Summary
Iranians in Tehran reacted to the end of peace talks with the United States with disappointment mixed with defiance, after negotiators concluded that no agreement could be reached following hourslong discussions, an AP report said Sunday. U.S. officials said the talks collapsed over what they described as Iran’s refusal to commit to abandoning its nuclear program, while Iranian officials blamed the United States for failing to reach a deal without identifying the specific sticking points.
The talks, held in Pakistan, ran for about 21 hours, and the failure of the high-stakes negotiations raised questions about the future of a fragile ceasefire that was expected to last roughly two weeks and was due to expire April 22. Even as the ceasefire appeared to hold, the report said the war was not over and uncertainty remained in Tehran.
AP reported that Tehran residents have been living under an internet blackout for more than a month, beginning shortly after the war started Feb. 28. Since then, many people have relied on state-controlled media, with only a limited number of residents able to access overseas satellite television channels for information.
Outside a newsstand in Tehran, Farhad Simia, 43, told AP that he had hoped for successful negotiations and an end to the fighting but said he stood with Iran despite the failure of the talks. “I’m against war. I think negotiation is the better path,” Simia said, and he blamed “inappropriate demands” by the U.S. for the talks’ outcome.
Mehdi Hosseini, also 43, agreed that Iran had reason to be concerned, the report said. He said that with Iran appearing to have the advantage on the battlefield, there was “a real concern that we might lose all those gains in the negotiations,” adding that he saw reason for hope because Iran’s negotiating team “managed to preserve what it achieved in the war” while refusing to back down and surrender.
Other residents pointed to the U.S. as the central obstacle. Hamid Haghi, 55, said “America’s overreach” explained the talks’ failure and said the U.S. wanted “to come to the Strait of Hormuz,” which he described as part of Iran’s legacy. “We can oversee (it) ourselves,” Haghi said, according to AP.
In the streets, the mood was also reinforced by government messaging displayed in public view, the report said. AP described large Iranian flags and billboards glorifying the country’s leaders and military achievements, including one illustration showing Iranian men in uniform lifting a fishing net out of the sea with a catch of miniature-sized U.S. military aircraft and warships, with the billboard text “The Strait Remains Closed.”
Mohammad Bagher, 60, told AP that Iran should continue standing against the U.S. and said Iran is “a nation of dialogue and negotiation as long as our interests are respected.” “We have never sought war,” Bagher said, adding that Iran would “stand firm to the end” and “will not give them one inch of our land.”
AP reported that since the U.S. and Israel launched the war on Feb. 28, it has killed at least 3,000 people in Iran, 2,020 in Lebanon, 23 in Israel, and more than a dozen in Gulf Arab states. The report said the conflict has also caused lasting damage to infrastructure in half a dozen Middle Eastern countries, and that Iran’s grip on the Strait of Hormuz has largely cut off the Persian Gulf and its oil and gas exports, sending energy prices higher.