Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said that Tehran will not enter into “forced negotiations” with the United States while facing threats and pressure, underscoring continued tensions as diplomatic efforts stall.
Speaking during a phone call with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Pezeshkian said U.S. actions are eroding trust and complicating any potential progress toward talks. He warned that movement toward diplomacy would remain unlikely unless “hostile actions and operational pressures” by Washington are brought to an end.
Pezeshkian added that Washington would need to remove “operational obstacles, including the blockade” affecting vessels traveling to and from Iranian ports before any meaningful resolution of disputes could take shape.
According to a statement from Pakistan’s Prime Minister’s Office, Sharif told Pezeshkian that Islamabad “would continue its sincere and honest endeavors to promote regional peace and security.”
In a social media post, Sharif also expressed appreciation to Iran for dispatching a high-level delegation led by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi to Islamabad for discussions aimed at ending the war.
That Iranian delegation departed Islamabad on Saturday and later arrived in Muscat, Oman, where additional regional talks are expected to take place.
Meanwhile, U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, had been scheduled to travel to Islamabad for meetings, but the visit was abruptly called off.
“I just cancelled the trip of my representatives going is Islamabad, Pakistan, to meet with the Iranians,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. “Too much time wasted on traveling, too much work! Besides which, there is tremendous infighting and confusion within their ‘leadership.’ Nobody knows who is in charge, including them. Also, we have all the cards, they have none! If they want to talk, all they have to do is call!!!”
Trump later elaborated in an interview with Fox News, saying, “I’ve told my people a little while ago they were getting ready to leave, and I said, ‘Nope, you’re not making an 18 hour flight to go there. We have all the cards. They can call us anytime they want, but you’re not going to be making any more 18 hour flights to sit around talking about nothing.'”
Earlier in the week, Trump said that internal divisions within Iran had led him to extend the ceasefire for an unspecified period to give Tehran time to present a proposal for a potential agreement.
In a Truth Social post, Trump emphasized that the U.S. naval blockade would remain in effect until Iran submits a proposal.
On Thursday, when asked how long he would wait for Iran to respond, Trump said he was in “no rush.”
He also told reporters that Iran’s leadership is “fighting like cats and dogs for who’s going to control” the country.
“We’ve taken out their military. We’ve hit about 75 percent of our targets. We stopped a little early because they wanted to have some peace, and we have a blockade that’s 100 percent effective. And they’re getting no business,” he said.
Trump further stated, “They want to make a deal. We have been speaking to them, but they don’t even know who’s leading the country. They’re in turmoil.”
“They came to us, and they said, ‘We will agree to open the Strait,’ and all my people were happy. Everybody was happy-except me. I said, ‘Wait a minute. If we open this strait, that means they’re going to make 500 million dollars a day. I don’t want them to make 500 million dollars a day until they settle this thing, so I’m the one that kept it closed. We have total control of it. And it’ll open when they make a deal or something else happens,” continued Trump.
The president also said he could reach an agreement with Iran “right now,” but emphasized that he is seeking a lasting solution rather than a temporary arrangement.
{Matzav.com}