The Wall Street Journal reported, citing informed sources, that a new round of negotiations between the United States and Iran may take place within a few days, in an attempt to revive the negotiating process after it was halted in the last round.
The newspaper indicated that there are ongoing consultations with the American side to ensure the continuation of the ceasefire with Iran, in light of the escalation of tensions in the region.
In a related context, Axios revealed in a report on Sunday that the talks that took place in Pakistan on Saturday ended without reaching an agreement, due to fundamental differences between the two parties, especially regarding the amount of Iranian funds that Washington is supposed to release, in addition to the issue of control over the Strait of Hormuz.
The site’s correspondent quoted an American official as saying that Washington’s demands, which were described as “red lines,” included freezing uranium enrichment, removing it from Iran, and dismantling its facilities, in addition to reopening the Strait of Hormuz and canceling transit fees, as well as reaching a regional security agreement and stopping funding for groups loyal to Tehran.
For his part, US Vice President J.D. Vance confirmed that the talks lasted about 21 hours and were “substantial,” but they did not succeed in bringing the views of the two parties closer together, considering that this matter was “more bad news for Iran than it is bad for the United States.”
Vance added that his country was seeking a long-term commitment from Tehran not to seek to possess a nuclear weapon or develop capabilities that would enable it to produce it quickly, noting that this commitment “has not yet been achieved.”
On the other hand, Iranian media believed that the failure of the negotiations was due to the American demands being “excessive and unrealistic,” which reflects the continued great discrepancy in the positions of the two parties despite talk about the possibility of resuming the dialogue soon.
These developments come in light of an increasing political and military escalation between the United States and Iran, as the outstanding issues, most notably the nuclear program and freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, represented major points of contention that prevented reaching an agreement during the last round of talks.
The Donald Trump administration seeks to combine military and diplomatic pressure, through field steps such as a naval blockade, while keeping the door to negotiation open, in an attempt to impose its conditions on Tehran.
