President Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and special envoy Steve Witkoff will travel to Pakistan on Saturday to resume peace talks with Iran, according to the White House.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed Friday that both men would leave the U.S. in the morning and that Vice President J.D. Vance and President Trump would be ready to travel to Islamabad, if needed.
“The Iranians want to talk. They want to talk in person,” Ms. Leavitt told White House reporters. “We hope progress will be made, and we hope that positive developments will come from this meeting.”
Ms. Leavitt said Vice President J.D. Vance will be on standby in the U.S. and will travel to Pakistan if he is needed.
“Everyone will be on standby,” Ms. Leavitt told Fox News.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said earlier on Friday he planned to go to Islamabad as part of a trip that includes stops in Oman and Russia.
Iran said it did not want to negotiate while Mr. Trump maintained a blockade on its ports. Yet the White House said moderate factions within Iran were breaking with hardliners and were willing to talk.
“We’ve certainly seen some progress from the Iranian side in the last couple of days,” Ms. Leavitt said.
Mr. Vance led negotiations on April 11 and 12 that ended without a deal, though Mr. Trump maintained the ceasefire while the U.S. awaited a peace proposal from Iran.
Mr. Trump launched the military operation with Israel on Feb. 28 in a bid to keep Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
Iran retaliated by choking off traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, resulting in global energy shocks.
The president said he does not have a timetable for new talks and that he will not be rushed into a bad deal.
It is unclear whether Mr. Vance will need to travel back to Pakistan to participate in talks.
Mr. Trump has said he would be willing to go to Pakistan if his presence is needed to finalize a deal.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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