White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in an interview on Fox News Channel that the Witkoff and Kushner will meet with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
“We’re hopeful that it will be a productive conversation and hopefully move the ball forward to a deal,” Leavitt said.
She said Vice President JD Vance would not travel but that he remains “deeply involved,” and would be willing to go to Pakistan “if we feel it's a necessary use of his time.”
Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the president’s national security team are on “standby” to fly to Pakistan if needed, Leavitt said.
Earlier Friday, Araghchi wrote on X that he was on his way to Pakistan, Oman and Russia, on a trip focused on “bilateral matters and regional developments.”
Araghchi and the two Trump envoys held hours of indirect talks in Geneva on February 27 over Tehran’s nuclear program, but walked away without a deal. The next day, Israel and the United States started the war against Iran.
Leavitt said the president decided to send Witkoff and Kushner to Pakistan “to hear the Iranians out.”
“We’ve certainly seen some progress from the Iranian side in the last couple of days,” Leavitt said. She did not offer any details about what U.S. officials were hearing.
Islamabad has sought to reinject momentum into the negotiations between Iran and the United States, which did not resume this week as had been expected.
Separately Friday, the White House said Trump issued a 90-day extension to the Jones Act waiver, making it easier for non-American vessels to transport oil and natural gas.
He first announced a 60-day waiver in March in a move intended to stabilize energy prices and ease oil and gas shipments to the U.S. following the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
“New data compiled since the initial waiver was issued revealed that significantly more supply was able to reach U.S. ports faster,” the White House post on social media said.
