Iran war: Trump cancels envoys' trip to Islamabad

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is expected to return to Pakistan after visiting Oman, Iranian state media reported Saturday.

The announcement comes hours after Araghchi had left Islamabad and after Donald Trump said he would not send a delegation there.

Araghchi "is scheduled to visit Pakistan again after completing his trip to Oman and before travelling to Russia," said the IRNA news agency, citing the foreign ministry.

Part of the foreign minister's delegation had returned to Tehran, the Iranian government said, "to consult and obtain the necessary instructions on issues related to ending the war, and is scheduled to rejoin Araghchi in Islamabad on Sunday night."

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif reaffirmed Islamabad's commitment to mediating between Tehran and Washington after a visit by an Iranian delegation.

"Pakistan remains committed to serve as an honest and sincere facilitator — working tirelessly to advance durable peace and lasting stability in the region," he said.

Sharif said he appreciated Iran's "continued engagement" in talks. He added he spoke to Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian over the phone, referring to the Iranian leader as his "brother."

Pakistan is classified by the United States as a major non-NATO ally and also maintains cordial ties with Iran.

The Iranian delegation headed by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi left Islamabad on Saturday without engaging in direct talks with US officials.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi reacted to the impasse in talks with Washington by saying it remained to be seen whether the United States was "truly serious" about diplomacy.

Araghchi flew to Pakistan, where he met with senior officials, but not those of the US.

The Iranian foreign minister said in a post on X after leaving Islamabad that he had "shared Iran's position concerning (a) workable framework to permanently end the war," but he had "yet to see if the US is truly serious about diplomacy."

The comments came after US President Donald Trump said Washington would no longer be sending envoys to Islamabad for talks.

US President Donald Trump told US broadcaster Fox News that he had ordered his envoys not to travel to Pakistan for talks with Iranian officials.

"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,'" Fox News reported the president as saying in a phone call.

He put the onus on Tehran for the continuation of talks.

"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."

Iran has accused the United States of sticking to "maximalist" demands in talks and cited a lack of trust in Washington.

Later, Trump told US outlet Axios that the cancelation of Kushner and Witkoff's trip would not necessarily lead to a resumption of the war.

'Nobody knows who is in charge' in Tehran — Trump

Also on Saturday, Trump argued that fractures were emerging among the top ranks in Iran, pointing to alleged "tremendous infighting and confusion within their 'leadership.'"

"Nobody knows who is in charge, including them," he said in a post on his Truth Social platform.

Tehran had to refill multiple key positions after several top officials, including former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, were killed in US-Israeli airstrikes.

Iran's Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, left Islamabad without meeting US envoys, the AP news agency said citing unnamed Pakistani officials.

Iranian state media also reported that the minister had left Islamabad. Following his visit to Pakistan, Araghchi was scheduled to travel to Oman.

On Friday, the White House announced that US special envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner would travel on Saturday to Islamabad to hold talks with Iranian officials.

However, Iran has ruled out direct negotiations. It is unclear whether Witkoff and Kushner are still planning to visit Pakistan.

President Masoud Pezeshkian has called on the Iranian people to reduce their electricity consumption due to serious supply bottlenecks.

"Instead of 10 lights at home, only two should be switched on. What is wrong with that?" the president was cited by the semi-official Mehr news agency as saying.

Pezeshkian claimed that the crisis was mainly caused by attacks on the country's infrastructure by the United States and Israel, as well as what he termed a "siege," referring to the US naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and all Iranian ports.

Observers view the president's appeal as evidence of the severity of the situation. Energy blackouts have sparked nationwide protests in the past.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) and independent analysts have also identified multiple causes of the crisis, such as outdated infrastructure, state subsidies, and serious managerial failures.

Lebanon's Health Ministry said that, despite a ceasefire that was extended this week in the war between Israel and the militant group Hezbollah, Israeli strikes  killed four people in the country's south.

"Two Israeli enemy strikes, on a truck and a motorbike, in the town of Yohmor al-Shaqeef in the Nabatieh district killed four people," the ministry said in a statement.

The state-run National News Agency (NNA) also reported Israeli artillery shelling in several locations in southern Lebanon and a 'violent explosion' in Khiam, a strategic town in eastern Lebanon near the border with Israel.

Meanwhile, Israel's army reissued a warning to residents not to return to dozens of locations in southern Lebanon within the so-called "yellow line." 

According to the military, this line runs around 10 kilometers (six miles) inside Lebanese territory along the length of the border.

On Thursday in Washington, US President Donald Trump announced that the 10-day ceasefire in Lebanon, which began on 17 April, had been extended for three weeks.

Iran's military on Saturday decried what it called the "banditry" and "piracy" of the US naval blockade of Iranian ports and said it would respond if it were maintained.

In a statement carried by state-run media outlet IRIB, the military's central command Khatam Al-Anbiya said that if "the invading US military continues blockading, banditry and piracy in the region, they should be certain that they will face a response from Iran's powerful armed forces."     

"We are ready and determined, while monitoring the behavior and movements of enemies," it added.

The US has imposed a blockade on Iran's ports in response to Iran's de facto blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, an important route for oil and gas transport.

Iran has cited the US blockade as a reason for not taking part in peace talks.

Turkey would consider taking part in operations to demine the Strait of Hormuz if the US reaches a peace deal with Iran, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has said.

