Did peace talks fail because of one call from Netanyahu? Abbas Araghchi told the inside story

High-level talks held in Pakistan with the aim of reducing the rising tension between Iran and America ended without any concrete result. Despite long talks that lasted for about 21 hours, both the countries failed to reach agreement on many important issues. Amidst this failure, Iran made a serious allegation and said that during the talks, a phone call by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu changed the direction of the entire discussion.

Syed Abbas Araghchi’s claim

Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi claimed that during the talks, Netanyahu contacted US Vice President JD Vance, after which the focus of the talks shifted from US-Iran relations to Israel’s interests. According to Araghchi, America tried to achieve goals during negotiations that it could not achieve through military action.

He also said that Iran had joined the talks with positive thinking and honest intentions, but called the press conference held by Vance before leaving Islamabad as unnecessary. Araghchi made it clear that Iran is fully committed to protecting its national interests and sovereignty and will not make any compromise in this matter.

At the same time, the American delegation returned from Pakistan without any agreement. Vance said that America had presented the final and best proposal from its side, but Iran’s steadfast stance on the uranium enrichment program became the biggest obstacle to the agreement.

First direct high-level talks after Islamic revolution

It is noteworthy that this was the first direct high-level conversation between the two countries after the Islamic Revolution of 1979. The talks took place at a time when only four days had passed since a two-week ceasefire was announced in the area. Earlier on February 28, the military attacks on Iran by America and Israel had further increased the regional tension, which also affected the global energy supply.

Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqir Ghalibaf also expressed no confidence in America and said that America failed to win Iran’s trust in this conversation. He said that Iran took positive initiatives, but the American side did not live up to the expectations. Ghalibaf also reiterated that Iran will move forward using both diplomatic and military options to protect its interests. However, there has been no official response from the US yet on Netanyahu’s allegations of alleged interference.