Iran’s Ex-FM Zarif Blames Talks Failure On US Push To ‘Dictate’ Terms
A woman waves Iran’s national flag at the Revolution Square in Tehran on April 12, 2026. Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who was part of peace talks with the United States this weekend, said on April 12 that Washington was “unable” to win Tehran’s trust during the discussions. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP) / Iran’s former foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who led his country’s delegation at 2015 nuclear talks, on Sunday blamed the failure of negotiations to end the Middle East war on US attempts to “dictate” its terms. Advertisement googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display("div-gpt-ad-1672569656851-0"); }); “No negotiations – at least with Iran – will succeed based on ‘our/your terms’,” said Zarif, one of the architects of the nuclear deal with the United States and other world powers, which was abandoned in 2018 by US President Donald Trump. “The US must learn: you can’t dictate terms to Iran. It’s not too late to learn. Yet,” added Zarif in a post on X. READ ALSO: Iran Talks Stall, No Agreement On Mideast War — Vance On Saturday, senior American and Iranian officials held peace talks in Pakistan, as a fragile two-week ceasefire held. Advertisement googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display("div-gpt-ad-1672569913499-0"); }); This handout photograph taken on April 11, 2026 and released by Pakistan’s Prime Minister Office shows Pakistan’s Army Chief and Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir (R), Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar (2R), Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif (3R) during their meeting with Iran’s parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf (4L) and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi (2L) prior to the US-Iran peace talks in Islamabad. (Photo by Pakistan Prime Minister’s Office / AFP) After the talks failed, US news website Axios quoted an unnamed source briefed on the negotiations as saying that disagreements included “Iran’s demand to control the Strait of Hormuz and refusal to give up on its enriched uranium stockpile.” US Vice President JD Vance, who led his country’s delegation, said at a press conference Sunday that the talks lasted around 21 hours and that Iran had “chosen not to accept our terms”. Advertisement googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display("div-gpt-ad-1672587799169-0"); }); Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said the two sides had agreed on some points but that “differences remained on two or three important issues.” Iran has been at war with the United States and Israel since February 28, when strikes killed the Islamic Republic’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei, triggering a conflict that quickly spread across the Middle East. It was not immediately clear whether the two sides would resume contacts, or what would happen to the ceasefire after talks failed. Advertisement googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display("div-gpt-ad-1672587060870-0"); }); AFP Join Our Whatsapp Channel To join: Simply click on the link below & turn on notifications to get the latest updates Subscribe to Our Newsletter In This Article: Iran Mohammad Javad Zarif United States More Stories ‘Disappointing’, UK Minister Reacts To Failed US-Iran Talks Iran Talks Stall, No Agreement On Mideast War — Vance US-Iran: More Than Four Decades Of Enmity /* * * CONFIGURATION VARIABLES: EDIT BEFORE PASTING INTO YOUR WEBPAGE * * / var disqus_shortname = 'channelstelevision'; // Required - Replace example with your forum shortname / * * DON'T EDIT BELOW THIS LINE * * */ (function() { var dsq = document.createElement('script'); dsq.type = 'text/javascript'; dsq.async = true; dsq.src = '//' + disqus_shortname + '.disqus.com/embed.js'; (document.getElementsByTagName('head')[0] || document.getElementsByTagName('body')[0]).appendChild(dsq); })(); Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.