Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi arrived in the Pakistani capital Islamabad on Friday to discuss proposals ​for restarting peace talks with the U.S., offering some hope for an end to the eight-week war that has killed thousands and sown turmoil in global markets.

U.S. President Donald Trump told Reuters on Friday that Iran ‌plans to make an offer aimed at satisfying U.S. demands, but said he did not yet know what the offer entailed.

When asked who the U.S. was negotiating with, Trump said: “I don’t want to say that, but we’re dealing with the people that are in charge now.”

But Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson said on X that Iranian officials did not plan to meet with U.S. representatives, even though U.S. special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner planned to travel to Islamabad. Iran’s concerns would be conveyed to Pakistan, the spokesperson said.

After a U.S. bombing campaign and ​Iran’s blocking of the strategic Strait of Hormuz, the two countries are at a costly impasse, with Iran’s oil exports blocked and U.S. gasoline prices at multi-year highs.

Speaking before the Iranian foreign ministry’s statement, White House press ​secretary Karoline Leavitt said Witkoff and Kushner would leave for Pakistan on Saturday morning for talks with Araqchi.

Leavitt struck an upbeat tone, saying the U.S. had seen some progress from ⁠the Iranian side in recent days and hoped more would come this weekend.

She added that U.S. Vice President JD Vance, who earlier this month led a first round of unsuccessful talks with Iran to end their war, is ready to travel to ​Pakistan as well.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Iranian statement.

Pakistani sources said earlier that a U.S. logistics and security team was already in place in Islamabad for potential talks.

Pakistan’s foreign ministry confirmed Araqchi’s ​arrival in Islamabad, where a heavy military and paramilitary presence was visible across the central parts of the city.

Araqchi went straight into a meeting with Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar at the Serena Hotel, where the first round of talks with the U.S. was held, two government sources said.

Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani pledged his country’s support for mediation efforts by Pakistan in a phone call with Trump, Qatar’s state news agency reported.

Araqchi wrote on X that he was visiting Pakistan, Oman and Russia to coordinate with partners on bilateral matters ​and consult on regional developments. The tour will include consultations on the latest efforts to end the war, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson later told state media.

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told a briefing earlier on Friday that Iran had a chance ​to make a “good deal” with the United States.

“Iran knows that they still have an open window to choose wisely,” he said. “All they have to do is abandon a nuclear weapon in meaningful and verifiable ways.”

The last round of peace talks had been expected to resume ‌on Tuesday but ⁠never took place, with Iran saying it was not yet ready to commit to attending and a U.S. delegation led by Vance never leaving Washington.

Trump unilaterally extended a two-week ceasefire on Tuesday to allow more time to reconvene the negotiators.

Oil prices remained volatile on Friday, as traders weighed potential disruption from the worst oil shock in history amid the prospect for further talks.

Brent crude futures settled at $105.33 a barrel, about 0.3% higher, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures were down 1% at $94.88.

HEZBOLLAH DISMISSES LEBANON CEASEFIRE EXTENSION

On Thursday, Israel and Lebanon extended a separate ceasefire for three weeks at a White House meeting brokered by Trump.

The war in Lebanon, which Israel invaded last month to root out Iran’s Hezbollah allies after the militant group fired across the border, ​has run in parallel with the wider Iran war, ​and Tehran says a ceasefire there is a precondition ⁠for talks.

There was little sign of an end to the fighting in southern Lebanon. Lebanese authorities reported two people were killed by an Israeli strike and Hezbollah downed an Israeli drone.

While the ceasefire that came into force on April 16 has led to a significant reduction in hostilities, Israel and Hezbollah have continued to trade blows in southern Lebanon, where Israel has ​kept soldiers in a self-declared “buffer zone.”

“It is essential to point out that the ceasefire is meaningless in light of Israel’s insistence on hostile acts, including assassinations, shelling, and gunfire” ​and its demolition of villages and ⁠towns in southern Lebanon, Hezbollah lawmaker Ali Fayyad said in response to the extension of the ceasefire.

Israel’s military said it had killed six armed Hezbollah members in southern Lebanon on Friday.

STRAIT OF HORMUZ BLOCKADE

Trump on Thursday said he wanted an “everlasting” agreement with Iran, while asserting the U.S. had an upper hand in the standoff in the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most important energy shipping route.

The U.S. has yet to find a way to open the strait, where Iran has blocked nearly all ships apart from its own ⁠since the start ​of the war eight weeks ago. Iran showed off its control this week by seizing two huge cargo vessels there.

Trump imposed a separate blockade ​of Iranian shipping last week. Iran says it will not reopen the strait until Trump lifts his blockade.

Only five ships crossed the strait in the last 24 hours, shipping data showed on Friday, compared to around 130 a day before the war. Those included one Iranian oil products tanker, but none ​of the vast crude-carrying supertankers that normally feed global energy markets.

Pakistan has repaid the full $3.45 billion it owed to the United Arab Emirates, the State Bank of Pakistan said on Friday.

According to the Pakistan’s central bank, $1 billion was returned to the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development on April 23, while the remaining $2.45 billion had been repaid to the UAE earlier in the week. “This completes the repayment of total deposits of $3.45 billion to UAE,” the bank said in a statement posted on X.

