A peace deal would have cleared one of the biggest risks hanging over global oil, and instead Trump called the trip off before the plane left.
Iran's foreign minister had already flown out of Pakistan without meeting any Americans, while the blockade Trump put on Iranian ports last week is still up. So is everything investors have been worrying about for months.
Trump pulled the plug on Truth Social, posting that there was "too much time wasted on traveling" and that "we have all the cards; they have none." He told reporters Iran improved its offer after the cancellation, just "not enough."
Witkoff, the president's special envoy, and Kushner, his son-in-law, were supposed to be in Islamabad for direct talks. Instead, Iran's chief negotiator, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, met only with Pakistan's military chief and then left.
Two Pakistani officials told Reuters his delegation flew out Saturday, and the first round of talks two weeks ago, led on the U.S. side by Vice President JD Vance, ended with no deal either.
The fight is about the Strait of Hormuz, the shipping route that handles roughly a fifth of the world's oil. Iran has been threatening it for weeks, and the U.S. answered last week with a naval blockade of Iranian ports.
Trump told Reuters the blockade stays up until Iran signs something. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told the Associated Press that Iran will have to start shutting down oil wells "in the next two, three days" because nothing is moving out.
Bessent also said the U.S. will not renew a one-time waiver that let buyers grab Iranian oil already at sea, with the same answer for Russian oil at sea.
The U.S. piled on more pressure Friday by sanctioning Hengli Petrochemical, a Chinese "teapot" refinery that buys Iranian crude, plus around 40 vessels in Iran's shadow fleet.
China buys more than 80% of Iran's seaborne oil exports, so any move that touches Chinese banks would matter much more than one refinery.
The ceasefire announced April 7 is technically still alive after Trump extended it on Tuesday, but the diplomatic track just snapped. Oil markets care less about the ceasefire and more about whether Iranian crude can move, and right now it cannot.
Watch the Hengli sanctions and any move on Chinese banks. That is where this either ends or escalates.
