In this photo released by the Pakistan Prime Minister Office, Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, fifth left, meets with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, center, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Saturday, April 25, 2026. (Pakistan Prime Minister Office via AP)
In this photo released by the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, left, meets with Pakistan's Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir in Islamabad, Pakistan, Saturday, April 25, 2026. (Iranian Foreign Ministry via AP)
An Army soldier stands guard on an overhead bridge to ensure security for the U.S. and Iran talks, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Saturday, April 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
Paramilitary soldiers and police officers stand guard at a checkpoint on a barricaded road for the U.S. and Iran talks, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Saturday, April 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
Police officers stand guard at a checkpoint near Serena Hotel, a possible venue for U.S. and Iran talks, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Saturday, April 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
A woman walks past an anti-U.S. graffiti painted on the wall of the Tehran University on Enqelab-e-Eslami (Islamic Revolution) street in downtown Tehran, Iran, Saturday, April 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Fadi Al Zein, who lost both his homes in Israeli strikes in his village of Khiam and in Dahiyeh, smokes a water pipe inside his heavily damaged home in Beirut's southern suburbs of Lebanon, Saturday, April 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Head-to-toe veiled women walk past a mural depicting a mosque on Enqelab-e-Eslami (Islamic Revolution) street, in downtown Tehran, Iran, Saturday, April 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
In this photo released by the Pakistan Prime Minister Office, Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, fifth left, meets with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, center, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Saturday, April 25, 2026. (Pakistan Prime Minister Office via AP)
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In this photo released by the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, left, meets with Pakistan's Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir in Islamabad, Pakistan, Saturday, April 25, 2026. (Iranian Foreign Ministry via AP)
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An Army soldier stands guard on an overhead bridge to ensure security for the U.S. and Iran talks, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Saturday, April 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
Anjum Naveed
Paramilitary soldiers and police officers stand guard at a checkpoint on a barricaded road for the U.S. and Iran talks, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Saturday, April 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
Anjum Naveed
Police officers stand guard at a checkpoint near Serena Hotel, a possible venue for U.S. and Iran talks, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Saturday, April 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
Anjum Naveed
A woman walks past an anti-U.S. graffiti painted on the wall of the Tehran University on Enqelab-e-Eslami (Islamic Revolution) street in downtown Tehran, Iran, Saturday, April 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
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Fadi Al Zein, who lost both his homes in Israeli strikes in his village of Khiam and in Dahiyeh, smokes a water pipe inside his heavily damaged home in Beirut's southern suburbs of Lebanon, Saturday, April 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
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Head-to-toe veiled women walk past a mural depicting a mosque on Enqelab-e-Eslami (Islamic Revolution) street, in downtown Tehran, Iran, Saturday, April 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
ISLAMABAD (AP) — The latest ceasefire talks between the United States and Iran appeared to fail Saturday before they began, as Tehran's top diplomat left Pakistan and President Donald Trump soon afterward said he had told envoys not to travel to Islamabad.
The negotiations were meant to follow historic face-to-face talks earlier this month between the U.S., led by Vice President JD Vance, and Iran, led by parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf. But Iranian officials have questioned how they can trust the U.S. after its forces started in response to Iran's war grip on the .
In announcing his decision Saturday, Trump said on social media: “If they want to talk, all they have to do is call!!!” The White House had said Friday that Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner would be going to Islamabad.
“Too much time wasted on traveling, too much work!” Trump added.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi left Pakistan on Saturday evening, two Pakistani officials told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.
“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 later said on social media.
Another , between Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah, was shaken Saturday as each side fired at the other and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the military to “vigorously attack Hezbollah targets in Lebanon."
Iran had said any talks would be indirect
Araghchi met with Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif about what he called Iran’s red lines for negotiations. He said Tehran would engage with Pakistan’s mediation efforts “until a result is achieved.”
The open-ended has paused most , but the grows with global shipments of oil, liquefied natural gas, fertilizer and disrupted by the near-closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
Both sides have continued to make military threats. Iran’s joint military command on Saturday warned that “if the U.S. continues its aggressive military actions, including naval blockades, banditry, and piracy” it will face a “strong response."
Pakistan has been trying to get the U.S. and Iran back to the table since Trump this week announced an indefinite , honoring Islamabad’s request for more diplomatic outreach.
Even before Saturday’s developments, Iran’s foreign ministry said any talks would be indirect and that Pakistani officials would convey messages. Tehran noted that indirect talks with the U.S. last year and early this year over Tehran’s nuclear program, the issue long at the heart of tensions, ended with it being attacked by the U.S. and Israel, adding to its wariness.
The first round of talks in Pakistan lasted over 20 hours, the highest-level direct talks between the longtime adversaries since the Islamic Revolution in 1979.
Contentious points include and the standoff on the Strait of Hormuz as well as concerns about Iran's missile program and its support for armed proxies in the region.
The standoff around the strait continues
The price of the international standard, is still nearly 50% higher than when the war began because of Iran's grip on the strait, a strategic waterway through which a fifth of the world’s oil passes in peacetime.
Iran attacked three ships this week, while the U.S. maintains a blockade on Iranian ports. Trump has ordered the military to that could be .
Germany’s Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said Saturday his country was sending minesweeper ships to the Mediterranean to help remove Iranian mines from the strait once hostilities end.
Also Saturday, Iran resumed commercial flights from Tehran’s international airport for the first time since the war began with U.S. and Israeli strikes two months ago. Flights were scheduled to depart for Istanbul, Oman’s capital of Muscat and the Saudi city of Medina, according to Iran’s state-run television.
A growing toll even as ceasefires hold
Since the war began, authorities say at least 3,375 people have been killed in Iran and at least 2,496 people in Lebanon, where new fighting between Israel and the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah broke out two days after the Iran war started.
Trump announced Thursday that Israel and Lebanon had agreed to extend a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah by three weeks. Hezbollah has not participated in the Washington-brokered diplomacy.
But Israel struck southern Lebanon on Saturday, killing at least six people it aid were Hezbollah militants, and several rockets and drones were launched at Israel from Lebanon.
Additionally, 23 people have been killed in Israel and more than a dozen in Gulf Arab states. Fifteen Israeli soldiers in Lebanon, 13 U.S. service members in the region and six members of the U.N. peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon have been killed.
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Ahmed reported from Islamabad and Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Associated Press writers Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel; Bassem Mroue in Beirut; and Will Weissert in Washington contributed.
