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The President of the United States, Donald Trump, announced this Saturday the cancellation of the trip of his special envoys to Islamabad and revealed that, just ten minutes later, Iran presented a new negotiation proposal that he described as "much better" than the previous offer.
Trump had ordered the suspension of the travel of Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Pakistan, where they were expected to participate in a third round of indirect talks with Tehran.
The leader explained the decision in statements to Fox News with a strong argument: "I told my people a little while ago, when they were preparing to leave: 'No, you are not going to take an 18-hour flight to go there.' We have all the cards. They can call us whenever they want, but you are not going to make any more 18-hour trips to sit down and talk about nothing."
However, Trump himself acknowledged that the cancellation had an immediate effect: "They gave us a document that should have been better and, interestingly, immediately after canceling it, within ten minutes we received a new document that was much better."
On his social media platform Truth Social, the president was more direct about his reading of the Iranian moment: "Nobody knows who is in charge, not even them. Besides, we have everything to gain; they don't! If they want to talk, they just have to call!"
Trump's decision coincided with the departure of Iranian Foreign Minister, Abás Araqchí, from Islamabad heading to Oman, after meeting with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the Chief of Army Staff, Marshal Asim Munir.
Araqchí left without waiting for the arrival of the U.S. delegation and had previously denied any intention of meeting face-to-face with the envoys from Washington.
This episode occurs within the context of the armed conflict that began on February 28, 2026 with Operation Epic Fury, a joint military offensive by the United States and Israel against Iran aimed at destroying its nuclear program.
After more than 13,000 attacks in 40 days, Trump announced a ceasefire mediated by Pakistan, extended on April 21 at Islamabad's request.
The positions of both parties remain incompatible: Washington demands the complete dismantling of Iran's nuclear program and a 20-year moratorium on uranium enrichment, while Tehran offers a five-year pause and claims 270 billion dollars in compensation.
The first round of negotiations, held from April 10 to 12 in Islamabad and led by Vice President JD Vance along with Witkoff and Kushner, lasted 21 hours without reaching an agreement, and a second round scheduled for April 21 and 22 was rejected by Iran.
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