Islamabad, Pakistan \u2013<\/strong>\u00a0Standing on the South Lawn of the White House before boarding his helicopter for Las Vegas on Thursday, United States President Donald Trump offered his most optimistic assessment yet of the war with Iran.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re very close to making a deal with Iran,\u201d he told reporters. \u201cThey\u2019ve totally agreed to that [no nuclear weapons]. They\u2019ve agreed to almost everything, so maybe if they can get to the table, there\u2019s a difference.\u201d<\/p>\n list of 4 items<\/span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n He went further, saying Iran had agreed to hand over its stockpile of enriched uranium, material that, if further enriched, can be used to build a nuclear weapon.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019ve agreed to give us back the nuclear dust that\u2019s way underground because of the attack we made with the B-2 bombers,\u201d he said, referring to US strikes in June last year.<\/p>\n A deal, he added, could come \u201cover the weekend\u201d. Trump said he would consider travelling to Islamabad himself if an agreement was signed there. \u201cIf the deal is signed in Islamabad, I might go. They want me to go.\u201d<\/p>\n Iran\u2019s Ministry of Foreign Affairs presented a different picture. Spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei confirmed that messages were being exchanged through Pakistan, but was unequivocal on enrichment.<\/p>\n Iran, he said, \u201cbased on its needs, must be able to continue enrichment\u201d. No Iranian official has confirmed agreeing to surrender the country\u2019s enriched uranium stockpile. Tehran\u2019s public position, that enrichment is a sovereign right, remains unchanged.<\/p>\n Asif Durrani, a former Pakistani diplomat who served as Islamabad\u2019s ambassador to Tehran from 2016 to 2018, said framing the situation as a gap between the two sides was misleading.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are no gaps, really. If Trump has read the NPT, he would know that every country has the right to access nuclear technology for peaceful purposes,\u201d he told Al Jazeera.\u00a0\u201cIran has said multiple times that it does not want a weapon. What it wants is civil nuclear use, within the framework of both the NPT and the JCPOA.\u201d<\/p>\n The NPT, or Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, aims to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons while promoting peaceful nuclear energy and disarmament.<\/p>\n The JCPOA, or Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, was the 2015 agreement between Iran and six world powers that capped Tehran\u2019s uranium enrichment and placed its facilities under international supervision in exchange for sanctions relief.<\/p>\n The United States withdrew from the deal in 2018 during Trump\u2019s first term, reimposing sanctions and setting in motion the gradual erosion of its limits on Iran\u2019s nuclear programme.<\/p>\n Seyed Mojtaba Jalalzadeh, an international relations analyst, said the reality was more complex than public statements suggest.<\/p>\n \u201cWe should avoid simplistic binaries such as \u2018one side is lying\u2019,\u201d he told Al Jazeera. \u201cThe gap visible between Trump\u2019s remarks and the position of Iran\u2019s foreign ministry is more a reflection of the complex, multilayered, and still unfinished nature of the negotiations.\u201d<\/p>\n When Trump speaks of \u201ctotal agreement\u201d, Jalalzadeh said, \u201che is most likely offering the most maximalist possible reading of the negotiating process.\u201d<\/p>\n It remains unclear whether Trump\u2019s remarks reflect genuine backchannel progress or are a pressure tactic in advance of the April 22 ceasefire deadline, but Trump and Iran\u2019s descriptions paint completely different pictures of the same negotiations.<\/p>\n The most active diplomacy on Thursday ran through Tehran, where Pakistan\u2019s army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, held a series of high-level meetings.<\/p>\n Munir met Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who led Iran\u2019s delegation at the Islamabad talks with the US last Saturday, followed by a meeting with President Masoud Pezeshkian.<\/p>\n He also met Major-General Ali Abdollahi, commander of Iran\u2019s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, the operational command of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.<\/p>\n Al Jazeera reported on Wednesday that Pakistani officials were expecting a \u201cmajor breakthrough\u201d on Iran\u2019s nuclear programme \u201cin days to come\u201d, with messages continuing to pass between Washington and Tehran.