Steve Witkoff

According to US officials, several of the experts had traveled with Witkoff and Kushner to Oman prior to the start of Operation Epic Fury to negotiate with Iran on the nuclear issue.

Meanwhile, Tehran also doesn’t seem to be in a hurry. This comes as the White House has also indicated it is willing to settle in for the long term on the conflict with Iran.

Shortly before Trump announced the cancellation, two Pakistani government sources told Reuters that the Iranian delegation had left Islamabad.

Trumps told PBS News that he is unsure if the Iranians will attend the talks in Pakistan, while insisting that Tehran will not achieve nuclear weapon capability.

According to an anonymous source, Pakistani officials urged the Iranian delegation to enter the ongoing talks in Islamabad "with a new spirit," and that the delegation had shown "positive signals."

According to Vance, Iran chose not to accept US terms, despite the US being "quite flexible."

Iranian and US officials are expected to hold talks on Friday to discuss a long-term settlement after the longtime foes agreed on a Pakistan-brokered two-week ceasefire to suspend a six-week-old war.

Pakistan's effort involved direct contact with top officials on all sides, with a Pakistani source saying the hardest part of the process was convincing Iran to accept a truce without preconditions.

According to IRNA, Iran is demanding a complete end to the fighting in the region, along with a protocol to ensure safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz.

Egypt pushed fresh de-escalation efforts on Sunday, with Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty holding calls with US envoy Steve Witkoff, Iran’s Abbas Araghchi, and other regional officials.