A negotiating effort between the US and Iran falls flat with Donald Trump announcing that he will not send a delegation to Islamabad of Pakistan after all.

In an attempt to show that he has the upper hand in negotiations with Tehran, just as Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi announced that he was leaving Islamabad, capital of Pakistan, for Oman and then Russia, the US president, Donald Trump was quick to state: “I just cancelled my representatives’ trip to Islamabad, Pakistan to meet with the Iranians.” These are his special envoys, Steve Whitcoff and Jared Kushner.

“I spoke to my colleagues a moment ago as they were getting ready to leave: No, you’re not taking an 18-hour flight to get there,” the US president told a reporter from the network, Fox News.

In a message on the truth social platform, Donald Trump said in an angry tone: “Too much time wasted on travel, too much work!”. “Besides, there is huge infighting and confusion within their ‘leadership’,” Donald Trump claimed.

He went on to play up rumors that Mohammad Baker Galibaf, the speaker of the Iranian parliament, had supposedly resigned as head of negotiations with Iran, which the official Tehran government denied as early as yesterday. “Nobody knows who is in charge, not even themselves,” Donald Trump claimed earlier today.

However, raising the stakes even higher, Donald Trump said: “We hold all the cards and they have none!”. “If they want to talk, all they have to do is call!!!,” Donald Trump concluded his message.

Earlier, in Islamabad, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was received by Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. The latter in a message on platform X wrote: “I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Seyed Abbas Araghchi, Foreign Minister of Iran, and his delegation in Islamabad today. We had a very warm and cordial exchange of views on the current situation in the region. We also discussed issues of mutual interest, including further strengthening of bilateral relations between Pakistan and Iran.”

In response to Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s message, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote on Platform X: “Very constructive visit to Pakistan, whose good offices and brotherly efforts to restore peace in our region are highly appreciated.” “We expressed Iran’s position on a workable framework foran end to the war against Iran. It remains to be seen whether the US is really serious about diplomacy,” Abbas Araghchi underlined.