Israel took Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and Parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf off its hit list after Pakistan requested that Washington not target them, a Pakistani source with knowledge of the discussions told Reuters on Thursday.
“The Israelis had their coordinates and wanted to take them out, we told the US if they are also eliminated then there is no one else to talk to, hence the US asked the Israelis to back off,” the source said.
Pakistan’s foreign office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Israeli Defense Minister said on Thursday Senior Revolutionary Guard Navy commanders were killed alongside Ali Reza Tanksiri. The US has also confirmed his death.
The Wall Street Journal first reported that the two top Iranian officials had been temporarily removed from Israel’s list of officials to eliminate as they explore possible peace talks.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump on Thursday urged Iran to make a deal to end US and Israeli bombing or face more strikes on their country.
“They now have the chance, that is Iran, to permanently abandon their nuclear ambitions and to join a new path forward,” Trump said during a Cabinet meeting at the White House. “We’ll see if they want to do it. If they don’t, we’re their worst nightmare. In the meantime, we’ll just keep blowing them away.”
Trump spoke after a senior Iranian official told Reuters on Thursday that Washington’s proposal for ending nearly four weeks of fighting is “one-sided and unfair” but that diplomacy continues.
Trump said Iranians were talking with the US and described them as desperate to make a deal, characterizations Tehran has denied.
He also cast Iranian officials as “great negotiators” and said he was seeking an agreement that opens the Strait of Hormuz and shuts down Tehran’s military ambitions.
Trump suggested that a deal might not ultimately come together.
“I don’t know if we’ll be able to do that,” he said of the prospects for a deal. I don’t know if we’re willing to do that.”
He also suggested that Iran let 10 oil tankers transit the Strait of Hormuz as a goodwill gesture in negotiations, including some Pakistan-flagged vessels.
Trump made the comments at the Cabinet meeting, elaborating on what he had previously described as a “present” from Iran.
“They said, to show you the fact that we’re real and solid and we’re there, we’re going to let you have eight boats of oil, eight boats, eight big boats of oil,” Trump said. “I guess they were right, and they were real, and I think they were Pakistani-flagged… It ended up being 10 boats.”
Earlier, US envoy Steve Witkoff has pinned the blame on Iran for “stalling talks” and repeatedly rebuffing US requests to hold negotiations, stating that Iran is looking for an “off-ramp” to the war, Al Jazeera reports.
Witkoff adds that the US has “multiple reach-outs from the region and others who want to play a role in ending this conflict, peacefully”.
Meanwhile, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian says messages from Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and support from the Russian public “inspire us in this war”.
“The resistance and courage of the Iranian people promise new bonds that will ensure the security of East Asia by the countries of the region,” he has said on X. “On behalf of the people of Iran, I thank the government and people of Russia.”