Offered a lot but not enough: Trump defends canceling envoys trip to Pakistan for peace talks with Iran

Speaking to reporters at Palm Beach International Airport, President Trump said, "They offered a lot but not enough," while responding to a question on whether Iran had offered anything in return to negotiate the US proposal of a 20-year minimum suspension on enriched uranium.

President Donald Trump has abruptly cancelled a scheduled trip to Pakistan for his top negotiators, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff. The envoys were set to fly to Islamabad for a new round of talks regarding the ongoing US-Iran conflict, but the President pulled the plug on Saturday, citing long travel times, high costs, and a lack of "senior-level" engagement from the Iranian side.

He dismissed the idea of sending his team on a gruelling 18-hour journey to meet with mid-level officials while the leadership in Tehran remains, in his view, fractured.

"We're not going to be travelling 15-16 hours to have a meeting with people that nobody ever heard of before," he remarked, adding that the proposed meeting timeline and lack of top leadership participation made the visit unviable.

Calling himself a 'cost-conscious person,' Trump said, "When they said that the meeting was scheduled for Tuesday, I said, 'Tuesday! That's a long time from now'... They weren't meeting with the leader of the country. They were meeting with other people. And I said, 'We're just not going to do it. Too much travelling. Takes too long. Too expensive.' I'm a very cost-conscious person."

The President doubled down on his Truth Social platform, asserting that the US holds "all the cards" and that Tehran's leadership is plagued by "tremendous infighting."

Despite the cancellation, Trump revealed that the move had an immediate tactical effect. He claimed that after the trip was called off, Iran submitted a significantly improved proposal within minutes. Trump reiterated his singular objective, "Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. Very simple."

However, he noted that a revised proposal was received shortly after the cancellation. "Interestingly, immediately when I cancelled it, within 10 minutes, we got a new paper that was much better. We talked about the fact that they will not have a nuclear weapon. It's very simple. That whole deal is not complicated. Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. Very simple," he said.

When asked about the possibility of a ceasefire holding, Trump downplayed immediate concerns. "Haven't even thought about it," he said, suggesting uncertainty over the trajectory of the situation.

Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had earlier stated that Tehran had shared a framework aimed at "permanently ending" the conflict with the United States during discussions with Pakistani leadership in Islamabad.

In a post on X, Araghchi said Iran had outlined a "workable framework" but questioned Washington's seriousness about diplomacy.

The Iranian delegation departed Islamabad after high-level engagements, leaving uncertainty over Pakistan's efforts to broker a second round of US-Iran talks. According to reports, the delegation submitted an "official list of demands" concerning a broader resolution involving the US and Israel.

Trump, however, maintained that Washington holds a strong negotiating position, insisting that any engagement must align with US priorities, particularly preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

The cancellation comes as a blow to Islamabad, which has been acting as the primary mediator in the conflict.

With the U.S. delegation now grounded, the focus shifts to whether the current ceasefire--which Trump admitted he "hasn't even thought about" extending further--will hold as the May 4 deadline for a broader peace framework approaches.

"If they want to talk, all they have to do is call," the President concluded, signalling that the next phase of negotiations will happen on his terms, and likely via the White House switchboard. (ANI)