'Too much time wasted': Trump scraps Iran talks in Islamabad, cites Tehran’s ‘confused’ leadership

In a fresh sign of strain around backchannel diplomacy, US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that he had cancelled a planned visit by his representatives to Islamabad for talks with Iran, citing internal disarray within Tehran’s leadership and frustration over delays.

Posting on Truth Social, the Republican president struck a blunt tone saying the trip would have been a “waste” of time, pointing to what he described as “tremendous infighting and confusion” within Iran’s leadership.

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“I just cancelled the trip of my representatives going is Islamabad, Pakistan, to meet with the Iranians. Too much time wasted on traveling, too much work! Besides which, there is tremendous infighting and confusion within their “leadership.” Nobody knows who is in charge, including them. Also, we have all the cards, they have none! If they want to talk, all they have to do is call,” he wrote.

He later doubled down on that stance in a phone conversation, saying he personally called off the trip just as officials were preparing to depart.

According to a report by Fox News, Trump said he told his team they would not be making a long-haul journey “to sit around talking about nothing,” adding that Washington holds the leverage and Tehran can reach out if it is serious about talks.

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"I've told my people a little while ago they were getting ready to leave, and I said, 'Nope, you're not making an 18 hour flight to go there. We have all the cards. They can call us anytime they want, but you're not going to be making any more 18 hour flights to sit around talking about nothing,'" Fox News reported the president as saying in a phone call.

The cancelled outreach comes at a delicate moment in efforts to ease tensions that have simmered for nearly two months across West Asia.

Fragile diplomacy

The cancelled outreach comes at a delicate moment in efforts to ease tensions that have simmered for nearly two months across West Asia.

Diplomacy has largely relied on indirect channels, with countries such as Pakistan acting as intermediaries. Recent developments suggest those efforts were gaining some traction before this latest setback.

Abbas Araghchi was in Islamabad for meetings with Pakistan’s top leadership, including Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Army Chief Asim Munir, as Islamabad worked to facilitate another round of talks between Washington and Tehran.

US envoys were expected to arrive in the Pakistani capital as part of that effort, even as Iran maintained that any engagement would remain indirect, with intermediaries passing messages between the two sides.

The broader backdrop remains tense.

An open-ended ceasefire has paused large-scale fighting, but disruptions around the Strait of Hormuz, a key global energy corridor, continue to rattle markets, while mistrust between Washington and Tehran remains deeply entrenched after earlier negotiations collapsed into conflict.