US, Iran Weighing New Talks

Washington: After failed talks in Islamabad, a new round of negotiations between the US and Iran may be held later this week, before the two-week ceasefire between the two warring nations ends. According to US media reports, President Donald Trump has shown a willingness to resume in-person negotiations soon if he believes Tehran is ready to submit to his demands.

Washington and Tehran are weighing new in-person negotiations in a bid to reach a deal aimed at ending their six-week war before the ceasefire expires on April 21, Associated Press reported, citing sources. Three sources told the American agency that discussions were still underway about a new round of talks, while a diplomat from one of the mediating countries went further to say Tehran and Washington have agreed to it.

It’s unclear if the same level of delegation would be expected to attend, the diplomat and US officials said. According to the report, Islamabad and Geneva are two of the possible locations being discussed for the new round of talks. A US official said that venue and timing had not been decided, but the talks could happen Thursday. This came after Trump told reporters earlier on Monday that “we’ve been called by the other side” and “they want to work a deal.”

US Vice President JD Vance also said Iran has moved in the direction of the US during the peace talks in Islamabad to end the war, and it was for Tehran to make the next move on taking the discussions forward. “I wouldn’t just say that things went wrong. I also think things went right. We made a lot of progress,” Vance told Fox News.

“They moved in our direction, which is why I think we would say that we had some good signs, but they didn’t move far enough,” said the US vice president, who led the delegation comprising Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, for the talks with the Iranian delegation.

The United States and Iran ended 21 hours of face-to-face talks in Islamabad on Sunday without reaching a deal, leaving the fate of the fragile, two-week ceasefire still unclear. The US delegation, led by Vance, and the Iranian delegation, led by parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, had discussed how to advance a ceasefire already threatened by deep disagreements and Israel’s continued attacks against the Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Among the slew of issues at stake was the Strait of Hormuz, a major transit point for global energy supplies that Iran has effectively blocked but the US. has vowed to reopen, as well as Iran’s nuclear programme and international sanctions on Tehran. “There was a strong hope in the middle of the talks that there would be a breakthrough and the two sides would reach an agreement. However, things changed within no time,” a Pakistani government source told Reuters.