Iran confirms talks with the USA: opening Friday in Islamabad

Iran has officially confirmed the start of negotiations with the United States. The Iranian Supreme National Security Council announced in the early hours of Wednesday that talks will begin Friday in Islamabad, under the mediation of Pakistan, and could last up to fifteen days. The announcement comes just hours after Donald Trump’s declaration, in which he spoke of a “bilateral” two-week ceasefire linked to the progress of the negotiations.

Tehran agreed to sit at the table after having achieved, in its view, its objectives on the battlefield. However, the tone of the statement is far from conciliatory: the Council specified that the pause in hostilities does not equate to the end of the war, and that any definitive cessation of fighting will depend on the fulfillment of Iranian conditions.

On the table, Iran has presented a ten-point proposal that includes guarantees against future attacks, the lifting of all primary and secondary sanctions, compensation for damages suffered, the withdrawal of American forces from the region, and specific agreements regarding the Strait of Hormuz. Regarding the latter point, the statement specifies that during the two-week truce, transit through the strategic maritime corridor will be guaranteed through coordination with the Iranian armed forces, within a framework that maintains Tehran’s control over the waters.

The negotiations may be extended by mutual agreement between the parties. Nevertheless, the Council made a point of emphasizing that the talks will take place in an atmosphere of “total distrust” toward the American counterpart, warning that Iranian forces remain ready to respond to any violation: “Hands remain on the trigger,” the statement reads. And, given how the last round of negotiations in Geneva went last February, Tehran has good reason not to trust the Americans.

Photo UN Photo/Manuel Elías