Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty spoke by telephone with US envoy Steve Witkoff and his Pakistani counterpart Ishaq Dar on Sunday, April 12, following the end of marathon negotiations between Washington and Tehran, which concluded with a stalemate.
Abdelatty spoke with Steve Witkoff, a member of the US delegation to the negotiations in Pakistan, which also included US Vice President JD Vance and Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law.
The delegation negotiated for more than 20 hours with the Iranian side in Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, before reaching the deadlock.
During his conversation with Steve Witkoff, the Egyptian Foreign Minister stressed “the imperative of prioritizing dialogue and peaceful solutions to preserve regional stability.”
For his part, the US envoy praised Cairo’s central role in supporting security in the Middle East, stating that Washington was counting on continued Egyptian efforts to ease tensions, according to an official statement.
Meanwhile, Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, who had also participated in the indirect negotiations preceding the face-to-face meeting between the two sides, briefed the Egyptian minister on the details of the discussions.
Both ministers emphasised “the importance of the Cairo-Islamabad-Ankara axis in fostering a negotiated solution,” according to the Egyptian statement.
The Egyptian official commended Pakistan’s efforts in hosting these high-level talks.
Although the ceasefire appears to be holding for now, neither side – the US nor Iran – has commented on the future of the agreement after April 22.
On Sunday, Donald Trump ordered a US naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, accusing Iran of refusing to abandon its nuclear ambitions.
He stated on the Truth Social platform that the negotiations had gone well and that most points had been agreed upon, but that Tehran had refused to compromise on the nuclear issue.
He also reiterated his readiness to strike Iranian energy infrastructure if no agreement was reached.
AK/te/Sf/fss/as/APA