Araghchi Says Iran And US Were ‘inches Away’ From ‘Islamabad MoU’

2 min readUpdated: Apr 13, 2026 06:19 PM IST

The US-Iran talks, held in Islamabad on Saturday, amid the two-week ceasefire was “inches away” from an agreement before the US “maximalism” led to a collapse of negotiations, Iran’s Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said on Monday.

In a post on X, Araghchi said Iran had negotiated with the US in “good faith” to halt the conflict in West Asia. “But when just inches away from “Islamabad MoU”, we encountered maximalism, shifting goalposts, and blockade,” he wrote.

In intensive talks at highest level in 47 years, Iran engaged with U.S in good faith to end war.
But when just inches away from “Islamabad MoU”, we encountered maximalism, shifting goalposts, and blockade.
Zero lessons earned
Good will begets good will.
Enmity begets enmity.
— Seyed Abbas Araghchi (@araghchi) April 12, 2026

Araghchi then echoed earlier threats from Iranian officials and said, “Zero lessons learned. Good will begets good will. Enmity begets enmity.”

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US Vice President JD Vance, who was leading the American delegation which included President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner, said the talks failed after Iranian delegation refrained from forgoing its nuclear programme among other reasons.

According to a US official, Vance’s role in Islamabad talks was to highlight America’s red lines and present the issues where there was a room to negotiate, AP reported.

The official added that the core objective for US negotiators in Pakistan was to ensure that Tehran never secures a nuclear weapon. However, there were additional red lines which were set by Washington, that Tehran objected to.

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