Trump cancels Witkoff, Kushner’s Pakistan trip for Iran negotiations: ‘We have all the cards’

Trump blocks planned Iran talks through Pakistan, claims total leverage

Muhammad Asghar | GlobalBeat

President Donald Trump on Friday scrapped a secret Pakistan-brokered mission by close allies Steven Witkoff and Jared Kushner to open talks with Iran.

It was the second envoy trip he had vetoed in a week. “We have all the cards,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One. “They need a deal more than we do.”

The president shut the door after Tehran signaled it would speak only if Washington dropped economic sanctions first, two White House officials said. The demand came through Pakistani intermediaries who had offered to host the meeting in Islamabad, according to a senior Pakistani diplomat.

Witkoff, the real-estate investor Trump tapped as special envoy after taking office in January, had already postponed a separate Gulf-state initiative on April 19. Friday’s cancellation means no back channel is currently active, officials confirmed. Iran’s foreign ministry declined to comment.

Trump’s move keeps the diplomatic chess board frozen at a moment when Israeli leaders are pushing for decisive action against Tehran’s nuclear program. The president said he told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a Tuesday phone call that “all options are open,” but that “there’s plenty of time” before any military decision.

The White House sent mixed signals in public. Hours before Trump spoke, national security adviser Mike Waltz told the Aspen Security Forum that Washington wanted “real negotiations, not photo ops.” Vice-President Marco Rubio took the opposite line in a Fox interview, saying “maximum pressure is working again.”

Tehran has accelerated enrichment to 84 percent purity, the International Atomic Energy Agency reported last month. That brings Iranian stockpiles within weeks of weapons-grade material if a political decision is made, diplomats in Vienna said.

Europe reacted with alarm. French President Emmanuel Macron called for an “immediate restart” of the 2015 nuclear pact hours after the Pakistani track collapsed. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz warned, “Every month we wait increases the risk of miscalculation in the Gulf.” Both leaders favor restoring limits on Iran’s atomic work in exchange for phased sanctions relief, the position Trump rejects.

China took a different tone. Foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning urged “patience and flexibility,” telling reporters in Beijing that unilateral pressure “breeds confrontation.” China bought a record 1.3 million barrels per day of discounted Iranian oil in March, customs data show, blunting the impact of U.S. banking curbs.

Inside Iran, hard-liners celebrated Trump’s snub. “Once again Washington showed its word is worthless,” Kayhan newspaper wrote on its front page Saturday. Parliament member Mojtaba Zonnour, linked to the Revolutionary Guard, told state TV that “resistance is the only option left,” hinting Iran could leave the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty entirely.

Israeli leaders welcomed the cancellation. Defense Minister Israel Katz posted on X that “weak deals enable strong bombs,” echoing Netanyahu’s long-standing view. Katz said Israel is “preparing independently” if diplomacy fails. The Pentagon has already moved a second carrier group to the region, Defense Secretary Marco Rubio told sailors aboard the USS Truman on Thursday.

Oil traders pushed Brent crude up 2.8 percent to $73.40 per barrel after Trump’s remarks, the highest close since February. Analysts at Goldman Sachs said markets were pricing in a one-in-three chance of limited Israeli strikes on Iranian facilities this year. The rial fell to 695,000 against the dollar on the free market in Tehran, a record low.

Administration lawyers are split on next steps. Some want to invoke the 2015 sanctions law that allows the president to waive penalties for 180 days while talks proceed. Others argue that keeping every lever in place gives Washington stronger leverage. Trump said he will decide “within a couple of weeks” whether to offer any waiver. European envoys were told not to expect a U.S. initiative before June, an EU diplomat said.

Background

The Trump administration left the multilateral Iran nuclear deal in 2018, restoring banking and oil sanctions that had been lifted under the accord. President Joe Biden spent two years trying to revive the pact, but indirect talks stalled in 2022 over Iran’s demand that its Revolutionary Guard be removed from the U.S. terrorism list.

Tehran has since installed advanced centrifuges and increased uranium enrichment far beyond the agreement’s limits, shrinking its theoretical breakout time to a nuclear weapon to a matter of weeks according to Western intelligence services.

What’s Next

IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi arrives in Tehran on Monday to press for renewed inspections, while diplomats in New York expect a U.S.-backed resolution censuring Iran at the agency’s June board meeting. If talks stay frozen, Israel is likely to demand at least symbolic military action before the U.N. General Assembly in September.

Washington’s next tactical decision centers on whether to tighten secondary sanctions against Chinese banks that settle Iranian oil payments. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent plans to preview the step at a G7 finance meeting in Italy next month, officials said, but any move risks upsetting trade talks with Beijing.

Trump’s rhetoric suggests he believes economic pain will bring Tehran to heel, yet Iran’s ability to endure sanctions has grown since 2018. The months ahead will test whether “all the cards” he claims to hold can force concessions—or simply push the region closer to open conflict.