American warships are under orders to “shoot and kill” Iranian small boats in the Strait of Hormuz. On Saturday, two of President Donald Trump’s closest advisers will arrive in Islamabad to discuss peace with Tehran’s top diplomat.

Special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner — the president’s son-in-law — are being dispatched to Pakistan at Iran’s request, according to the White House. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi landed in Islamabad on Friday evening. Whether the two sides will actually meet face to face is a matter of genuine dispute.

Two Versions of the Same Talks

The White House has described the upcoming engagement in optimistic terms. Press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News that “the Iranians reached out” and requested an in-person conversation. She said Trump was sending Witkoff and Kushner “to hear the Iranians out” and that there had been “some progress from the Iranian side in the last couple of days,” without offering specifics.

Iran’s telling is different. Foreign ministry spokesman Esmael Baqaei said plainly on X that “no meeting is planned to take place between Iran and the U.S.” during Araghchi’s visit. Instead, Pakistani officials would convey messages between the delegations — an indirect format that failed to produce results in Geneva on Feb. 27, the day before the war began.

Two Pakistani government sources told Reuters that Araghchi’s visit would be brief and focused on Iran’s proposals for a negotiating framework, which Islamabad would then relay to Washington. Al Jazeera, citing a senior Iranian official, reported that Tehran had “made it clear” no direct meeting would occur.

Trump, speaking to Reuters by phone on Friday, said only that Iran was “making an offer” and that “we’ll have to see” what it contains.

Why Pakistan

Islamabad has positioned itself as the indispensable mediator in a conflict that has killed at least 3,375 people in Iran, more than 2,490 in Lebanon, and destabilized energy markets worldwide. Pakistan requested more time for diplomacy; Trump obliged by extending the ceasefire indefinitely on Tuesday, just before it was set to expire.

Araghchi described his trip as a “timely tour” of Islamabad, Muscat, and Moscow — a sequence that signals Tehran is consulting its allies before committing to any new round.

The absence of parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Ghalibaf, who led Iran’s delegation during the previous round, from state media coverage of the visit suggests the negotiating team itself may be in flux. Iran’s parliament media office denied reports that Ghalibaf had resigned as head of the team, according to Reuters, but confirmed no new talks were scheduled.

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Kushner’s presence is the telling detail. Vice President JD Vance led the first round of talks in Islamabad earlier this month — the highest-level US-Iran engagement since the 1979 Islamic Revolution — but returned without an agreement. Vance is not traveling this time.

Leavitt said he remains “deeply involved” and on “standby,” along with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the national security team, ready to fly to Pakistan if needed.

Kushner, who held no official foreign policy role before this conflict, has become central to the administration’s most sensitive diplomatic track. His deployment signals Trump’s preference for personal loyalty over institutional channels — and possibly his frustration with the results Vance delivered.

Maximum Pressure, Open Door

The diplomatic maneuvering unfolds alongside unrelenting military escalation. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters Friday that Iran had “an open window to choose wisely” at the negotiating table, while warning that the United States had “all the time in the world.”

He announced a second aircraft carrier would join the naval blockade within days, adding to three already operating across the region — the largest American naval concentration there since 2003, with 200 aircraft and 15,000 personnel, according to US Central Command.

Iran, for its part, has attacked three ships in the Strait of Hormuz this week and says it will not stop blocking the waterway until Trump lifts his blockade on Iranian ports. Trump told Reuters the blockade would remain until a deal is struck.

The president appears in no hurry. “Don’t rush me,” he told reporters Thursday. On Friday, the administration also froze $344 million in Iranian cryptocurrency assets, according to Al Jazeera, part of an effort to “systematically degrade Tehran’s ability to generate, move, and repatriate funds.”

The message from Washington is consistent in its contradictions: escalate militarily, talk diplomatically, and wait. Whether Araghchi’s brief stop in Islamabad becomes the off-ramp both sides claim to want — or another round of parallel-track posturing — should become clear within days.

Sources