By Mark Osborne
Updated on: April 25, 2026 / 1:28 PM EDT / CBS News
President Trump announced Saturday that he has called off plans for U.S. envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff to travel to Islamabad for talks involving Iran, saying the trip was unnecessary given delays and uncertainty inside Iran’s leadership. In a post on Truth Social, Trump wrote: “I just cancelled the trip of my representatives going [to] Islamabad, Pakistan, to meet with the Iranians. 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!!!”
The White House had announced Friday that Kushner and Witkoff would go to Islamabad for “direct talks” intended to negotiate a lasting peace deal, more than 50 days after the U.S. and Israel began strikes on Iran. Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was in Islamabad Friday and Saturday, meeting with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif before traveling on to Oman. Pakistan has been acting as an intermediary for U.S.-Iran communications.
The broader conflict has disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital route for about one-fifth of the world’s oil, contributing to higher energy prices and helping push U.S. inflation to its highest level in nearly two years.
A U.S. blockade of Iranian ports and vessels remains in effect. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Friday the blockade will continue “as long as it takes,” signaling the administration is not rushing a settlement and echoing the president’s assertion that the United States controls the timeline for Operation Epic Fury.
In Iran, President Masoud Pezeshkian urged residents to conserve electricity after strikes linked to the U.S. and Israel damaged energy infrastructure. According to The Associated Press, Pezeshkian asked people to limit lighting at home as the country works to restore services.