US says it intercepted Iran-linked vessel one day after blacklisting it

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is expected to return to Islamabad after his visit to Oman and before traveling to Russia, Iran’s state news agency IRNA reported.

IRNA said Araghchi arrived in Muscat on Saturday evening after meeting Pakistani officials and conveying Iran’s positions on the terms of any understanding to fully end the war and establish peace.

According to IRNA, part of the Iranian delegation that accompanied Araghchi to Islamabad returned to Tehran after the talks for consultations and to receive further instructions on issues related to the war.

The delegation members are expected to rejoin Araghchi in Islamabad on Sunday night.

President Donald Trump said he canceled the planned trip by US negotiators to Pakistan because there was “no reason” to have people travel for 16 or 17 hours when Iran’s position was not good enough, but said Tehran sent an improved paper shortly after the cancellation.

“There’s no reason to wait two days, have people traveling for 16, 17 hours. We’re not doing it that way,” Trump told reporters before leaving Palm Beach International Airport. “When they want, they can call me. We have all the cards. We won everything.”

Asked what had changed since he said the United States was dealing with whoever was in charge in Iran, Trump said: “Nothing. It’s just that they gave us a paper that should have been better.”

“Interestingly, immediately when I canceled it, within 10 minutes, we got a new paper that was much better,” he added.

Trump said Washington would deal with Iran by phone rather than send negotiators to Pakistan, and that there was no reason for US officials to travel to Pakistan to meet people “nobody ever heard of before.”

He said the United States had “won everything” and repeated that Iran would not be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon.

Trump said the core issue remained Iran’s nuclear program.

“That whole deal is not complicated. Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. It’s very simple,” he said.

Asked whether Iran had offered anything in return for a 20-year suspension of enriched uranium, Trump said: “They offered a lot, but not enough.”

Trump also said there was “tremendous infighting” in Iran and suggested rival factions might be competing over leadership, adding: “In many cases, I think they’re fighting not to be the leader.”

100%

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said he had a “warm and constructive” phone call with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Saturday evening about the evolving regional situation.

Sharif said he appreciated Iran’s continued engagement, including the high-level delegation to Islamabad led by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, whom he met earlier in the day.

He added that Pakistan, with the support of friends and partners, remained committed to acting as “an honest and sincere facilitator” and working toward durable peace and lasting regional stability.

US Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) praised President Donald Trump’s decision to cancel the planned Witkoff-Kushner trip to Pakistan for further Iran negotiations, saying Tehran had responded to the ceasefire extension with more attacks on international shipping and further provocation.

Graham said Trump had “gone the extra mile” by extending the ceasefire, but argued that the priority now should be establishing firm control over the Strait of Hormuz and ensuring freedom of navigation under international law.

“When it comes to achieving that goal, US military engagement may be required in the short term,” Graham wrote on X. “It is more than worth the risk associated with regaining freedom of navigation of the strait.”

He also called for the United States to continue the blockade, open the strait and resume military operations if needed, saying Iran should not be allowed to return to its “old ways.”

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent accused IRGC leaders of trying to funnel money into offshore accounts while ordinary Iranians are being pushed into cross-border trade for basic goods, pointing to a New York Times report on Iranians carrying cooking oil from Turkey into Iran.

“I am amazed that the IRGC has forced the invention of a completely new type of oil trading – in cooking oil,” Bessent wrote on X.

He said the Islamic Republic’s “colossal economic mismanagement” had forced Iranians “to barter to feed their families, and to become dependent on their neighbors,” while IRGC leaders tried to move more money offshore.

The New York Times reported from the Kapikoy crossing on Turkey’s border with Iran that Iranians have been buying bottles of olive, sunflower and corn oil in Turkey to resell inside Iran or use at home, as prices for basic goods surge.

The report said demand for cooking oil at the border had risen in recent days, turning a basic household product into a small cross-border trade amid Iran’s inflation crisis, layoffs, war disruption and internet shutdown.

The newspaper added that the Kapikoy crossing has become one of the few durable links between Iranians and the outside world during the war, as air travel was disrupted for much of the past two months and the government-imposed internet blackout continues.

The pressure on households has intensified after Iran removed subsidies on imports of some essential goods in January, a move that pushed up cooking oil prices. The government later offered direct monthly cash payments of about 10 million rials, or around $7, but economists cited in the report said that was unlikely to meaningfully ease the burden.

Bessent said that under President Donald Trump, the United States was committed to supporting “the freedom and dignity of the Iranian people after 47 years of corruption.”