<\/p>\n While Munir engaged Iranian leaders in Tehran, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif pursued a parallel track, meeting Gulf leaders in Saudi Arabia and Qatar before arriving at Turkiye\u2019s Antalya Diplomacy Forum on Thursday evening.<\/p>\n Pakistan\u2019s central role has been acknowledged by both sides.<\/p>\n White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said any further in-person talks would most likely take place in Islamabad.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Pakistanis have been incredible mediators throughout this process, and we really appreciate their friendship and their efforts to bring this deal to a close, so they are the only mediator in this negotiation,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Durrani cautioned that Pakistan\u2019s role has limits.<\/p>\n \u201cPakistan is facilitating this meeting, and the most it can do is suggest certain things that mediators can offer in their capacity,\u201d he said. \u201cBut ultimately, it all depends on the political will of the two parties.\u201d<\/p>\n That political will now faces a ceasefire deadline set to expire on April 22.<\/p>\n Official sources told Al Jazeera that nearly 100 visa applications from journalists have been received in the past week, while authorities have begun tightening security in the capital in anticipation of a possible high-level event \u2014 the potential visit of US President Donald Trump, or at the very least, another round of high-level talks led by senior officials from Tehran and Washington.<\/p>\n Alongside diplomatic movement, Iran\u2019s hardline establishment struck a sharper tone.<\/p>\n Mohsen Rezaei, a former IRGC commander and now a military adviser to Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, said on a state-owned television channel that he did not support extending the ceasefire.<\/p>\n \u201cUnlike the Americans who are afraid of continuous war, we are fully prepared and familiar with a long war,\u201d he said, according to Tasnim News Agency.<\/p>\n Abdollahi, speaking during his meeting with Munir and quoted by state news agency IRNA, said the conflict stemmed from a \u201cmiscalculation\u201d by adversaries about Iran\u2019s public support and military strength. He added that Iran\u2019s forces remain ready for \u201ccomprehensive defence\u201d.<\/p>\n Durrani dismissed suggestions of internal divisions.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think there is any real division. Abdollahi is a military man and will speak as one; you cannot expect a military chief to say his country will not defend itself,\u201d he said. \u201cThe Iranian system is functioning, and the supreme leader is the final authority.\u201d<\/p>\n Jalalzadeh offered a more nuanced reading.<\/p>\n \u201cIran comes to the negotiating table with its finger on the trigger,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The Tehran-based analyst described the messaging as \u201csignificant, but not necessarily destabilising\u201d for negotiations, adding that it appeared aimed at applying pressure and managing domestic opinion rather than signalling a split that could derail talks.<\/p>\n On the US side, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth used a Pentagon news conference on Thursday morning to reinforce Washington\u2019s coercive posture.<\/p>\n The US naval blockade of Iranian ports would continue \u201cas long as it takes,\u201d he said, adding that Washington remained \u201clocked and loaded\u201d on Iran\u2019s energy infrastructure.<\/p>\n A development on the Lebanon front on Thursday offered a potential opening.<\/p>\n Trump on Thursday announced a 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, a move that could influence broader negotiations.<\/p>\n Iran has consistently maintained that any agreement with the US must address the situation in Lebanon.<\/p>\n Iranian Parliament Speaker Ghalibaf, in a phone call with his Lebanese counterpart Nabih Berri on Thursday, details of which he posted on Telegram, said a ceasefire in Lebanon \u201cis as important to Iran as a ceasefire in Iran itself\u201d.<\/p>\n Grace Wermenbol, a former US national security official and senior visiting fellow at the German Marshall Fund, said the development, while significant, carried familiar caveats.<\/p>\n \u201cThe ceasefire is an important first step. But we have been here before; the key question is whether it will hold or whether it will, just like in Gaza, be a ceasefire in name only,\u201d she told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThis is not the ending [Israeli Prime Minister] Benjamin Netanyahu wanted. Once again, just like in Gaza, Yemen, and Iran, he has promised but failed to provide a long-term solution to Israeli security concerns through brute military action alone,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Pakistan\u2019s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Tahir Andrabi reinforced the link between the two ceasefires \u2013 between the US and Iran, and between Israel and Lebanon \u2013 on Thursday.