Iran ‘Free to Call’ Washington for Peace Talks, Trump Says

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday that Iran is free to call Washington whenever its leaders wish to negotiate ​an end to the ​war between the two countries, after he ‌canceled ⁠planned talks in Pakistan.

Negotiations were due to be undertaken by Trump’s envoys, his son-in-law Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, but Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas ​Araghchi departed Islamabad after ​speaking ⁠only to Pakistani officials.

“We have all the cards. If they ⁠want to talk, they ​can come to us, or ​they can call us. You know, there is a telephone. We have ​nice, secure lines,” Trump told Fox News on April 26.

“If they want, we can talk, but we’re not sending people to travel 18 hours.”

Trump said in the Fox interview that some Iranian negotiators were “very reasonable,” while others were not, and expressed hope that the conflict could end soon—provided Iran agrees to U.S. and Israeli demands that it cannot possess nuclear weapons.

“I called them back, our people. The flight is about 17 hours. We have great respect for the field marshal of Pakistan and for the prime minister of Pakistan, they’re great people,” he said.

Trump said he was told the meeting would not take place until Tuesday, although his envoys were set to fly out three days before, on Saturday.

Trump Blames Previous Presidents

The president said that taking action to prevent Iran from having a nuclear weapon “should have been done by previous presidents, this should have been done for years.”

Trump acknowledged there has been an economic hit caused by the war, but said the operation would come to an end “very soon.”

The negotiations in Pakistan were set to follow face-to-face talks, which took place earlier this month between the United States, led by Vice President JD Vance, and Iran, represented by its parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.

The planned Islamabad talks stalled after U.S. forces began blockading Iranian ports in response to the Iranian chokeholding of the vital Strait of Hormuz maritime passage.

Trump posted on Truth Social on Saturday, “I just cancelled the trip of my representatives going to Islamabad, Pakistan, to meet with the Iranians. Too much time wasted on traveling, too much work!”

‘Tremendous Infighting and Confusion’

The president added that there was “tremendous infighting and confusion” within the Iranian leadership.

Commenting on his trip to Islamabad, Araghchi said in an X post on Saturday that he had “shared Iran’s position concerning workable framework to permanently end the war on Iran. Have yet to see if the U.S. is truly serious about diplomacy.”

Araghchi has since returned to Pakistan for further talks despite ⁠the ​absence of U.S. ​counterparts, before heading to Russia on Monday.

Meeting With Putin

Araghchi, who also visited Oman over the weekend, was scheduled to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin, a long-standing Iranian ally.

The latest ceasefire agreement, between Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah, was threatened on Saturday as each side fired at the other, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered his forces to “vigorously attack Hezbollah targets in Lebanon.”

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in a Saturday phone call that Iran would not enter into “imposed negotiations” under threats or blockade, according to a statement from Tehran.

Pezeshkian said the United States must remove obstacles, including its maritime blockade, before any further negotiations can begin.

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.