US President Donald Trump on Thursday (local time) indicated he may travel to Pakistan if a potential agreement between Washington and Tehran is finalised there, even as he cautioned that failure to reach a deal could trigger a return to hostilities.
The remarks come amid intensifying diplomatic activity around the Iran conflict, with back-channel engagements gaining pace and Pakistan emerging as a possible facilitator in the negotiations between the United States and Iran.
Speaking to reporters at the White House while departing for Las Vegas, Trump said, “I would go to Pakistan, yeah,” adding, “If the deal is signed in Islamabad, I might go. They want me to go.”
Pakistan’s role gains traction in US-Iran talks
Trump also acknowledged Islamabad’s involvement in the ongoing talks, describing its role as constructive. He said Pakistani intermediaries “have been so great” in efforts to bridge differences between the two sides.
Parallel diplomatic moves underline this emerging role. Pakistan Army Chief Asim Munir met Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf in Tehran on Thursday, as efforts continue to revive stalled negotiations. Munir, who arrived in Iran a day earlier, was received by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
According to reports, the visit is aimed at preparing ground for another round of talks after earlier discussions failed to yield progress, with key disagreements persisting over uranium enrichment limits and Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched material.
Trump signals deal soon, links it to oil prices
The US President struck an optimistic tone on the state of negotiations, suggesting a breakthrough could be announced shortly.
“I think we have a very successful negotiation going on right now,” he said. “If it happens, it’ll be announced fairly soon, and that’ll give us free oil, free Hormuz Strait, everything will be nice. And I think your oil price will go down to lower than what it was before.”
He added that fuel prices have already begun to ease amid diplomatic progress. “Well, they’re not very high… the gas prices have come down very much over the last three, four days,” he said.
Ceasefire extension uncertain as talks intensify
On whether the current ceasefire would be extended, Trump remained non-committal, suggesting progress in negotiations could make an extension unnecessary.
“We’re doing very well… I’m not sure it needs to be extended. Just so you know, Iran wants to make a deal, and we’re dealing very nicely with them,” he said.
He added, “We’re focused so much right now on Iran… I think we’re going to be in very good shape… it’s looking very good that we’re going to make a deal with Iran.”
‘Fighting resumes’ warning if deal fails
Trump reiterated that preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons remains the central objective of the negotiations.
“The big thing we have to do is we have to make sure that Iran does not have a nuclear weapon,” he said, adding that Tehran has agreed to key conditions.
“What we have is a statement… that they will not have nuclear weapons,” he said.
However, he issued a clear warning about the consequences of a failed deal. “I would say the fighting, if there’s no deal, fighting resumes,” Trump said.
He also indicated that the next round of in-person talks could take place soon. “Probably maybe over the weekend,” he said.