Washington: The United States (US) and Iran are likely to hold the next round of talks likely on Monday (April 20) once again in Pakistan, a report by CNN claimed on Saturday. Quoting sources, it also stated that the US and Iranian delegations will arrive in Pakistan over the weekend after which the negotiations will start from Monday.
Neither the US, nor Iran has confirmed the report, though.
The development comes after President Donald Trump expressed confidence over talks with Iran and claimed that the Islamic Republic has “agreed to everything” in talks with the Americans. This, he claimed, also includes the removal of enriched uranium stockpile from Iran and bringing it back to the US. Iranian authorities have declined Trump’s claim over the country’s uranium, though.
“We’re going to get it by going in with Iran, with lots of excavators. We need the biggest excavators you can imagine. But we’re going in together with Iran, we’re going to get it, and we’re going to take it back home to the USA,” Trump said at the Turning Point USA event in Phoenix, Arizona.
The ‘failed’ talks in Islamabad
Coming to the US-Iran talks, the first round of negotiations were held week in Pakistan’s capital city of Islamabad. The talks were held for 21 hours straight, but failed to end the deadlock between the two sides. US Vice President JD Vance, who was leading the American delegation, said the talks failed after Iran refused to agree to Washington’s demands on its nuclear programme.
The US, along with Israel, have long been against of Iran’s nuclear programme, with both Trump and Vance reiterating that Tehran would never be allowed to get a nuclear weapon. On the contrary, Iran, which has maintained that the nuclear programme is for civilian use, said the talks failed due to ‘unreasonable’ US demands.
Following the failure of talks, Trump announced a blockade of Strait of Hormuz, which Iran claimed is a violation of the ceasefire agreement agreed last week. Iran has said it will “take the necessary reciprocal measures” if the US decides to violate its own commitments. “No leniency will be shown in this regard,” Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said.