<\/p>\n \u201cPeace in Lebanon is essential for US-Iran peace talks,\u201d he said, adding that \u201csigns of improvement on the Israel-Lebanon front over the past two days are encouraging.\u201d<\/p>\n The confusion around the nuclear issue comes against a backdrop of evolving US objectives.<\/p>\n When the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran on February 28, the stated aims were sweeping.<\/p>\n On March 6, Trump wrote on Truth Social: \u201cThere will be no deal with Iran except UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER.\u201d<\/p>\n A 15-point proposal delivered by Pakistan to Tehran on March 25 called for ending Iran\u2019s nuclear programme, curbing its missile capabilities, reopening the Strait of Hormuz, and halting support for regional proxy groups.<\/p>\n What is now being discussed bears little resemblance to those demands.<\/p>\n Missiles and proxies have largely been dropped from the public agenda. Instead, discussions focus on enrichment limits, monitoring mechanisms, and Iran\u2019s estimated 440kg (970 pounds) of highly enriched uranium.<\/p>\n The US has proposed a 20-year freeze on enrichment, while Iran has countered with a five-year offer, according to reports.<\/p>\n Sahar Khan, a Washington DC-based independent analyst and nonresident fellow at the Institute for Global Affairs, argued the shift was less dramatic than it appeared.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not really a shift but more or less back to the JCPOA status quo, which had put a cap at enrichment levels and created a schedule for supervision,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n She said the dispute over \u201czero enrichment\u201d was largely definitional.<\/p>\n \u201cIran would be OK with \u2018zero enrichment\u2019 if it means it can produce its own nuclear fuel and maintain its centrifuges,\u201d she said, \u201cbecause it would mean that Iran does not have to depend on external suppliers, who will halt supply if Iran is put under sanctions again,\u201d the analyst said.<\/p>\n Durrani attributed the shift to changing realities on the ground.<\/p>\n \u201cThe US was dictated to by Israel. It was Israel that pushed the US into this war,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cBut now Israel has had a shock, and the US has also come to realise that it all comes down to the endurance of your opponent. Iran has demonstrated that endurance, it has shown it can sustain the pain,\u201d the former envoy said.<\/p>\n He added that despite its military power, the US was unwilling to deploy ground troops. \u201cThat kind of staying power is not something you find on the US and Israeli side.\u201d<\/p>\n The April 22 deadline now looms over the process.<\/p>\n Speaking in Las Vegas on Thursday evening, Trump said the war was going \u201cswimmingly\u201d and would \u201cend pretty soon\u201d, adding that talks could resume \u201cover the weekend\u201d.<\/p>\n Whether a second round materialises in Islamabad, and what minimum understanding the two sides might accept, remains unclear.<\/p>\n Khan said any agreement may hinge on deliberate ambiguity.<\/p>\n \u201cBoth sides need a \u2018win\u2019 on the nuclear issue, and something they can sell to their respective public,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Islamabad, Pakistan \u2013\u00a0Standing on the South Lawn of the White House before boarding his helicopter for Las Vegas on Thursday, United States President Donald Trump offered his most optimistic assessment yet of the war with Iran. \u201cWe\u2019re very close to making a deal with Iran,\u201d he told reporters. \u201cThey\u2019ve totally agreed to that [no nuclear […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19344,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19343","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-asia-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19343","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19343"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19343\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/19344"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19343"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19343"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19343"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Recommended Stories <\/h2>\n
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