Iran's president says Tehran backs return to Islamabad understanding
Pezeshkian says talks with US envoys Kushner and Whittaker centred on Iran's rights under international law and asked for nothing more
Published
Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tehran agrees on the need to return to the Islamabad understanding and to honour its commitments. He said talks with US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Whittaker had focused on Iran's rights under international law and that Iran had asked for nothing beyond that.
The statement follows a mixed run of signals from Tehran. Iran has denied that talks with Washington are taking place at all, calling reports of them market management. A senior Iranian official has separately said Tehran could return to a memorandum of understanding with Washington, while a senior Iranian source has said the two sides have traded messages tying access to the Strait of Hormuz to sanctions relief. Another Iranian official has said the strait will stay shut until Iran's conditions are met and that Tehran will hold no nuclear talks and make no concessions.
On the US side, an official has said Washington is in a strong position, controls the strait and sees no urgency to reach an agreement. Centcom has said it has redirected 122 vessels around the blockade. Iran's delegation in New York received US visas after an initial denial, and talks there have moved into a technical phase with Qatari experts joining the process; sources in Tehran describe the latest round as more detailed and increasingly positive.
Iran's renewed call to return to the Islamabad understanding lines up with the technical talks under way in New York but adds little that shifts what markets already expect. The Strait of Hormuz remains the core dispute, with both sides still stating maximalist positions in public even as negotiators report progress. For now the standoff is neutral for trading unless the terms on offer or the timeline for a deal actually change.