- The US demands full reopening of the Strait of Hormuz before resuming talks with Iran
- Iran’s delegation must have full authority from the Revolutionary Guard to finalize any deal
- A rift exists between Iran’s political leaders and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
The United States has reportedly set out two new conditions before restarting negotiations with Iran in Pakistan. US President Donald Trump has said new rounds of negotiations with Tehran could resume within two days, claiming that Washington had been called "by the right people, the appropriate people, and they want to work a deal."
But before the new round of talks could begin, Washington wanted full and unrestricted reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, Israel Hayom reported, citing diplomatic sources.
The report claimed that the Americans are sticking to a position of reciprocity. In other words, if the Iranians prevent the movement of ships and tankers through Hormuz, their own ships and tankers will not be allowed to move through it either.
According to the Israeli media report, another American term for talks is that Iran's delegation must have full authority from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to finalise any agreement. The US wants agreement by all senior regime officials to any understandings reached in Islamabad.
Rift In The Iranian Regime?
The report claimed that there is a deepening rift within the regime, between the political leadership, including President Masoud Pezeshkian and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
It claimed that two senior Revolutionary Guards officials, Ahmad Vahidi and Ali Abdollahi, did not allow the political delegation that was in Pakistan to provide answers to the Americans. Following this, Pezeshkian has reportedly demanded that parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who is leading the Iranian delegation, take a stand and "save Iran from total economic collapse".
Now, the Americans have also reportedly said they would return to the talks only if the political delegation coming to meet them had the authority to close a deal.
Return To Islamabad
This came after reports said negotiating teams from the US and Iran could return to Pakistan later this week to resume negotiations to end the war in the Gulf, days after the first peace talks ended without a breakthrough.
There was no immediate confirmation from US officials about the plans, which Reuters reported, citing Iranian and Pakistani officials.
A source who has been involved in the talks said a proposal had been sent to Washington and Tehran for the delegations to return to Islamabad to resume discussions. No date had yet been decided, but both countries could return as early as the end of this week.
An official at the Iranian embassy in Islamabad said, "The coming rounds of talks can come sometime later this week or earlier next week. But nothing is finalised as of now."
Earlier, a senior Iranian source told Reuters: "No firm date has been set, with the delegations keeping Friday through Sunday open."
A senior Pakistani official said Islamabad had reached out to Iran, "and we got a positive response that they will be open to a second round of talks".
Last weekend's meeting in Pakistan's capital to resolve the conflict between the US and Iran, held four days after the announcement of a ceasefire, reached no breakthrough. It was the first direct encounter between US and Iranian officials in more than a decade and the most senior engagement since Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution.
