ISLAMABAD/WASHINGTON (Reuters): US negotiators are scheduled to leave for Pakistan on Saturday, but Iran said its officials did not plan to meet the Americans to discuss ending the war that has killed thousands and roiled global markets.
President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner are due to depart on Saturday morning for talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, the White House said.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters that Iran had a chance to make a "good deal" with the United States.
"Iran knows that they still have an open window to choose wisely," he said. "All they have to do is abandon a nuclear weapon in meaningful and verifiable ways."
IRAN PLANS TO MAKE AN OFFER, TRUMP SAYS
Araqchi arrived in the capital, Islamabad, on Friday. But an Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson posted on X that Iranian officials did not plan to meet U.S. representatives and that Tehran's concerns would be conveyed to mediator Pakistan.
Washington and Tehran are at a costly impasse as Iran has largely closed the Strait of Hormuz, which normally carries one-fifth of global oil shipments, while the U.S. blocks Iran's oil exports. The conflict, entering its ninth week, has pushed energy prices to multi-year highs, stoking inflation and darkening global growth prospects.
Days after Trump extended a ceasefire, international flights resumed from Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport on Saturday, Iranian media said. The first passengers had departed for Medina, in Saudi Arabia, Muscat and Istanbul, with operations expected to accelerate in the coming days.
"Well, it's a good feeling. When flights resume, trade is done, and people can do their jobs. It’s a good feeling," said one passenger at the airport, where passengers were queuing at check-in desks.
Iranian airspace has been largely closed since the start of the war. Tens of thousands of flights have been cancelled, rerouted and rescheduled worldwide, shutting much of the Middle East's airspace because of missile and drone threats.
Trump told Reuters on Friday that Iran planned to make an offer aimed at satisfying U.S. demands but that he did not know what the offer entailed. He declined to say who Washington was negotiating with, "but we're dealing with the people that are in charge now".
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the U.S. had seen some progress from the Iranian side in recent days and hoped more would come this weekend, while Vice President JD Vance was ready to travel to Pakistan as well.
Araqchi, who posted on X that he would also be visiting Pakistan, Oman and Russia, met Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Friday at the Serena Hotel, where the earlier talks were held, while a U.S. logistics and security team was in place in Islamabad, Pakistani sources said.
On Saturday, Iran said it had hanged an Iranian working for Israeli intelligence for vandalism and violence during nationwide protests this year.
Describing Erfan Kiani as a "hired thug of Mossad", it said he had engaged in the destruction and arson of public and private property, spreading fear and terror across the central city of Isfahan and wielding a machete.
CEASEFIRES IN PLACE, FEW SHIPS CROSSING HORMUZ
Trump unilaterally extended a two-week ceasefire on Tuesday to allow more time to reconvene the negotiators.
Oil prices surged this week, with Brent crude futures soaring 16%, on uncertainty over the fate of the peace talks and as violence flared in the region.
Shipping data on Friday showed that five ships had crossed the Strait of Hormuz in the previous 24 hours, compared to around 130 a day before the war launched by the U.S. and Israel on February 28. The ships included an Iranian oil-products tanker but none of the vast crude-carrying supertankers that normally feed global energy markets.
"The enemy, whose objective of crippling Iran’s missile and military capabilities has failed, is now seeking an honorable exit from the quagmire of war," Iranian media quoted a defence ministry spokesperson as saying. "Iran is today in firm control of the Strait of Hormuz.”
On Thursday, Israel and Lebanon extended their ceasefire for three weeks at a White House meeting brokered by Trump, but there was little sign of an end to the fighting in southern Lebanon.
Israel invaded its northern neighbour last month to root out Iran's Hezbollah allies after the militant group fired across the border. Tehran says a ceasefire there is a precondition for talks.
Lebanese authorities reported six people were killed by an Israeli strike and Hezbollah downed an Israeli drone. Israel's military said it had killed six armed Hezbollah members in southern Lebanon.
(Reporting by Reuters bureaus; Writing by Daniel Trotta, William Mallard and Matthias Williams; Editing by Paul Simao, Edwina Gibbs and Timothy Heritage) -- Reuters
