Days after high-stakes talks between the US and Iran broke down in Pakistan, Axios reported on Monday (local time) that Pakistani, Egyptian and Turkish mediators would continue talks with the two sides.
Mediators will try to bridge remaining gaps and reach an agreement to end the war before the two-week ceasefire ends, the report said, citing sources.
Read also | US Iran War LIVE: Netanyahu to back Trump blockade; Starmer says the UK doesn’t
The development comes three days after a US and Iranian delegation met in Islamabad after US President Donald Trump announced a two-week ceasefire. The negotiations, which lasted over 21 hours, reportedly ended on the morning of April 12 without an agreement. Both sides blamed each other for failing to complete the negotiations. While the US delegation led by Vice President JD Vance said Tehran refused to accept Washington’s terms regarding the Strait of Hormuz and its nuclear program, Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf accused Washington of not being able to gain the full confidence of the Islamic Republic’s delegation.
Read also | ‘US failed to gain confidence of Iranian delegation’: Iran’s chief negotiator
The parties believe that an agreement is possible
According to the report, all parties still believe a deal is possible. Mediators now hope that narrowing the gaps could help secure another round of negotiations before the ceasefire expires on April 21.
According to state broadcaster IRIB, on April 12, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said that no one expected to reach an agreement in a single meeting. He noted: “Naturally, we should not have expected from the beginning to reach an agreement in a single meeting. Nobody had such an expectation.”
Read also | Iran warns US with ‘mathematical formula’ on Hormuz; here’s what that means
However, he expressed confidence that contacts between the Islamic Republic and Pakistan and other allies in the region will continue.
Trump is considering another strike on Iran
Citing sources, Axios said a deal before the end of the ceasefire could prove beneficial as Trump considers resuming strikes if the naval blockade does not force Tehran to change course.
Hours after the deal failed, Trump issued a stern warning to Tehran and threatened to block the Strait of Hormuz. In a post on Truth Social on April 12, he wrote, “The United States will block ships entering or leaving Iranian ports on April 13 at 10:00 a.m. ET.” (sic) This would mean the blockade would start at 5:30 PM in Iran and around 7:30 PM (IST).
Fresh targets, if Iran does not change course, could reportedly include infrastructure that Trump threatened to attack before the ceasefire was announced.
A US official said the blockade, like Washington’s decision to pull out of talks with Pakistan, should be seen as part of a wider negotiation process. The official added that Trump’s goal is to prevent Iran from using the Strait of Hormuz as a bargaining chip in those discussions.
Both sides are negotiating
Citing a regional source, the report said: “We are not at a complete impasse. The door is not closed yet. Both sides are negotiating. It is a bazaar.”
A U.S. official told Axios that a deal could be reached if Tehran decides to show some flexibility and acknowledges that Islamabad’s proposal is “the best it’s going to get.”
The main differences between the US and Iran
The main gaps during the 21-hour talks between the two sides in Pakistan centered mainly on the nuclear issue, the report said. While one loophole related to US demands that Tehran freeze enrichment and give up its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, another related to the amount of frozen money the Islamic Republic wants Washington to release in exchange for its nuclear concession.
Islamabad talks fail: Iran’s ambassador to Pakistan
Iran’s ambassador to Pakistan, Reza Amiri Moghadam, who attended the talks, wrote in a post on X that the talks in Islamabad failed but laid the foundation for a diplomatic process. He added: “If trust and will are strengthened, (we) can create a sustainable framework for the interests of all parties.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the parties were “inches away” from reaching an agreement before the US “moves the bar”. While the sources did not confirm the claim, they acknowledged that some progress had been made.
After the talks concluded in Islamabad on April 12, the Turkish and Egyptian foreign ministers reportedly had separate phone calls with their counterparts in Pakistan, after which they spoke with White House envoy Steve Witkoff and Tehran’s Foreign Minister Araghchi.
What remains to be seen is whether the US military will begin blocking the Strait of Hormuz, as Trump has claimed, and whether that will affect negotiations before the ceasefire ends.
