Iran-U.S. Islamabad Talks Pushed to Sunday

(MENAFN) Iran-U.S. nuclear negotiations in Islamabad have been granted a critical one-day extension after Pakistan stepped in to broker additional time, Iranian media reported early Sunday — as deep divisions between the two delegations threatened to derail the fragile diplomatic process.

According to media, Pakistan's mediating team put forward the proposal for an additional round of talks on Sunday following a grueling session that stretched well past midnight. Both delegations, who had exchanged draft texts by the session's end, consented to the extension. The latest round had launched at 1 p.m. local time Saturday — 0800 GMT — and ran for over 14 consecutive hours before concluding in the early morning hours.

The extension came against a backdrop of mounting frustration on the Iranian side. Tasnim attributed the deadlock directly to Washington, noting that the report said given the "illogical and excessive demands" of the United States and the Iranian delegation's insistence on ensuring national interests, Pakistan proposed to hold another round of negotiations on Sunday and the two sides agreed.

An informed source cited by media indicated that while working-level expert teams had recorded some preliminary headway, senior delegations remained sharply divided — particularly over the Strait of Hormuz and several other unresolved issues. The source said no meaningful shift had taken place due to persistent U.S. overreach at the negotiating table.

Media had previously signaled the fragility of the process, warning that "the ball is now in the U.S. court to put aside its usual excessive demands and replace its ambitious approach with a realistic one." The agency went further in characterizing the stakes of Sunday's session, stating: "Given the U.S. excessive demands, this round appears to be the last chance given by the Iranian team to the Americans to achieve a joint framework."

The agency also pushed back against prevailing Western media narratives, asserting that some outlets were deliberately amplifying the talks' "positive atmosphere" as a mechanism to manipulate global energy markets.

The Islamabad negotiations are part of broader diplomatic efforts to stabilize Middle East tensions following a ceasefire reached earlier this week, which brought a halt to more than a month of active hostilities in the region.

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