{"text":[[{"start":9.95,"text":"Donald Trump has cancelled a trip by US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Pakistan for peace talks with Iran. "}],[{"start":18.5,"text":"The US president said on Truth Social on Saturday that he had called off the visit as it would have been a waste of time. "}],[{"start":25.55,"text":"“I just cancelled the trip of my representatives going to Islamabad, Pakistan, to meet with the Iranians,” Trump said in the post. "}],[{"start":33.45,"text":"“Too much time wasted on traveling, too much work! Besides which, there is tremendous infighting and confusion within their “leadership.” Nobody knows who is in charge, including them. Also, we have all the cards, they have none! If they want to talk, all they have to do is call!!!”"}],[{"start":50.1,"text":"The US envoy and Trump’s son-in-law had been expected to leave on Saturday for Islamabad. "}],[{"start":55.7,"text":"Trump’s announcement came hours after Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s foreign minister, left Pakistan after meeting with Pakistani officials, who are pushing for renewed US-Iran talks. "}],[{"start":67.2,"text":"Araghchi later said in a post on X that he had “shared Iran’s position concerning a workable framework to permanently end the war on Iran. Have yet to see if the US is truly serious about diplomacy.”"}],[{"start":79.9,"text":"Trump’s decision to cancel the trip marks the latest setback in negotiations between Washington and Tehran, which Pakistan has been facilitating. "}],[{"start":88.7,"text":"Previous talks in Islamabad led by vice-president JD Vance ended without progress after 21 hours. Sticking points include the fate of Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium and the future of its nuclear programme as well as governance of the Strait of Hormuz. Vance was not expected to travel to Pakistan for this round of talks."}],[{"start":110.25,"text":"Iran had earlier dismissed hopes of fresh negotiations with US officials."}],[{"start":116.15,"text":"“No meeting is planned to take place between Iran and the US. Iran’s observations would be conveyed to Pakistan,” Esmaeil Baghaei, the foreign ministry’s spokesperson, wrote on social media platform X, on Friday."}],[{"start":130.3,"text":"Iran has said it will not negotiate while the US maintains a blockade of its ports. On Saturday, US Central Command announced that the guided-missile destroyer USS Pinckney had intercepted a sanctioned vessel in the Arabian Sea and forced it to return to Iran."}],[{"start":145.5,"text":"It said the M/V Sevan was among 19 “shadow fleet” vessels sanctioned by the Treasury department for transporting “billions of dollars worth of Iranian energy, oil and gas products, including propane and butane, to foreign markets”."}],[{"start":160.9,"text":"Centcom said 37 vessels had been redirected since the start of the blockade."}],[{"start":165.55,"text":"Trump is under intense domestic political pressure to find a peace deal. The war has sparked a surge in the price of oil and gas globally, as well as other raw materials such as fertiliser, at a time when the Strait of Hormuz, which plays a central role in world trade as a critical shipping lane, remains all but shut. A barrel of global benchmark Brent crude is now trading at $105.88, against around $75 before the war began. "}],[{"start":194.05,"text":"In the US, petrol prices have risen from $2.98 per gallon to $4.09 per gallon, according to AAA figures, weighing on Republicans’ hopes of holding the House of Representatives and the Senate in November’s midterm elections. "}],[{"start":214.8,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1777161453_7137.mp3"}