Iran has told Pakistan’s army chief there will be no talks with Washington until Tehran’s demands are met, hardening its stance despite Islamabad’s mediation efforts and dimming hopes for a diplomatic breakthrough in the eight-month-old conflict.
Field Marshal Asim Munir met President Masoud Pezeshkian, parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and security chief Mohsen Rezaei in Tehran on Tuesday. The message from all three was consistent: no negotiations until the United States takes concrete steps to rebuild trust.
Seven conditions
Ghalibaf told Munir that Washington could not regain Tehran’s trust until it fulfilled seven conditions Iran set last month for reopening the Strait of Hormuz. The demands include ending the US blockade on Iranian ports, lifting sanctions on oil exports and ending hostilities on all regional fronts. Pezeshkian was blunter about the mood at home: the Iranian public does not trust America, fearing any engagement could lead to further military action.
The nuclear question remains the hardest knot. Rezaei told Munir that “not even a tiny bit of enriched nuclear material will leave Iran,” reiterating the position that near-weapons-grade uranium stays in the country. Washington has insisted the material be removed under any deal; Tehran calls it a national asset. The gap is the same one that has defined the Netanyahu-Trump Iran rift, now with a ticking clock.
Mediation at an impasse
Pakistan is the key intermediary, and its earlier mediation produced the June interim agreement, the Islamabad Memorandum, that quickly unravelled as fighting resumed. Indirect contacts continue through Pakistan and Qatar, but US vice-president JD Vance says Iran must make a “meaningful” reduction in enrichment, while Secretary of State Rubio calls the prospects of agreement “extremely difficult.”
The war’s political cost is visible on both sides, with Trump’s approval at a record low 33 percent as the midterms near. BusinessDay’s Reuters wire notes that Munir departed Tehran with no breakthrough announced, leaving the mediation exactly where it started: at an impasse.
