Trump sends Witkoff and Kushner to Pakistan to salvage ceasefire talks with Iran, which will engage in mediation efforts ‘until a result is achieved’

U.S. envoys are expected to travel to Pakistan on Saturday in a new bid to salvage ceasefire talks with Tehran, even as Iran’s top diplomat arrived in Islamabad and ruled out direct negotiations with U.S. representatives. The latest effort to broker a deal in Islamabad comes as an indefinite ceasefire has paused most fighting, but the economic fallout is still mounting with global energy shipments disrupted by the near closure of the Strait of Hormuz . Officials have not specified when President Donald Trump’s envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, who are expected to lead the U.S. negotiation team, are due to arrive. The White House declined to comment on Saturday. On Saturday, Iran resumed commercial flights from Tehran’s international airport for the first time since the conflict with the U.S. and Israel began about two months ago. Flights were scheduled to depart for Istanbul, Oman’s capital of Muscat and the Saudi city of Medina, according to Iran’s state-run television. Iran partly reopened its airspace earlier this month due to the ceasefire. Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi meanwhile met with the Pakistan military’s chief of staff and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. Araghchi wrote on Telegram that they spoke about regional developments, including Iran’s red lines for negotiations. Araghchi didn’t offer further details, but said Tehran would continue engaging with Pakistan’s mediation efforts “until a result is achieved.” Pakistan works to get the US and Iran back to the negotiating table Islamabad, where weeklong security restrictions have disrupted daily life in the capital, was in near-lockdown early Saturday ahead of the expected talks. Residents struggled to commute even short distances due to the now routine checkpoints, road closures and diversions. The usually busy arteries leading to the airport and the heavily fortified Red Zone were largely deserted Saturday, with movement tightly restricted. Security forces — including troops, paramilitary …