War in Iran: negotiations are progressing but a final agreement is still far away

The president of the Iranian parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, gave a lengthy interview in which he argues that the United States “must abandon (…) the spirit of imposition.”

Peace negotiations between Iran and the United States “have made progress” but a final agreement is “still far away,” said the powerful president of the Iranian parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, on Saturday.

“We are still far from closing the debate,” said Mr. Ghalibaf during a lengthy interview on Iranian television. He participated in negotiations on April 11 and 12 in Islamabad with an American delegation led by Vice President JD Vance. “We have made progress in the negotiations, but there are still many differences and some fundamental points remain unresolved,” he added.

The United States “must abandon (…) the spirit of imposition”

During the Islamabad meeting, the highest-level meeting between the two countries since the Iranian Revolution of 1979, “we emphasized that we have absolutely no confidence in the United States,” said Mr. Ghalibaf. “The United States must make the decision to gain the trust of the Iranian people,” he continued, adding: “they must abandon unilateralism and the spirit of imposition in their approach to dialogue.”

According to him, Iran only accepted the two-week ceasefire, which came into effect on April 8, because the United States requested it. “We were victorious on the ground, the enemy had not achieved any of its goals, and Iran also had control of the Strait of Hormuz,” he stated. “If we accepted the ceasefire, it was because they had accepted our demands.”