TIME: Iran rejects Trump’s “red lines” in talks

Negotiations between the United States and Iran in Islamabad did not result in an agreement due to serious disagreements on key issues.

A US official told TIME that Iran rejected several “red lines” set by the Trump Administration, including ending all uranium enrichment, dismantling major enrichment facilities, and removing its stockpile of highly enriched uranium from the country.

The official added that Iranian negotiators also refused to end funding for allied militant groups across the region and to fully open the Strait of Hormuz without imposing transit fees.

Kamran Bokhari, senior resident fellow at the Middle East Policy Council, a Washington-based think tank, said US nuclear demands left no room for face-saving for Iran, which considers its nuclear program a matter of national pride. He described the departure of the US team as a “classic walk-out move,” from Trump’s negotiating playbook.

“The Iranians can’t look like they’ve capitulated,” said Bokhari. “The credibility of the regime at home and overseas is at stake.”

The ceasefire remained in place for now. However, Trump’s announcement on April 12 of a naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz – aimed at preventing Iranian use of the waterway – could escalate tensions, with the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) warning that “any miscalculated move will trap the enemy in the deadly whirlpools in the Strait.”

By Jeyhun Aghazada