Iran to skip second-round talks with US in Islamabad as ceasefire nears expiry: IRGC media

Rudaw

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iran’s negotiating team will not attend talks in Islamabad on Wednesday, media outlets close to the Iranian military reported on Tuesday, just hours before the two-week ceasefire between the two sides is set to expire. The development comes as Iran’s permanent representative to the United Nations told reporters, including Rudaw’s, that Tehran has set the lifting of the US naval blockade as a precondition for attending the talks.

Tasnim News Agency, an outlet linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), reported that “Iran’s negotiating team has informed the American side - through a Pakistani intermediary - that it will not attend talks in Islamabad on Wednesday,” adding, “For now, there is no clear prospect of Iran participating in negotiations.”

It further cited a “well-placed source” as stating that “Iran had initially accepted the ceasefire and subsequent talks after Pakistan stepped in as a mediator and conveyed a US request for a truce, based on a 10-point framework proposed by Iran and accepted by Washington.”

While Pakistan reportedly “confirmed that the United States had accepted this framework,” the source noted that “US violations of commitments began shortly afterward." Tasnim added that “during the first round of talks in Islamabad, Washington also introduced additional demands that went beyond the initial framework, leading to a deadlock."

The US and Israel launched a preemptive air campaign against Iran on February 28, targeting more than 17,000 sites across the country over six weeks of hostilities before the warring sides agreed to a Pakistan-mediated ceasefire on April 8, which halted fighting for two weeks and paved the way for talks.

While the first round of discussions ended without a final agreement on April 11, Islamabad has in recent days stepped up efforts to host a second round of talks. However, as of the time of writing, those efforts have yet to yield any tangible results.

Tasnim quoted the well-placed source on Tuesday as saying that “continued hostile US actions, including the naval blockade,” have led Iran to conclude that “no meaningful progress has been achieved,” and that “as a result, attending further talks under current conditions would be a waste of time,” arguing that the United States is obstructing any viable agreement.

“The decision was communicated through Pakistan, and Iran will not attend Wednesday’s meeting in order to fully safeguard what it describes as its national rights,” the IRGC-affiliated outlet added.

For his part, Amir Saeid Iravani, Iran’s Permanent Representative to the UN, told reporters in New York on Tuesday - including Rudaw’s Namo Abdulla - that Tehran has received signals from the US indicating a willingness to lift the naval blockade.

“We have received some signs that the US is ready to break [the naval blockade], and as soon as they do, I think the next round of negotiations will take place in Islamabad,” Iravani said, noting that Tehran has set this as a precondition for the second-round engagement.

Asked whether a new military escalation with Washington may be on the horizon, the senior Iranian diplomat said, “It depends on them [the US],” adding, “they initiated the war against us and we are ready [for any escalation]. And if they want to sit at the negotiating table, discuss, and find a political solution, they will find us ready,” Iravani concluded.

Last updated at 11:45 pm.