2 min readApr 24, 2026 08:00 PM IST
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is expected to travel to Pakistan by this weekend for talks, the Associated Press reported on Friday, quoting two unnamed Pakistani officials.
The officials said Araghchi would be accompanied by a small government delegation. No further details about the visit were disclosed.
Pakistan has been attempting to restart ceasefire negotiations between Iran and the United States.
US signals scope for negotiations amid Trump’s threat
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Iran still has an opportunity to reach an agreement, stating that Tehran “has a chance to make a good deal.”
Hegseth also said the US blockade has expanded globally, noting the seizure of two Iranian “dark fleet” ships that had departed Iranian ports before the blockade came into effect.
The developments come a day after President Donald Trump said he had ordered the US military to “shoot and kill” Iranian small boats operating in the Strait of Hormuz.
The move comes amid a broader standoff between Washington and Tehran over control of the strategic waterway.
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Meanwhile, Iranian leaders pushed back against claims by Trump of divisions within the country’s leadership. President Masoud Pezeshkian and Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf issued nearly identical social media statements, saying, “In Iran, there are no hard-liners or moderates. We are all Iranians and revolutionaries.”
Since the killing of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in the opening strike of the war on February 28, questions have persisted over who holds ultimate authority within Iran’s leadership structure.
The ongoing standoff has effectively halted most exports through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical passage that handles about 20 per cent of the world’s traded oil during peacetime.
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