U.S. President Donald Trump is dispatching special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Pakistan for talks with Iran’s foreign minister, CNN reported Friday, citing U.S. officials familiar with the matter.
Vice President JD Vance is not currently planning to attend but he will be on standby to travel to Islamabad if negotiations progress, CNN said.
Araghchi's comments didn't address any possible resumption of talks with the U.S., but Pakistani officials have been intensifying efforts in recent weeks to get the U.S. and Iran to a second round of cease-fire negotiations.
Trump told Reuters on Friday that Iran plans to make an offer aimed at resolving U.S. demands.
Pakistan's foreign minister confirmed the arrival of the Iranian delegation, saying Araghchi would meet with senior Pakistani officials to discuss the peace efforts.
Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani discussed developments in the Washington-Tehran ceasefire agreement in a phone call with U.S. President Donald Trump, Qatar's state news agency reported late on Friday.
The Qatari leader said his country would continue coordinating with partners to support mediation efforts led by Pakistan. Islamabad was the planned venue for U.S.-Iran talks that failed to materialize earlier this week.
Two Pakistani government sources aware of the discussions said Araghchi's visit would be brief and focus on Iran's proposals for talks with the U.S., which mediator Pakistan would then convey to Washington. U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told a briefing earlier on Friday that Iran had a chance to make a "good deal" with the United States.
"Iran knows that they still have an open window to choose wisely... at the negotiating table. All they have to do is abandon a nuclear weapon in meaningful and verifiable ways," he said.
Reports on Araqchi's trip in Iranian state media and the Pakistani sources made no mention of Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, the speaker of Iran's parliament, who was the head of its delegation at the talks earlier this month.
The Iranian parliament's media office denied a report that Qalibaf had resigned as head of Iran's negotiating team, and added that there was no new round of talks scheduled yet.
Pakistani sources said earlier that a U.S. logistics and security team already was in place in Islamabad for potential talks.
The last round of peace talks had been expected to resume on Tuesday but never took place, with Iran saying it was not yet ready to commit to attending and a U.S. delegation led by Vance never left Washington.