ISLAMABAD — President Trump’s Middle East envoy is headed to Pakistan this week to restart negotiations to end the Iran War, the commander-in-chief told The Post Sunday.
“Steve’s going to be going there tomorrow night,” Trump said in a phone call from the White House, confirming that Special Envoy Steve Witkoff will land in Islamabad on Monday night ahead of a second round of peace talks.
The president added that Jared Kushner — his son-in-law and a veteran of past Middle East dealmaking — will also be involved with the talks scheduled for Tuesday.
Vice President JD Vance, who led a previous round of talks, will not make the trip.
The new round of negotiations come after Iran opened fire on tankers that tried to cross through the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday — after Iranian officials told Trump that the shipping chokepoint had been reopened.
When told that officials from Qatar were spotted in Islamabad hoping to receive him should he come to Pakistan’s capital city, Trump didn’t sound surprised — and left the door open to coming to Islamabad if an agreement is reached.
“I would say maybe at a little bit later date. We have to see how it works out tomorrow,” he said.
Pressed on whether he could show up in Pakistan, Trump made clear he’s not getting ahead of the process — reiterating that he would “probably come at a later date.”
The call ended abruptly as the president said he had military brass waiting outside — a reminder of the stakes surrounding the talks.
Trump had celebrated what he claimed was a breakthrough on Friday, proclaiming that the “COMPLETELY OPEN AND READY FOR BUSINESS AND FULL PASSAGE” and that the US will obtain all the “nuclear dust” in Iran.
At the same time, he said that the US blockade on Iranian ports would remain in effect for the time being while the two sides worked on finalizing peace efforts.
Notably, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had publicly claimed that the Strait of Hormuz, where over a fifth of the world’s seaborne oil supplies flow through annually, was “completely opened” for commercial vessels.
But later that day, Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf denied Trump’s characterizations of where things stood. Then on Saturday, Iran opened fire on multiple vessels as they tried to pass through the critical oil chokepoint.
That illustrated how the Islamic Republic’s leadership doesn’t appear to be on the same page during the regime’s negotiations with the US.
“Iran decided to fire bullets yesterday in the Strait of Hormuz — A Total Violation of our Ceasefire Agreement! Many of them were aimed at a French Ship, and a Freighter from the United Kingdom. That wasn’t nice, was it?” Trump mused on Truth Social Sunday.
“They’re helping us without knowing, and they are the ones that lose with the closed passage, $500 Million Dollars a day!” Trump added of Iran. “The United States loses nothing. In fact, many Ships are headed, right now, to the U.S., Texas, Louisiana, and Alaska, to load up, compliments of the IRGC, always wanting to be ‘the tough guy!’”
“NO MORE MR. NICE GUY,” he added.
The current two-week cease-fire between the US and Iran is set to end on Wednesday unless either of the two sides decides to re-up it. Trump has publicly suggested that an extension likely won’t be necessary and has remained optimistic about the prospects of getting a peace deal done.
“It will happen. One way or another. The nice way or the hard way. It’s going to happen,” Trump told ABC News’ Jonathan Karl about the chances of getting a peace deal with Iran done.
The president told Fox News’ Trey Yingst that if Iran doesn’t “sign this deal, the whole country is going to get blown up.”
Trump re-upped his threat to target bridges and energy infrastructure if Iran fails to agree to a deal, a threat he has repeatedly hung over the Islamic Republic for weeks.
In particular, Trump wants to require Iran to hand over the remands of its nuclear program.
The president has made clear that his top priority is in negotiations. Trump has reportedly contemplated a risky military operation to take the nuclear material by force.
In the meantime, he has warned that the US is monitoring Iran’s nuclear sites via satellite. Trump also warned that the US is armed with even better firepower than what it unleashed on Iran during the early days of Operation Epic Fury.
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