- Benjamin Netanyahu's call to JD Vance disrupted Iran-US negotiations in Islamabad
- Iran's Seyed Abbas Araghchi said the call shifted focus to Israel's interests during talks
- US sought Iran's uranium programme end and Strait of Hormuz navigation freedom
A phone call from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to US Vice President JD Vance made in the middle of negotiations derailed what could have been a breakthrough in the Iran-US standoff, Tehran has claimed.
Iran's Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi made the allegation on X today, hours after Vance left Islamabad without an agreement following over 21 hours of talks in the Pakistani capital.
"Netanyahu's call to Vance during the meeting shifted the focus from US-Iran negotiations to Israel's interests," Araghchi wrote. "The US tried to achieve at the negotiating table what it could not achieve through war."
He said Iran had entered the Pakistan-hosted negotiations in good faith, adding Vance's press conference before his departure was "unnecessary." He said Iran remained "committed and prepared to safeguard our nation's interest and sovereignty."
Washington has not confirmed or denied the Netanyahu call.
The collapse comes at a fragile moment as a two-week ceasefire brokered earlier this month is now under renewed strain with just nine days left.
Iranian officials and regional mediators described the American position in Islamabad as untenable. According to Tehran's account of the talks, Washington sought not just freedom of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz for its vessels and those of its allies, but also the complete dismantlement of Iran's uranium enrichment programme and the transfer of its existing uranium stockpile. Vance is said to have presented the terms as Washington's "final and best offer," which Iran declined. The White House has not put out a detailed account of what was demanded or offered.
The uncertainty on oil shipping and energy prices has returned following the failed talks. Before the ceasefire announcement on April 9, Brent crude was trading above $119 a barrel in its highest level since the early weeks of the Strait of Hormuz crisis. The brief diplomatic pause had pushed prices toward $95, but that relief is reversing, analysts said. They expect a return to triple-digit oil prices if the ceasefire expires without a follow-on agreement.
Commercial shipping through the strait has dropped to near zero since March, after Iran deployed mines, drones, and missiles to deter transit and demanded fees of over $1 million per vessel, a practice widely seen as illegal under international maritime law.
The diplomatic collapse has also exposed fissures within Washington's alliance system, with Spain and Italy publicly declining to make their territory or airspace available for operations against Iran. Several other NATO members have resisted US President Donald Trump's pressure to enter the war, while the US' Gulf partners have similarly held back, leaving the US to push ahead alone in an increasingly isolated manner.
