US envoys are expected to travel to Pakistan on Saturday in a new bid to salvage ceasefire talks with Tehran, even as Iran ruled out direct negotiations with US representatives as its top diplomat arrived in Islamabad.
The latest effort to broker a deal comes as an indefinite ceasefire has paused most fighting, but the economic fallout is still mounting with global energy shipments disrupted by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
On Saturday, Iran resumed commercial flights from Tehran’s international airport for the first time since the conflict with the US and Israel began about two months ago.
Iran’s state-run television reported that flights took off from the Imam Khomeini International Airport in Tehran bound for Istanbul, Oman’s capital of Muscat and the Saudi city of Madinah.
Iran partly reopened its airspace earlier this month amid a ceasefire with the US which halted fighting between the two countries.
The airport opening comes as Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met twice with Pakistan's top military and political leaders since arriving in Islamabad on Friday night, officials said.
According to Pakistan's Foreign Ministry, the Iranian delegation will hold talks with Pakistan’s senior leadership as the US envoys were expected to travel to Islamabad Saturday. Officials have not specified when Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are due to arrive.