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| The Elusive Peace Deal | |
Asad Mirza
As expected, the United States and Iran failed to reach a peace deal after high-stakes talks in the Pakistani capital, with American Vice President JD Vance saying Tehran refused to accept Washington’s terms after 21 hours of talks in Islamabad. And Iran citing lack of American commitment to the talks.
The talks termed as ‘Islamabad Talks’, lasted a full day of negotiations, which ended with a terse three-minute press conference — and without a deal. Talks between America and Iran began on Saturday afternoon and continued through the night, almost 21 hours in all. The sun had risen in Islamabad, the Pakistani capital, by the time JD Vance emerged to brief reporters. “We have not reached an agreement,” the American vice-president said. “We’ve made very clear what our red lines are… and they have chosen not to accept our terms.”
The mood on the Iranian side was equally downcast. Esmaeil Baqaei, the foreign-ministry spokesman, said the talks took place amid “mistrust and suspicion”. State media blamed America’s “excessive demands” for blocking an agreement. The leaders of both delegations have now headed home without fixing a date for another meeting, The Economist reported.
Vance said Iran chose “not to accept our terms”, adding that the US needs to see a “fundamental commitment” from Tehran to not develop nuclear weapons.
More realistically, Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Sunday (April 12) that no one had expected that talks with the US would reach an agreement in one session.
“Naturally, from the beginning, we should not have expected to reach an agreement in a single session. No one had such an expectation,” ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said, according to state broadcaster IRIB.
He said Tehran was “confident that contacts between us and Pakistan, as well as our other friends in the region, will continue”, Al Jazeera reported.
The US delegation led by Vance and the Iranian delegation led by Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf had discussed how to advance a ceasefire already threatened by deep disagreements and Israel’s continued attacks against the Hezbollah in Lebanon.
In the negotiations, a key US demand from Iran was for a free passage — both unrestricted and cost-free — for merchant ships through the Strait of Hormuz. Although Iran has often threatened to control the strait and use it as leverage, including during the Iran-Iraq war, this is the first time the issue has been formally raised at the international negotiating table.
The Iranian state media says talks failed over 'unreasonable' US demands. “Unreasonable demands” by the United States scuppered talks in Islamabad to end the war in the West Asia, Iranian state broadcaster IRIB said.
“The Iranian delegation negotiated continuously and intensively for 21 hours in order to protect the national interests of the Iranian people; despite various initiatives from the Iranian delegation, the unreasonable demands of the American side prevented the progress of the negotiations. Thus, the negotiations ended,” IRIB said on Telegram.
Talkathon
This was the first time that the American and Iranian political leadership and top diplomats sat across the table to thrash out the issues facing the two countries. The talks which were hosted by Islamabad, apparently came after the American nudge to Pakistan to act as a mediator, and for this they might get financially.
But the importance which America attached to the talks was evident from the behaviour of its negotiating team, which was at its best, as they knew they were dealing with astute Iranian diplomats. And this guardedness was evident in President Trump’s posts on social media, which seemed more guarded.
However, America’s biggest ally in West Asia and partner in the current war against Iran, i.e. Israel claimed "historic achievements" in the fight against Iran, as the talks were underway for a potential ceasefire in Islamabad. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video statement on Saturday (April 11) that the "campaign is not yet over," but Israel has managed to foil Iran's nuclear ambitions.
This shows the Israeli attitude against Iran, which it wants to destroy at all costs, as it understands very well that whatever resistance it may across in the region against its expansionist and apartheid-like policies, will come from Iran.
The Israeli leader repeated that he spent much of his life ensuring that Iran won’t achieve nuclear weapons, including by approving covert operations to delay it and also informing the world of the danger.
Meanwhile, Iran pointed to alleged external interference as a key reason for the breakdown. According to Iranian media, Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi claimed that a phone call from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Vance during the negotiations derailed progress. If true, this shows Israel’s commitment to establish peace in the region is a charade, as at all cost it wants toe establish its supremacy in the region.
While the talks were on in Islamabad, Trump was forced to take a call on the reportedly alleged arms shipment from China to Iran.
A CNN report, citing US intelligence, said China may send weapons to Iran in the coming weeks. It also noted that Iran is using the pause in fighting as an opportunity to strengthen its air defence systems. Responding to the query, Trump said, “If China does that, China is going to have big problems.”
On its part, Beijing denied the claims that it has supplied weapons or military technology to Iran or plans to send new air defence systems to the country. Trump has threatened 50% tariffs against goods from countries arming Tehran, a move which could derail the delicate trade truce with China if he follows through. Beijing does not directly ship arms to Iran but provides it with dual-use technology.
By the end of the day, Donald Trump said the US would launch a naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, following the failure of talks with Iran, as reported by Financial Times.
The US president also said he had asked the US Navy to “interdict” any ship that had paid a toll to Iran for passage through the strategic waterway for oil and gas shipments.
Overall, the manner in which the US’s announcements came after the talks shows the intemperate American attitude towards the talks. Instead of treating the talks as the final negotiations, American administration should have chosen the Islamabad Talks as the start of a process directly interacting with its adversary to build confidence and show commitment to establish peace in the region. And then move forward to reestablish its relations with Iran.
(Asad Mirza is a New Delhi-based senior commentator on national, international, defence and strategic affairs, environmental issues, an interfaith practitioner, and a media consultant.)
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