The statements made by Iranian officials since the failed U.S.-Iran talks in Islamabad have combined defiance of U.S. President Donald Trump’s continuing threats with openness to rational discussion.
“My colleagues raised forward-looking initiatives, but the opposite side ultimately failed to win the trust of the Iranian delegation in this round of negotiations,” Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Speaker of the Iranian Parliament and head of the Iranian delegation to last weekend’s Islamabad talks, said on April 12, regarding the Islamabad talks. “The U.S. has realized our logic and principles, and now it has time to decide whether it can earn our trust or not?”
Ghalibaf also addressed Trump’s threat to blockade the Strait of Hormuz. “Enjoy the current pump figures,” he wrote on X, alongside a map showing prices at gas stations near the White House. “With the so-called ‘blockade,’ Soon you’ll be nostalgic for $4–$5 gas.”
Despite all that happened recently, Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian says ‘if the Americans abandon their totalitarianism,’ then ‘ways to reach an agreement’ will certainly be found, reported the Middle East Spectator.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said about the negotiations: “In intensive talks at highest level in 47 years, Iran engaged with U.S in good faith to end war. But when just inches away from ‘Islamabad MoU,’ we encountered maximalism, shifting goalposts, and blockade. Zero lessons earned [sic]. Good will begets good will. Enmity begets enmity.”
