Axios correspondent Barack Ravid reported on Saturday, May 26, 2021, that “US President Donald Trump has canceled a US delegation’s trip to Pakistan over Iran’s stance on the talks”.
Ravid wrote in a message on X Network on Saturday that Trump had called him directly and announced that the trip by Steve Whittaker and Jared Kushner to Islamabad had been canceled “over Iran’s stance on the talks.”
Trump also confirmed the decision in an interview with Fox News, saying that he saw no need to send a US delegation to Pakistan under the current circumstances. He said, “When we have all the cards in this conflict, it’s not worth my people making an 18-hour flight.” He added that Iran could contact the US any time it wanted.
The cancellation of the trip comes despite previous reports of attempts to hold face-to-face talks between “Iranian and US representatives in Islamabad”, with Pakistan acting as a mediator. However, the Iranian Foreign Ministry had previously emphasized that no negotiations were planned between the two sides.
