Iran live updates: Witkoff, Kushner to travel to Islamabad Saturday for peace talks

U.S. and Iranian delegations will have separate meetings with Pakistani officials this weekend, a senior Pakistani government official told ABC News. If those meetings go well, the U.S. and Iranian delegations would then meet directly on Sunday, the official said.

The official said the Iranian delegation has arrived in Pakistan and the U.S. delegation is expected to arrive Saturday evening local time.

President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner will travel to Islamabad, Pakistan, on Saturday for another round of peace talks with Iranian officials, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News.

They will "engage in talks, direct talks inter-mediated by the Pakistanis, who have been incredible friends and mediators throughout this entire process, with representatives from the Iranian delegation," she said Friday. "The Iranians reached out as the president called on them to do, and asked for this in-person conversation. So the president is dispatching Steve and Jared to go hear what they have to say."

Leavitt said Vice President JD Vance will not be going but said he "remains deeply involved in this entire process, and he'll be standing by here in the United States, along with the president and the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, and the entire national security team for updates."

When asked whether the administration had any indication that the Iranians were closer to coming to a deal, Leavitt only said "we'll see," adding that it was part of the reason for the trip by Witkoff and Kushner.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says "our blockade is only growing and going global" and that Iran "will never get a nuclear bomb."

"Operation Epic Fury has delivered decisive military results," Hegseth said during a press conference at the Pentagon on Friday morning.

"Iran has an important choice, a chance to make a deal, a good deal, a wise deal. As part of that effort, the United States has imposed an ironclad blockade that grows more powerful by the day. From the gulf of Oman to the open oceans, our Navy is enforcing this blockade without hesitation or apology," Hegseth said.

The commander in chief of Iran's Army General Amir Hatami reiterated unity among the leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran in a post on X on Friday, following President Donald Trump alleging a rift among Iranian leaders.

Hatami said all branches of power are united and "obedient" to the Supreme Leader, adding that they "will make the criminal aggressor regret."

"One God, one Leader, one Nation, one Path, and that is the path to the victory of dear Iran that is more precious than life," Hatami wrote.

In a separate note, commanders of the IRGC Navy and IRGC Aerospace Forces issued a joint message of unity on Thursday evening, saying the unity of the Islamic Republic leaders supports the armed forces as they prepare to fight.

Other top authorities of the country, including President Masoud Pezeshkian and parliament speaker and lead negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, shared similar post emphasizing unity among leaders on their X accounts.

These posts seem to be a response to President Trump's post on Truth Social on Thursday, where he wrote there is infighting among the Iranian "hardliner" and "moderate" leaders.

-ABC News' Somayeh Malekian