The second U.S.-Iran cease-fire talks have effectively fallen through. U.S. President Donald Trump canceled the Iran-focused negotiating team's trip to Pakistan for the talks.
On the 24th (local time), Fox News reported that U.S. President Donald Trump canceled the U.S. delegation's trip to Pakistan that had been set for the 25th.
Trump was quoted by Fox News as saying, "With the United States holding all the initiative, it is not worth it for the negotiating team to go to Pakistan."
Fox News also said Trump noted, "There is no need to fly 18 hours to get there, and Iran can contact the United States at any time."
It appears that the Iranian delegation, which had arrived in Pakistan, the mediator, withdrew locally that day, leading to the U.S. team's cancellation of its trip to Pakistan. The second U.S.-Iran cease-fire talks over the weekend also seem to have fallen through.
Earlier, the White House said the U.S. delegation would meet the Iranian team led by Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, but Iran had maintained it would not agree to direct talks with the United States.
In fact, the Iranian delegation, including Minister Araghchi, who arrived in Islamabad, Pakistan's capital, the previous day, was understood to have met Pakistan's Army Chief Asim Munir and others and conveyed only its own demands.
Meanwhile, Tasnim, a news agency under the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), said, "Talks with the United States are effectively suspended, and Araghchi's visit to Islamabad is not for negotiations with the United States."