Iran-US Still Exchange Information Through Pakistan After Weekend Negotiation Deadlock

JAKARTA - Iranian authorities on Wednesday said information exchange with the United States through Pakistan had continued after failed negotiations over the weekend.

"Since Sunday, when the Iranian delegation returned to Tehran, several messages have been exchanged through Pakistan," Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said. in a weekly press conference, launching Al Arabiya (15/4).

"Today, we will most likely receive a Pakistani delegation as a continuation of the discussions in Islamabad," he added.

US-Iranian negotiations over the weekend in Pakistan took place amid a fragile two-week ceasefire announced days earlier, but failed to produce an agreement to end the war.

The negotiations, which lasted about 21 hours, were attended by a US delegation led by Vice President JD Vance and the Iranian side led by Speaker of Parliament Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.

The main points that were obstacles were not officially disclosed at the time, but US President Donald Trump later criticized Iran for not opening the Strait of Hormuz, which has been almost completely closed since the outbreak of the war on February 28.

President Trump also said Iran refused to compromise on the issue of its nuclear program.

News reports since then have said Washington wants a 20-year suspension of Iran's uranium enrichment and that Iran, in turn, is proposing a five-year suspension of its nuclear activities, an offer U.S. officials have rejected.

On Wednesday, Baghaei said some of the US demands during the talks were "absurd and unrealistic," without elaborating.

He reiterated Iran's right to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, saying that right could not be "taken away under pressure or through war."

The enrichment level, he said, remains "negotiable" and "Iran must be able to continue enrichment according to its needs."

Baqaei also said that during talks in Islamabad, Iran asked that its frozen assets be released, but no conclusions were reached, Reuters reported, citing state media.

Further, Baghaei criticized the US naval blockade of Iranian ports imposed since Monday, saying the blockade "will not succeed."

He said Iran "will not enter any negotiations just to accept American conditions."

Meanwhile, there is widespread speculation that negotiating teams from the US and Iran could return to Pakistan to continue negotiations to end the war, days after the first peace talks ended without a breakthrough.

No date has been set and no official location has been agreed upon, but US President Donald Trump, speaking to the New York Post on Tuesday, said talks to end the Iran war could resume in Pakistan in the next two days.

A senior US official said on Wednesday that the US had not officially agreed to extend a two-week ceasefire with Iran, following reports that the Trump administration had in principle agreed to extend the ceasefire.

"The United States has not officially approved an extension of the ceasefire," the official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

"There is ongoing engagement between the US and Iran to reach an agreement," he said.