US and Iranian negotiating teams could return to Islamabad this week for fresh talks, four sources told Reuters on Tuesday, days after 21 hours of the highest-level direct negotiations between the two countries since the 1979 Islamic Revolution ended without a deal and prompted President Donald Trump to announce a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
The talks, held on 11 and 12 April at the Serena Hotel in Islamabad, were mediated by Pakistan and marked the first direct high-level engagement between the US and Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The US delegation of nearly 300 members was led by Vice President JD Vance and included special envoy Steve Witkoff and presidential adviser Jared Kushner. The Iranian delegation of around 70 members was led by parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Araghchi said discussions had progressed to the brink of a potential memorandum of understanding but broke down at the final stage. “But when just inches away from the Islamabad MoU, we encountered maximalism, shifting goalposts, and blockade,” he said in a post on X. Ghalibaf said the US side “ultimately failed to gain the trust of the Iranian delegation in this round of negotiations.”
Following the collapse of the talks, Trump announced on Truth Social that the US Navy would begin blockading the Strait of Hormuz. “Effective immediately, the United States Navy, the Finest in the World, will begin the process of BLOCKADING any and all Ships trying to enter, or leave, the Strait of Hormuz,” he wrote. Trump said the talks “went well, most points were agreed to, but the only point that really mattered, NUCLEAR, was not.”
Vance left open the possibility that an agreement could still be reached, saying: “We leave here with a very simple proposal: a method of understanding that is our final and best offer. We’ll see if the Iranians accept it.”
Pakistani sources told CNN there is little desire on either side to return to the situation that existed before the war began. Pakistan said it would continue to play a role in peace efforts, with Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar urging both sides to continue to uphold the ceasefire.
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