U.S. President Donald Trump stated that Iran presented a “much better” proposal after he called off a planned delegation visit to Pakistan for talks.
Diplomacy by Phone Instead of Long Flights
President Trump told reporters on Saturday that he canceled the trip of envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner because it would have involved “too much travel.” He reiterated his claim that it is unclear who governs Iran.
“We’re not going to spend 15 hours in airplanes and constantly flying back and forth to get a document that wasn’t good enough, so we’re going to handle it by phone, and they can call us whenever they want,” Trump said before departing Florida for Washington.
New Document from Tehran and a Shift in Position
“They gave us a document that should have been better, and interestingly, within 10 minutes of me calling off (the delegation’s trip), we got a new document that was much better,” Trump conveyed.
Planned Trip and Iran’s Reaction
As announced by the White House on Friday, Witkoff and Kushner were scheduled to depart for Islamabad on Saturday morning Eastern Time. Trump announced the delegation’s trip cancellation around noon on Saturday.
Iran’s Response and Pakistan’s Role in Negotiations
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Aragczi, responding to the decision, wrote on platform X that it is unclear whether the United States “seriously” pursues diplomacy.
Reuters reported that Aragczi delivered a response to the U.S. proposals for a peace agreement to Pakistani Chief of Army Staff General Asim Munir, including Tehran’s demands and reservations regarding Washington’s position.