Trump sends envoys to Islamabad as Iran rules out direct talks

US envoys are expected to travel to Pakistan in a new bid to salvage ceasefire talks with Tehran.

But Iran ruled out direct negotiations with US representatives as its top diplomat arrived in Islamabad on Friday.

The latest effort to broker a deal comes as an indefinite ceasefire has paused most fighting, but economic fallout is still mounting with global energy shipments disrupted by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

The White House said President Donald Trump was sending Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to meet Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. Shortly after Mr Araghchi arrived in Islamabad, his ministry said any talks would be indirect, with messages conveyed between the two sides by Pakistani officials.

Pakistan’s capital appeared to be in a near-lockdown on Saturday morning, hours after Mr Araghchi arrived.

The week-long security restrictions have disrupted daily life, with hundreds of thousands of residents struggling to commute even short distances. Checkpoints, road closures and diversions have become routine sights, particularly around sensitive zones.

Mr Araghchi met overnight with Pakistan Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir shortly after arriving in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad, officials said.

Mr Araghchi met military and political leaders again on Saturday. Photos released early on Saturday by Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry showed Mr Araghchi seated with Mr Dar, Mr Munir and Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi.

Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said the Iranian delegation will hold talks with Pakistan’s senior leadership on the latest regional developments and efforts to promote peace and stability.

Pakistan also is preparing to receive special envoy Mr Witkoff and Mr Kushner for the start of the renewed talks, although officials have not specified when they are due in Islamabad. Vice President JD Vance will not attend, the White House said.

The Trump administration announced it is placing economic sanctions on a major China-based oil refinery and roughly 40 shipping companies and tankers involved in transporting Iranian oil.

The move appeared to be part of the administration’s threat to impose secondary sanctions on entities doing business with Iran in order to cut off Iran’s oil exports, a key source of its revenue.

Egyptian and Pakistani foreign ministers on Friday discussed efforts to launch the new round of talks between the United States and Iran.

Badr Abdelatty of Egypt spoke by phone with his Pakistani counterpart Mohammad Ishaq Dar.

The Egyptian foreign ministry said the diplomats affirmed that negotiations are the best way to end the war.

On Saturday, Iran resumed commercial flights from Tehran’s international airport for the first time since the conflict with the US and Israel began.

Iran’s state-run television reported that flights took off from the Imam Khomeini International Airport in Tehran bound for Istanbul, Oman’s capital of Muscat and the Saudi city of Medina.

Iran partly reopened its airspace earlier this month amid a ceasefire with the US which halted fighting between the two countries.