'Pointless To Take 18-Hour Flight': Donald Trump Cancels US Delegation's Pakistan Visit; Doubt Over Dialogue With Iran

Washington: Peace talks aimed at resolving the West Asia crisis, hosted in Pakistan, have once again faced disruption. On Saturday, US President Donald Trump announced that he has canceled the trip of his team, which was scheduled to travel to Pakistan for peace negotiations regarding the Iran war. Notably, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff were slated to visit Islamabad to engage in discussions with Iranian officials. However, reports recently emerged indicating that the Iranian officials—having already met with Pakistan Army Field Marshal Asim Munir and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif—had already departed for Tehran. Following this development, Trump proceeded to cancel the visit of the US representatives.

Speaking to Fox News, Trump provided details regarding the cancellation of Kushner and Witkoff's visit to Pakistan. He stated, "Just a short while ago, I instructed my team—who were on their way to Pakistan—to cancel their trip. I told them, 'No, you are not going to undertake an 18-hour flight to go there. We already have all our options available to us. They can call us whenever they wish; however, you are no longer going to fly for 18 hours just to sit there and engage in futile discussions.'"

What Update Did Donald Trump Share on Social Media?

Sharing this information on the social media platform Truth Social, Donald Trump remarked that there is severe internal discord within the Iranian leadership. He wrote, "...Traveling consumes a great deal of time. Furthermore, there is intense internal strife and confusion prevailing within the Iranian leadership. No one seems to know who actually holds power—not even those currently in power are aware of it."

Why Did Iranian Delegation Depart Pakistan?

It is noteworthy that Donald Trump's statement comes at a juncture when the Iranian delegation has already departed for Tehran, having concluded their meetings with Shehbaz Sharif and Asim Munir in Pakistan. According to sources, the Iranian officials declined to engage in direct talks with the Americans; instead, they conveyed their concerns to Pakistan, with the expectation that Pakistan would subsequently present these points to the US delegation. However, Donald Trump has now cancelled this visit altogether.

This is not the first time that the visit of a delegation coming to Pakistan to hold talks with the Iranians has been cancelled. Previously, the visit of J.D. Vance—who was preparing to travel to Islamabad to participate in the second round of peace talks—was also cancelled. At that time, Iran had refused to participate in any bilateral talks with the United States. The same situation has unfolded today. The US sought direct talks with the Iranian delegation, but Iran refused to do so.