In Islamabad, US set to face a more defiant Iran at negotiating table
Iran's widening ambitions after the war include a bid to exercise permanent control over the Strait of Hormuz.
WASHINGTON — When US-Iran talks kick off in Islamabad on Saturday, the Trump administration is likely to face a more inflexible negotiating team than the one it encountered before the war.
The talks themselves were in doubt a day before they were set to begin. Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran’s hard-line parliament speaker and likely negotiator, said Friday there will be no negotiations before a ceasefire in Lebanon, where Israel has intensified its air campaign against militant group Hezbollah.
Ghalibaf also conditioned the start of talks on the release of Iranian assets. The United States briefly freed up some $6 billion in Iranian oil revenues as part of a US-Iran prisoner swap in 2023, but it blocked Iran’s access to the funds following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks on Israel.
“These two matters must be fulfilled before negotiations begin,” Ghalibaf wrote on X.
