US peace talks off without sanctions removal, Iran tells Pakistan

Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian said the US must remove sanctions for negotiations to resume as he met the army chief of mediator Pakistan on Tuesday.

Pakistani Field Marshal Asim Munir was in Tehran with an official delegation to meet senior Iranian officials, amid stalled diplomatic efforts to end the war.

Qatar, another mediator in the conflict, said on Tuesday that communication between Iran and the US has "not stopped" and the aim was to reach a solution "as soon as possible”.

Mr Pezeshkian told the Pakistani defence chief that the US "must lift threats and sanctions before any talks", Iranian state media said.

"It is not possible to increase the severity of sanctions and pressure day by day and close the paths and roads to our country, and then claim to have dialogue and negotiation," he said.

The Iranian leadership has often sent contradictory signs about the prospects for peace. A day earlier, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told his Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov that Iran saw "no military solution" to the Middle East crisis.

Field Marshal Munir’s visit came as Reuters quoted Iranian officials as saying Tehran had been deliberately prolonging negotiations with Washington to weaken US President Donald Trump politically before November’s midterm elections, while preparing for possible renewed military action.

“Iran is preparing for renewed Israeli and US attacks, not for a deal with America to end the war,” one Iranian official was quoted as saying. “The clerical establishment is determined not to give Trump a political victory.”

The same report quoted Iranian officials as saying there was little prospect of a breakthrough before the November 3 vote.

Visit linked to rising oil prices?

Ibrahim Al Hashmi, media director at Qatar’s Foreign Ministry, warned that threats to cut internet cables in the Strait of Hormuz, along with dangers caused by sea mines and oil spills, would harm regional countries, including Iran, and urged Tehran to respect freedom of navigation and environmental protection.

His statement comes after Iran's security chief, Mohsen Rezaei, said regional undersea cables, data centres and AI sites could be attacked if hostilities with the US resume.

Tehran wants its conditions for ending hostilities and reopening the strait to be met before nuclear negotiations begin.

Iran has proposed reopening the waterway within seven days under its control, in exchange for lifting the US maritime blockade, easing restrictions on Iranian oil exports, the release of frozen assets and an end to hostilities on all fronts.

The deadlock comes as Iran’s economy faces mounting pressure from sanctions and the blockade. Shipping through the strait remains severely disrupted.

Iranian hardline news agency Fars suggested Field Marshal Munir’s visit was linked to rising oil prices, reporting that the trip had appeared unlikely to happen as late as Sunday, but his trip was finalised on Monday afternoon as the price of crude approached $110 a barrel.

A source told Fars that previous visits by mediators had helped to lower oil prices, but had produced no significant progress in negotiations.

Mr Araghchi said on Sunday that Tehran’s proposal remained on the table and that messages continued to be exchanged through mediators.

Tehran believed US and Israeli attacks could resume, despite Mr Trump saying Washington would not strike Iran again before November 3, Reuters reported.

The officials said Tehran’s distrust of Washington had deepened after attacks that derailed diplomatic efforts, including strikes in June 2025 and the launch of the war in February, shortly after another round of talks ended.

The threat of renewed military action extends to Pickaxe Mountain, a deeply buried site near Natanz nuclear complex. Tehran has warned that any US attack on the site would lead to retaliation.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei dismissed claims Washington could strike the site without facing a response, describing the idea as “nothing more than a claim”.

“Do you believe Iran would say ‘strike’ and we would remain silent?” Mr Baghaei said. He added that “the era of hitting and running is over”.

He said Iran would not leave any attack unanswered and warned the US would suffer a blow at least equal in magnitude to any strike it carried out.

Mr Trump has threatened a possible strike on Pickaxe Mountain, where Iran is building a heavily fortified underground facility, the precise purpose of which remains unclear.