Top Iranian official heads to Pakistan for talks as US waits for 'good deal' – National
Iran's top official was headed to Pakistan on Friday, where officials are trying to get the United States and Iran to meet for a second round of ceasefire talks.
The trip comes as much of the world is on the brink of a war that has attacked vital energy supplies in the Strait of Hormuz, clouded the global economy and left thousands dead in the Middle East.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote on X that he is on his way to Pakistan, Oman and Russia on a trip focused on “bilateral issues and regional development.”
The White House did not immediately respond to questions about Araghchi's trip and whether the US delegation will travel to Pakistan.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, speaking at the same time as the news, told the forum that Iran has the opportunity to make a “good deal” with the United States.
Islamabad sought to reinvigorate the talks between Iran and the United States, which did not start this week as expected.
Trump extends Jones Act rollout for 90 days
Separately on Friday, the White House said President Donald Trump issued a 90-day extension to the Jones Act waiver, which makes it easier for non-US ships to transport oil and natural gas.
Trump first announced a 60-day moratorium in March in an effort aimed at stabilizing energy prices and reducing US oil and gas exports following the successful closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
“New information compiled since the initial indictment was issued revealed that many supplies were able to reach American ports quickly,” the White House said on social media.
The price of Brent crude oil, the international standard, has bounced back on the news, hovering between $103 a barrel and above $107 – still more than 50% higher than it was in Feb. 28, when the Iran war began.
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Congested shipping at the port has fueled maritime trade around the world, including the Panama Canal almost halfway around the world.
Pakistan is moving forward with communication efforts
Pakistan has been trying to get US and Iranian officials back to the table after Trump this week announced an indefinite extension of the ceasefire with Iran, honoring Islamabad's request for more time for negotiations.
That has not eased tensions over the crisis, a vital waterway through which a fifth of the world's oil and natural gas is shipped in peacetime.
Iran has been cracking down on traffic, attacking three ships earlier this week, while the US has maintained a closure of Iranian ports and Trump has ordered the military to “shoot and kill” small boats that might lay mines.
“Iran has an important decision, an opportunity to make a deal, a good deal, a smart deal,” US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters on Friday. He said the owner of a second US airliner would join the blockade in a few days.
Hegseth added that the US is “not worried” about the deal with Iran, and repeated Trump's earlier words of “all the time in the world.”
“Iran knows that it still has an open window of strategic choice … at the negotiating table. All it has to do is give up its nuclear weapons in reasonable and verifiable ways,” he said.
Washington already has three airlines in the region; the USS George HW Bush in the Indian Ocean; the USS Abraham Lincoln in the Arabian Sea; and the USS Gerald R. Ford in the Red Sea.
It is the first time since 2003 that three American carriers have operated in the region at the same time. The force includes 200 aircraft and 15,000 sailors and marines, US Central Command said.
The number is increasing as the fighting is stopped
Since the start of the war, at least 3,375 people have been killed in Iran, and more than 2,490 people in Lebanon, where fresh fighting between Israel and the Iran-backed terrorist group Hezbollah broke out two days into the war, according to authorities.
Additionally, 23 people died in Israel and more than a dozen in the Gulf Arab states. Fifteen Israeli soldiers in Lebanon and 13 US personnel in the entire region were killed.
The UN peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon also protected the wounded. UNIFIL said on Friday that an Indonesian peacekeeper died of wounds during an attack on his base on March 29, bringing to six – four Indonesians and two French – the number of soldiers killed since the war began.
Conflicts continue in Lebanon despite the additional agreement
The situation in Lebanon is still tense a day after Trump announced that Israel and Lebanon agreed to extend the agreement between Israel and Hezbollah for three weeks. Hezbollah did not participate in the diplomacy issued by Washington.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a video statement released by his office on Friday, praised “the process of reaching a historic peace between Israel and Lebanon.”
Earlier, the Israeli army asked residents of the southern Lebanese village of Deir Aames to leave, saying that Hezbollah is using the village to attack Israel.
Israel's military said it downed a drone in Lebanon following the launch of a small surface-to-air missile by Hezbollah. The terrorist group, on the other hand, said it shot down an Israeli aircraft with a surface-to-air missile at the southern port of Tyre.
Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Keaten from Geneva. Associated Press writers David Rising in Bangkok; Koral Saeed in Abu Snan, Israel; Bassem Mroue in Beirut; and Aamer Madhani and Josh Boak in Washington contributed.
© 2026 The Canadian Press
