Amid speculation that the Iranian delegation might stay away from the second round of peace talks with the US in Islamabad, a senior Iranian leader has stated that Iran would continue the talks. Ebrahim Azizi, the head of the Iranian Parliament’s National Security Committee, gave a statement in this regard amid reports that Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian conveyed his disinterest in Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif after the US attacked and seized an Iranian-flagged cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz.
Azizi, who is a former IRGC commander, told Al Jazeera that Iran has decided to continue talks with the US, but this “does not mean to negotiate at any cost” or accepting any “approach the other party practises”. Iran has set red lines, and these “must be observed”, he added.
On whether Iran will send a team to Islamabad, Aziz suggested that it depends on whether Tehran receives positive signs.“We have never feared the principle of negotiation. Perhaps today or tomorrow, with further assessment, we consider it likely, providing that the American negotiating team and the messages they have received from Iran give a positive signal,” he said.
“We see the current negotiations as a continuation of the battlefield, and we see nothing other than the battlefield in this,” he said. “If it yields achievements that sustain those of the battlefield, then the negotiation arena is also an opportunity for us… But not if the Americans intend to turn this into a field of excessive demands, based on their bullying approach.”
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However, Iranian state-backed Tasnim News Agency reported that the Iranian negotiating team has underscored that as long as US President Donald Trump’s declaration regarding a naval blockade of Iran remains in place, there will be no negotiations.
That said, the exchanges of messages between Iran and the United States have continued in recent days through a Pakistani intermediary. “These exchanges of messages are, in effect, a continuation of the same process that unfolded during the initial round of talks. Since the end of those negotiations, the Pakistani intermediary has continued to relay messages between the two sides over the recent period,” it added.