The repayment comes after Pakistani officials signaled earlier this month that the country intended to settle roughly $3.5 billion in obligations to the UAE before the end of April. A senior official described the move as a deliberate decision to uphold “national dignity,” despite the anticipated strain on foreign exchange reserves.

The funds were originally extended in 2019 as part of financial support from the UAE to help Pakistan stabilize its balance of payments. However, in March, Islamabad was unable to secure a rollover of the facility—its first such setback in seven years—raising concerns about short-term financing needs.

Separately, the central bank reported that Pakistan’s foreign reserves stood at $20.63 billion as of April 17. During April, the country also received $3 billion in deposits from Saudi Arabia, including a $1 billion tranche on April 21.

Pakistan’s external position remains under pressure but is being managed as part of ongoing stabilization efforts tied to reforms supported by the International Monetary Fund. Analysts warn that risks persist, particularly due to volatile energy prices and tight global financial conditions.

Iran flaunted its tightened grip over the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday with a video of commandos in ​a speedboat storming a huge cargo ship, after the collapse of peace talks that Washington had hoped would open one of the world’s most important shipping corridors.

U.S. President Donald Trump dismissed ‌the threat posed by Iran’s “little wise-guy ships” and told reporters that he believed Tehran wanted to make a deal but that its leadership was in turmoil. Trump added that he was in no hurry for a deal, but if Iran did not want one, “I’ll finish it up militarily,” Reuters reported.

Iranian state television broadcast video overnight of masked troops pulling up in a grey speedboat alongside the MSC Francesca, climbing a rope ladder to a door in the hull and jumping through, brandishing rifles.

The video, presented with an action-movie-style soundtrack and no commentary, ​included views of another ship, the Epaminondas. Iran said it had captured both on Wednesday, accusing them of trying to cross the strait without permits.

The Iranian boat seizure was a reminder that the ​United States, despite its more powerful military, struggles to keep control of the Strait of Hormuz. Trump and his military officials have said Iran’s navy is “at the ⁠bottom of the sea,” but Tehran has shown it can still cause major problems for oil markets. Before the war, one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas was shipped through the strait.

Major surveys showed on ​Thursday that the global economy is facing ever more tangible strains from the energy shock of the war, as factories grapple with soaring production costs and activity weakens even in services sectors.

The war, launched by the U.S. and Israel ​on February 28, has been paused since a ceasefire on April 8. The U.S. and Iran met in Pakistan on April 11 and 12 in an attempt to end hostilities, but talks ended without agreement and a second round has yet to take place.

Tehran says it will not consider opening the strait until the U.S. lifts its blockade of Iran’s shipping, which Washington imposed during the ceasefire and Tehran calls a violation of that truce. Iran has also called Israeli strikes on Lebanon, ​where Israel has been engaged with the Iranian-backed group Hezbollah, an obstacle to renewed peace talks.

Israel and Lebanon on Thursday agreed to extend their ceasefire by three weeks after a high-level meeting between representatives of both countries ​in the White House Oval Office, Trump announced on social media.

“I look forward in the near future to hosting the Prime Minister of Israel, Bibi Netanyahu, and the President of Lebanon, Joseph Aoun. It was a Great Honor to ‌be a participant ⁠at this very Historic Meeting!” Trump said. It was unclear, however, how much influence the Lebanese government might exert over Hezbollah.

Before that announcement, Israel warned on Thursday that it was ready to restart attacks on Iran.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Israel was waiting for a “green light” from the U.S. to resume the war, saying that if it did, it would begin by targeting Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei and “return Iran to a dark age.”

STRUGGLE FOR THE STRAIT

Trump said this week he would indefinitely extend what had been a two-week ceasefire with Iran to allow for further peace talks, but on Thursday he said he had ordered the Navy to “shoot and kill” ​Iranian boats laying mines in the strait, and step ​up demining activity.

In a social media post, he ⁠said Washington was in “total control” of the strait, which he described as “‘Sealed up Tight,’ until such time as Iran is able to make a DEAL!!!”

Later at the White House, Trump said Iran might have loaded up its weaponry “a little bit” during the ceasefire, but the U.S. military could knock that out in about one day.

“Don’t ​rush me,” he said when asked how long he was willing to wait for a long-term peace deal. “I want to make the best deal. I ​could make a deal right ⁠now … but I don’t want to do that. I want to have it everlasting.”

Trump, who has used provocative language threatening to obliterate Iran and end its civilization, ruled out the use of nuclear weapons, telling reporters they were unnecessary because the U.S. had “decimated” Iran with conventional arms.

“No, I wouldn’t use it. A nuclear weapon should never be allowed to be used by anybody,” Trump said.

Iranian officials cited in state media dismissed claims by Trump of divisions in Iran’s ⁠leadership, and Khamenei ​said in a post on X that “enemy” media operations were aiming to undermine unity and national security.

Washington, which has been confronting Iranian ​ships in international waters to enforce its blockade, said it had boarded another tanker, the Majestic, in the Indian Ocean on Thursday, an apparent reference to a supertanker last reported off the coast of Sri Lanka carrying 2 million barrels of crude.

The U.S. military ​said on Thursday that U.S. forces had redirected 33 vessels since the blockade began.