The White House on Friday said that United States’ special envoy Steve Witkoff and advisor Jared Kushner will travel to Pakistan on Saturday to hold talks with Iranian representatives.
“I can confirm special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner will be off to Pakistan again tomorrow morning to engage in direct talks, intermediated by the Pakistanis, who have been incredible mediators throughout this entire process, with representatives from the Iranian delegation,” Leavitt said in an interview with Fox News.
She said Iran had requested the meeting after President Donald Trump urged Tehran to engage, adding: “We’re hopeful that it will be a productive conversation and hopefully move the ball forward towards a deal”.
Leavitt said that Vice President JD Vance will stay in the US although he “remains deeply involved in this entire process”.
“He’ll be standing by here in the United States, along with the President and the Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the entire national security team for updates.
And of course, everyone will be on standby to fly to Pakistan if necessary, but first, Steve and Jared will be going over there to report back to the President, the Vice President, and the rest of the team,” she added.
“President Trump has military options on the table that he always smartly retains as Commander-in-Chief, but right now, diplomacy hopefully continues and we’ll get to a place where the President’s red lines will be met,” she said.
“We’ve certainly seen some progress from the Iranian side in the last couple of days,” Leavitt later told reporters at the White House, adding the president is “always willing to give diplomacy a chance.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who represents Iran in the talks with the US, was slated to begin a regional tour on Friday night starting in Pakistan before traveling to Oman and Russia, he wrote on X on Wednesday.
Pakistan is stepping up efforts to revive a second round of talks between Iran and the US. The sources said discussions with Tehran could pave the way for renewed negotiations following the first round of direct talks held in Islamabad on April 11-12.
Those talks came after Pakistan brokered a two-week ceasefire on April 8, which was later extended by Trump without a specified timeline. The developments come amid ongoing tensions since the outbreak of war on Feb. 28, with efforts focused on reaching a broader agreement to end hostilities.