Middle East crisis live: Witkoff and Kushner head to Pakistan for Iran negotiations

Iranian foreign minister has landed in Islamabad but his ministry says there will be no direct negotiations with the US envoy

Islamabad is getting ready for what is hoped to be the latest round of talks between the US and Iran, with US envoys expected to travel to Pakistan. But Iran has ruled out direct negotiations with US representatives.

Nearly eight weeks after Donald Trump launched his assault on Iran, the White House has shifted from a strategy of shock-and-awe bombardments and leadership decapitation to a plan of sustained economic pressure as it tests the will of a regime practiced over decades at wars of attrition.