US‑Iran Talks Set to Resume
- Negotiators expect the next round of US‑Iran peace talks to begin Monday after Pakistan helped revive stalled contacts. (timesofindia.indiatimes.com) - Experts who worked on the 2015 deal say mutual mistrust and complex issues make a quick breakthrough unlikely. (npr.org) - Trump publicly said the U.S. would work to recover enriched uranium, while Tehran insists it will not hand uranium over. (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
U.S. and Iranian negotiators are expected to return to talks on Monday, with Pakistan trying to restart a process that stalled after marathon meetings in Islamabad last weekend. (cbsnews.com) The first round ran for about 21 hours on April 11 and 12 and ended without an agreement before Vice President J.D. Vance left Pakistan. Pakistan then sent Army Chief Gen. Asim Munir to Tehran this week to press for another session before a two-week ceasefire expires. (apnews.com 1) (apnews.com 2) The dispute now centers on Iran’s enriched uranium, the stockpile produced by refining uranium to higher purity for reactor fuel or, at much higher levels, potential bomb material. President Donald Trump told Reuters on April 17 that the United States would work with Iran to recover that uranium and bring it to the U.S. (usnews.com) Tehran publicly rejected that idea. A senior Iranian official told USA Today on April 15 that Iran would not stop enriching uranium in exchange for peace, and Iranian officials have disputed Trump’s claim that any handover was agreed. (usatoday.com) (forbes.com) The talks are about more than one shipment or one ceasefire line. They are trying to turn the April truce into a longer arrangement covering Iran’s nuclear work, sanctions, and security terms after weeks of fighting and threats to shipping near the Strait of Hormuz. (aljazeera.com) (apnews.com) That helps explain why veterans of the 2015 Iran nuclear talks are warning against quick expectations. Former negotiators told NPR on April 18 that mutual mistrust, very different bargaining styles, and the number of linked issues make a fast deal unlikely. (wxxinews.org) Pakistan’s role has grown because it helped broker the current pause in fighting and offered Islamabad as neutral ground for direct contact. The New York Times reported on April 16 that the first talks produced a two-week ceasefire, and Pakistan has kept pressing both sides to come back before that window closes. (nytimes.com) The next test is whether Monday’s session happens on schedule and whether either side narrows the uranium dispute enough to keep the ceasefire from collapsing when the two-week deadline runs out. (cbsnews.com)
