The first round of talks between the United States (US) and Iran, which was held in Pakistan’s capital city of Islamabad, had failed to end the deadlock between the two countries, with both sides blaming each other. Vice President JD Vance, who led the US delegation, reiterated the Trump administration’s call to an end to Iran’s nuclear programme, while the Islamic Republic said talks failed due to Washington’s ‘unreasonable’ demands.ย
Despite this, a US media report claimed that Washington and Tehran will hold another round of talks again in Pakistan on Monday (April 20), adding that the two delegations will likely arrive in Islamabad on Sunday. However, it now seems that the talks will unlikely take place on Monday, with a top Iranian minister saying that no such date has been finalised for another round of negotiations.ย
“Until we agree on the framework, we cannot set a date,” Iran’s deputy foreign minister Saeed Khatibzadeh told reporters on Saturday on the sidelines of an annual diplomatic forum in Turkey’s southern Antalya province. “We hope that as soon as we can finalise that, then we can move on to the next step”.
“We do not want to enter into any negotiation or meeting that is destined to fail and could serve as a pretext for another round of escalation. I can assure you that Iran is very much committed to diplomacy,” he added.
Breach of trust?
Over the past few days, it was looking like the situation was improving between the two sides, with President Donald Trump claiming that Iran has agreed on all US conditions, including handing over its stockpile of enriched uranium. Trump, in his remarks, had repeatedly also said that the conflict, which started on February 28, will end in some weeks.ย
However, Iran has rejected Trump’s claim of surrendering its uranium and reiterated that the Strait of Hormuz, which remains another bone of contention for the two sides, remains a part of the Islamic Republic. As per reports, the US proposed to manage Hormuz jointly by the them but Iran refused. Trump has now imposed a naval blockade of Iran, which the Middle East nation has criticised and called a ‘clumsy’ decision.
Iran has also claimed that the US has failed to achieve all its objectives and that’s why using the negotiations to achieve what it couldn’t do on battlefield. “Trump did not achieve his goal of changing the regime and destroying our offensive and missile capabilities, and Iran is not Venezuela,” Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said in a television interview, which was aired on Saturday night.ย
The uncertainty over the US-Iran war has left the world in a limbo. The Hormuz’s closure has already sent the crude rates soaring, as the Strait is responsible for the passage of nearly one-fifth world’s oil. Many countries, including India, have urged both the US and Iran to ensure the conflict is resolved through dialogue and diplomacy.
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