Iran-US war latest: Witkoff and Kushner travel to Pakistan ‘to hear Tehran out’ in peace talks this weekend

Donald Trump has said ⁠that Iran ⁠plans to ​make ⁠an ‌offer aimed at satisfying the US’s ‌demands.

In a phone interview with Reuters, the president said: “They’re making ‌an offer ⁠and we’ll have to see.”

Mr Trump said he did ​not ⁠know what the ‌offer would be yet.

He would also not say who the US was negotiating with from the Iranian side.

“I don’t want ‌to say that, but we’re dealing with the people that are in charge ⁠now,” he said.

An ⁠Iranian ⁠delegation ​has ⁠arrived in ⁠Pakistan ​on ⁠Friday, ‌two ‌Pakistani ‌government sources have said.

Their arrival comes a day before Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are due to touch down for talks with Iran.

Sources said earlier that Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi was due to arrive in Islamabad on Friday night.

Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner will be heading to Pakistan to “hear the Iranians out”.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has said the US “will hear what they have to say” over the weekend after seeing progress from the Iranian side.

“The Iranians want to talk. They want to talk in person. And so the president is, as I’ve said many, many times to all of you, always willing to give diplomacy a chance,” she told Fox News.

The White House has confirmed that special envoy Steve Witkoff and Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner will head to Pakistan on Saturday morning for talks with Iran.

Press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News that Iran had reached out to ask for an in-person meeting.

She said JD Vance, who lead the failed first round of talks, will not be in attendance.

Him along with everyone else will be on standby, she added.

Pakistani sources have said Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi is expected to arrive in Islamabad on Friday night.

⁠Donald Trump is sending special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law ⁠Jared ​Kushner ⁠to Pakistan soon ⁠for talks ​with Iran’s ⁠foreign minister, ‌US officials have said.

JD Vance, who was at the first round of talks, is not ⁠currently planning to attend but will be on standby to travel to Islamabad ‌if negotiations progress, ​two administration officials told CNN.

Iranian parliamentary speaker, Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, who is viewed my White House officials as the head of the Iran delegation and Mr Vance’s counterpart, will also not be in attendance.

Pakistani sources have said Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi is expected to arrive in Islamabad on Friday night.

Benjamin Netanyahu has accused Hezbollah of trying to “sabotage” peace Israel and Lebanon.

In his first comments on yesterday’s ceasefire extension announcement, the Israeli prime minister said: “We have begun a process to achieve a historic peace between Israel and Lebanon, and it is clear to us that Hezbollah is trying to sabotage this.

“We are maintaining full freedom of action against any threat, including emerging threats.

“We struck yesterday and we struck today. We are determined to restore security to the residents of the north.”

Donald Trump announced on Thursday that Lebanon and Israel agreed to extend their ceasefire by three weeks.

Our senior foreign affairs reporter James Reynolds writes:

A third US aircraft carrier arrived in the Middle East on Thursday as Washington and Tehran continue to vie for leverage over the Strait of Hormuz.

The USS George H.W. Bush, escorted by a strike group of warships, reached US Central Command’s area of responsibility in the Indian Ocean in a renewed show of force as the US continues its blockade of Iranian ports and vessels.

The arrival of the 1,092ft supercarrier, along with thousands of personnel and dozens of fighter jets, bolsters a growing US military presence in the region as uncertainty surrounds the prospect of peace talks to end the conflict with Iran, now approaching its ninth week.

The carrier was deployed to the region at the end of March, a week before the formal ceasefire was announced, to join the USS Gerald R. Ford and USS Abraham Lincoln.

It was unclear what the role of the Bush would be, with Trump now committed to an indefinite ceasefire extension until a long-term peace deal can be brokered with Iran.