while flying from Muscat to Islamabad.
“Araqchi briefed the Saudi, Qatari and French Foreign Ministers on the objectives of his current visits and the consultations held to de-escalate tensions and completely stop the aggression imposed on Iran,” the news agency said.
Indirect talks between the two sides were ongoing, two Pakistani officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told AP on Sunday.
