Iran's foreign minister departs Pakistan before U.S. envoys arrive, leaving peace talks in question

Before departing, Araghchi met with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, and other senior Pakistani officials to discuss what he described as Iran's red lines for negotiations, according to the Associated Press. Araghchi said on Telegram that Tehran would continue engaging with Pakistan's mediation efforts "until a result is achieved," but did not commit to direct contact with U.S. representatives.

The visit unfolded against a backdrop of an open-ended ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran that Trump extended unilaterally earlier in the week. Iran described that extension as "meaningless," saying the continued U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports violated the terms of the deal and that its delegation would not return to direct talks until the blockade was lifted, according to NPR.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Friday on Fox News that Trump was sending Witkoff and Kushner to Islamabad "to go hear" what the Iranians had to say, and that "the Iranians asked for the talks." Vice President JD Vance, who led the U.S. delegation in the first round of talks in Pakistan — the highest-level direct discussions between the two countries since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, according to the AP — was described as remaining on standby in the United States.

NPR reported the visit's backdrop included fresh Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon that killed suspected militants and drew Hezbollah rocket fire, despite a three-week ceasefire extension Trump announced Thursday. That ceasefire was negotiated without Hezbollah's participation, and the group has opposed the Washington-brokered diplomacy. Tehran had also listed a pause in Lebanon fighting as a precondition for further peace talks, NPR reported.

The broader economic fallout from the conflict continued to grow. The AP reported that Brent crude oil prices remained nearly 50% higher than at the start of the war, driven by near-closure of the Strait of Hormuz through which roughly a fifth of the world's oil passes in peacetime. The U.S. Treasury announced sanctions Friday on a China-based oil refinery and approximately 40 shipping firms accused of helping Iran move oil through a clandestine network. Germany's defense minister said Saturday his country would deploy minesweeper ships to the Mediterranean, with a possible later transfer to the Strait of Hormuz pending parliamentary approval. Separately, commercial flights resumed at Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport for the first time since the war began, with departures reported to Istanbul, Muscat, and Medina.