FM Araghchi back in Pakistan amid push to keep Iran-US peace talks on track: sources

• Araghchi to convey "Iran's positions" to Pakistan: Iranian media.
• Iranian FM expected to go to Moscow after talks in Islamabad.
• Iran Guards say no intention of lifting their blockade of Hormuz.
  

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi returned to Pakistan on Sunday as the country tries to keep the US-Iran peace talks on track despite President Donald Trump calling off his envoys' planned trip, sources said.

FM Araghchi landed in Islamabad following his visit to Oman, where he held talks with Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said on security in the Strait of Hormuz and diplomatic efforts to end the Iran-US conflict.

During his second trip to Pakistan in two days, the Iranian foreign minister is expected to hold talks with the country's top leadership. 

According to the Iranian news agency ISNA, Araghchi would convey "Iran's positions and views on the framework of any understanding to completely end the war".

Araghchi had been in Islamabad only the day before, after which he travelled to Oman, while other Iranian envoys had headed back to Tehran "to consult and obtain the necessary instructions on issues related to ending the war", according to ISNA.

Before Saturday's Iran-Pakistan meetings in Islamabad, the White House had announced that Trump's peace envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner were planning to leave for Pakistan to engage in further negotiations.

But Trump later told Fox News he had scrapped the trip, saying there was no point "sitting around talking about nothing". He dismissed Tehran's negotiating position, but added that it had revised its proposal within minutes of his decision.

"They gave us a paper that should have been better and — interestingly — immediately when I cancelled it, within 10 minutes, we got a new paper that was much better," he told reporters, without elaborating.

‘Very fruitful’

Asked separately whether halting the trip meant a return to open hostilities, Trump said: "No, it doesn't mean that. We haven't thought about it yet."

Later, after a gunman was arrested at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner in Washington, Trump said he did not think the incident was related to Iran but that it would not deter him "from winning the war".

On Saturday, Araghchi met Chief of Army Staff and Chief of Defence Forces Field Marshal Asim Munir, a key mediator, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, before flying to Muscat.

He is expected to go to Moscow after the talks in Islamabad.

Araghchi described his initial Pakistan trip as "very fruitful" but signalled scepticism over Washington's intentions. "Have yet to see if the US is truly serious about diplomacy," he said.