No headway in Middle East peace efforts as US and Iran refuse to yield

Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi (right), visits the Sultan of Oman, Haitham bin Tariq, en route to Pakistan, where he continued mediation talks without US emissaries. Photograph: Iranian Foreign Ministry/EPAView image in fullscreenIran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi (right), visits the Sultan of Oman, Haitham bin Tariq, en route to Pakistan, where he continued mediation talks without US emissaries. Photograph: Iranian Foreign Ministry/EPAUS-Israel war on IranNo headway in Middle East peace efforts as US and Iran refuse to yieldDeepening sense of deadlock despite regional diplomacy as Washington and Tehran show no signs of compromiseJason BurkeSun 26 Apr 2026 13.50 EDTLast modified on Sun 26 Apr 2026 15.33 EDTSharePrefer the Guardian on GoogleHopes of a breakthrough in negotiations between Iran and the US faded further on Sunday, amid a deepening sense of deadlock in the nearly two-month-long conflict despite intense regional diplomatic activity.Washington and Tehran appear unwilling to moderate rhetoric or make concessions, and there are no negotiations scheduled that might bring the war to a definitive end.The great energy pivot: US oil and Chinese solar are the winners in Trump’s war on IranRead moreOn Sunday, Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s foreign minister, returned to Pakistan for a second consecutive day of talks with mediators after a brief trip to Oman for discussions there.Araghchi described his Pakistan trip on Saturday as “very fruitful” but signalled scepticism over Washington’s intentions. “Have yet to see if the US is truly serious about diplomacy,” he said on X.On Saturday, Donald Trump announced that he had cancelled a visit to Pakistan by his envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. The two men were to take part in a second round of talks with Iran that had been tentatively scheduled for this weekend.Speaking in Florida, before being rushed out of the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in Washington after a gunman fired shots at his security detail, Trump said the visit involved too much travel and expense for what he considered an inadequate Iranian offer.The cancellation came after Iran said it would not be attending any direct talks while the US blockaded all shipping to or from the Islamic Republic.Trump later claimed that Tehran had offered a new proposal for agreement within minutes of his decision.“They gave us a paper that should have been better and – interestingly – immediately when I cancelled it, within 10 minutes, we got a new paper that was much better,” he told reporters, without elaborating.Pakistani officials have sought to rebuild momentum in the negotiations, briefing media that progress towards a possible “bridging agreement” to allow discussions to restart was being made.A round of talks in Islamabad earlier this month – in which a US delegation led by the vice-president, JD Vance, met Iranian delegates led by Iran’s parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf – ended without any apparent progress towards a deal.The 21-hour session earlier exposed wide gaps on the future of the strait of Hormuz, Iran’s nuclear programme and Tehran’s longstanding support for militant movements around the Middle East.The talks collapsed after Iran would not agree to US demands to end nuclear enrichment and hand over its 440kg of highly enriched uranium.Last week, Trump announced an indefinite extension of his earlier two-week ceasefire with Iran and repeated his demand that Iran allow shipping free…

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