The Turkish state news agency Anadolu quoted Fidan as saying that Turkey "would be open to" joining a multinational coalition to clear mines in the strait if a deal were agreed to end the conflict.

Fidan did, however, stress that Turkey would not participate in any operations that made Ankara liable to be viewed as a party to the conflict if there were renewed fighting.

He also said Turkey could foresee a deal that would ensure open, toll-free passage through the Strait of Hormuz, as was the case before the current war.

Otherwise, both sides would have to explore new ways to find a resolution, according to the minister.

Iran still retains a considerable part of its missile inventory despite the war against the US and Israel, the Iranian Defense Ministry said on Saturday, according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency.

A ministry spokesman, General Reza Talaie-Nik, also said that the Iranian arms industry was keeping up its production at various sites in the country, including concealed ones, according to Tasnim.

Talaie-Nik said that Iran was currently producing more than 1,000 types of arms domestically, including missiles, drones and other military equipment.

Independent verification of Iran's weapons arsenal and production is not possible.

US President Donald Trump and his defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, have, however, asserted in the course of the conflict that Iran's supply of missiles is fast running out and its production facilities disabled.

For the first time since the war with the US and Israel began approximately two months ago, Iran has resumed commercial flights from Tehran’s international airport.

According to Iran’s state-run television, flights are scheduled to depart for Istanbul, Turkey; Muscat, Oman; and Medina, Saudi Arabia.

Earlier this month, amid a ceasefire with the US, Iran partially reopened its airspace, which halted the fighting between the two countries.

Since April 8, a ceasefire mediated by Pakistan has kept the war on hold.

Amid diplomatic activity giving hope to ending the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, Iran's Defense Ministry said the United States was seeking a "face-saving" way to exit the war.

"Our military power today is a dominant force, and the enemy is looking for a face-saving way to escape the war quagmire it has become trapped in," a ministry spokesperson told the media outlet ISNA.

This statement comes as US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner travel to Islamabad. Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, arrived in the Pakistani capital yesterday.

However, Iranian state media has said that direct negotiations are not an option.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met with Pakistan army chief Asim Munir in Islamabad on Saturday, the Iranian Embassy in the Pakistani capital said.

Araghchi's delegation called on Munir, officials said, adding that Pakistan's interior minister and national security adviser were also present at the meeting.

Last week, Munir made a three-day trip to Tehran in a thrust to revive impeded peace talks in the Iran war and bring Iran and the US back to the table for direct negotiations. 

US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff are also expected to reach Islamabad on Saturday.

However, Iran's Foreign Ministry has ruled out a direct meeting with the US delegation, saying only indirect talks would take place.

It said that Araghchi would meet Pakistan's senior leadership to discuss the latest regional developments and ongoing efforts to promote regional peace and stability.

Iran said on Saturday that it had hanged an Iranian allegedly working for Israel’s spy agency ⁠for vandalism and violence during January's mass anti-government protests  .

Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency identified the individual as Erfan Kiani.

The agency described him as a "hired thug ‌of Mossad," who, it said, had engaged in ‌the ​destruction and arson of public and private ​property in the ⁠central ​city of ​Isfahan, Reuters news agency reported.

Kiani ‌was hanged early in the ​morning ⁠after his sentence was confirmed ⁠by ​the Supreme Court, according to the Iranian judiciary's Mizan Online website.

The judiciary accused him of "destruction of public and private property, arson, possession and use of Molotov cocktails, carrying a bladed weapon, blocking vehicle routes, attacking officers, and creating fear and panic among citizens," news agency AFP reported, citing Mizan Online. 

The anti-regime protests earlier this year were sparked by Iran's ailing economy.

The widespread demonstrations were met with a bloody crackdown as authorities moved to crush dissent. 

Kiani's hanging is the latest in a series of executions that have been ramped up in recent weeks, since war broke out with Israel and the United States.

Iranian authorities have executed nine men on charges linked to the protests since March 19, according to AFP.

Germany is dispatching ships to the Mediterranean in preparation for a possible deployment in the Strait of Hormuz, Defense Minister Boris Pistorius told the Rheinische Post newspaper in comments published Saturday.

A minesweeper and command and supply ship will be deployed, he said, without elaborating on a timeline for the vessels' departure.

Preconditions for any deployment would include a sustained ceasefire, a legal framework under international law and a mandate from Bundestag, the lower house of Germany's parliament, the Rheinische Post quoted the defense minister as saying.

Later on Saturday, a Defense Ministry spokeswoman told Germany's DPA news agency that the Germannavy plans to deploy a minehunting vessel, the Fulda, to the Mediterranean in the coming days for a possible deployment in the Strait of Hormuz.

"This constitutes a pre-deployment in preparation for the Bundeswehr’s possible participation in a multinational mission to secure the Strait of Hormuz," she said.

Chancellor Friedrich Merz has said Berlin is ready to participate in a multi-country mission to secure the war-blockaded Strait of Hormuz, preferably with US involvement.

Germany is prepared to contribute to ensuring freedom of navigation in the critical waterway by supplying mine clearance and maritime reconnaissance, Merz said.

In his Saturday interview, Pistorius underpinned Germany's naval capabilities in mine clearance, saying the country traditionally plays a leading role within NATO in this area.