United States President Donald Trump once again praised Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) and Chief of the Army Staff, Field Marshal Asim Munir, on Saturday for their efforts to facilitate peace and negotiations with Iran, despite another pause in the diplomatic process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His remarks came after he cancelled a planned visit by envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff to Pakistan for talks with Iranian officials. The Iranian foreign minister also left Pakistan following meetings with senior officials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI think Pakistan is terrific. The field marshal (Asim Munir) is fantastic. I think the prime minister of Pakistan (Shehbaz Sharif) is great, and, you know, they would like to see something happen,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, he announced that he would not be sending his team to Islamabad, citing the long journey and travel costs. \u201cBut we\u2019re not going to be travelling 15 or 16 hours to have a meeting with people that nobody has ever heard of,\u201d he said, adding that it would be very expensive and that he is \u201ca very cost-conscious person”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said that he was willing to deal with \u201cwhoever runs the show\u201d to reach an agreement with Tehran, claiming that \u201cthere’s tremendous infighting\u201d on the Iranian side.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere’s tremendous infighting. They’re probably fighting for leadership. In many cases, I think they’re fighting not to be the leader, because we knocked out two levels of leaders, but I’ll deal with whoever we have to,\u201d Trump claimed while talking to reporters before departing Florida via Air Force One.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe have all the cards. They have no military left, practically. They have no leaders left. We don\u2019t know who the leaders are … I don\u2019t think they know who the leaders are,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I’ll deal with whoever runs the show … but there’s no reason to wait two days, have people travelling for 16, 17 hours … When they want, they can call me; we have all the cards,” he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trump said the Iranian side \u201cgave us a paper that should have been better, and interestingly, immediately, when I cancelled it, within 10 minutes, we got a new paper that was much better\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In response to a question on whether the US will continue the ceasefire, Trump said he has not \u201ceven thought about it\u201d, adding that the Iranian side \u201coffered a lot but not enough\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He added that the \u201cwhole deal is not complicated: Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This marks the second time this month that the US president has publicly praised PM Shehbaz and CDF Munir for their engagement in efforts to facilitate talks with Iran aimed at ending the conflict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Read<\/strong>: US-Iran peace process hits snag as Trump cancels trip of envoys, FM Araghchi leaves Pakistan<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n On April 17, Trump had similarly lauded the Pakistani leadership, describing them as \u201cfantastic people\u201d. In a post on his social media platform Truth Social, he wrote: \u201cThank you to Pakistan and its great prime minister and field marshal, two fantastic people!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The US and Israel launched a joint offensive<\/a> on Iran on February 28, killing dozens of top military officials, including then-Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei<\/a>, before a two-week ceasefire was mediated by Pakistan earlier this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tehran retaliated with drone and missile strikes targeting Israel, as well as Jordan, Iraq, and Gulf countries hosting US military assets, and restricted the movement of ships through the Strait of Hormuz, a key passage for oil and gas shipments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fighting later spread to Lebanon after Israel launched an offensive there, widening the conflict, as the United States and Israel continued attacks on Iran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As the conflict continued to expand and intensify, Pakistan emerged as a mediator alongside other regional powers in the escalating crisis. As the negotiation process began, the United States and Iran exchanged their respective positions, but early discussions yielded no progress. However, following sustained diplomatic efforts by Pakistan, both sides agreed to hold talks in Islamabad last week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n