Iran and the United States have achieved limited progress in negotiations conducted under Pakistani mediation, a senior Iranian official said on Thursday, but key disputes remain unresolved more than halfway through a two-week truce.
The Iranian official described the visit to Tehran by Pakistan's army chief as having helped reduce differences in select areas, while stressing that foundational disagreements persist in the nuclear domain. "The trip of the Pakistani army chief to Tehran was effective in reducing differences in some areas, but fundamental disagreements still remain in the nuclear field," the official said.
According to the same official, the talks have nevertheless improved prospects for prolonging the current ceasefire and for convening a second round of negotiations. "More hopes have been created for extending the ceasefire and holding a second round of talks," they added.
Despite that relative progress, Tehran said that several core issues remain highly contested. Among those singled out were the disposition of Iran's stockpile of highly enriched uranium and the proposed duration of restrictions on Iran's nuclear activities. "The fate of Iran's highly enriched uranium and the duration of Iran's nuclear restrictions are among the highly disputed issues for which no solution has yet been found," the official said.
Field Marshal Asim Munir, Pakistan's army chief, traveled to Tehran on Wednesday in a diplomatic effort to reduce the risk of renewed hostilities. Pakistan had earlier hosted the initial peace talks over the weekend.
A spokesperson for Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that no dates have been set for a second round of discussions between the United States and Iran.
The two countries did not reach agreement during last weekend's talks on ending the conflict that began with a surprise attack on February 28, which U.S. President Donald Trump launched alongside Israel. That attack prompted Iranian retaliatory fire directed at Gulf states and contributed to a parallel escalation of hostilities in Lebanon.
Context note - The comments quoted above reflect the statements of a senior Iranian official and the public remarks by Pakistan's Foreign Ministry spokesperson concerning the status of talks and the remaining points of disagreement.