In a renewed effort to revive talks amid rising regional tensions, the White House on Friday said US President Donald Trump is sending senior envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Pakistan later this week for crucial talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.White House press secretary Carolyn Leavitt said the administration is cautiously optimistic. “We hope this will be a productive conversation and hopefully get the ball rolling toward an agreement,” Levitt said in an interview on Fox News Channel.He said Vice President J.D. Vance would not travel for now but would remain “deeply involved” in the process. He said he would remain in the US with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the national security team on “standby” to go to Pakistan “if needed.”Vance is not planning to attend this round because Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf is also not attending. The White House views Ghalibaf as the head of the Iranian delegation and a counterpart to Vance, CNN reported, citing two officials.Meanwhile, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff have been in talks with Iranian officials for months, working toward a possible deal on Tehran’s nuclear program.The diplomatic initiative underlines Pakistan’s growing role as a facilitator. Islamabad is actively trying to bring Washington and Tehran back to the negotiating table after talks failed to resume as expected earlier this week.Earlier in the day, Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency also confirmed that Araghchi was visiting Pakistan as part of a broader diplomatic tour that also includes Oman and Russia. On social media, the Iranian foreign minister said his visit would focus on “bilateral affairs and regional development.”Pakistan’s move comes after Trump agreed to indefinitely extend the ceasefire with Iran, a move reportedly taken at Islamabad’s request to allow more time for diplomacy.Despite these diplomatic initiatives, the situation on the ground remains volatile. The ongoing conflict has severely disrupted traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital artery through which about a fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas passes during peacetime.Recent Iranian attacks on commercial ships and the continued US blockade of Iranian ports have increased tensions in the region. Trump has ordered the US military to take a tougher approach, including directing troops to “shoot and kill” small boats suspected of laying mines.Earlier, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also reiterated Washington’s stance, saying, “Iran has an important choice, a chance to make a deal, a good deal, a wise deal.” He further said a second US aircraft carrier would join the blockade in a few days, adding to an already robust deployment that includes the USS George HW Bush, USS Abraham Lincoln and USS Gerald R Ford.According to US Central Command, the deployment now includes approximately 200 aircraft and 15,000 personnel, marking the first time since 2003 that three US carriers are operating together in the region.The talks are being seen as an important effort to revive stalled talks over Tehran’s nuclear program and ease tensions that have hit global markets. Brent crude, the international benchmark, is fluctuating between $103 and $107 a barrel, more than 50% above levels recorded before the conflict began in late February.In response to the supply shortage, the White House on Friday announced a 90-day extension of the Jones Act waiver, allowing non-US ships to more freely transport oil and natural gas to US ports.The extension, approved by Trump, builds on a 60-day waiver introduced in March to stabilize energy prices and ease shipments following disruptions caused by the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz.