Iran, US Remain Far Apart in Peace Talks as Pezeshkian Vows No Surrender

Yugcharan News / 24-09-2026

Iran and the United States remain sharply divided over how to end their ongoing war, with Tehran reviewing Washington's response to its proposals while Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian declared at the United Nations that Iran would not surrender to US pressure.

The developments came after the first known indirect talks between Iranian and US officials in several months. The diplomatic contact, conducted through mediators, produced no immediate public breakthrough, with both sides continuing to maintain significantly different positions on the conditions for ending the conflict.

A senior Iranian official told Reuters on Wednesday that Tehran was examining the US response to Iranian proposals. According to the official, the proposals prioritise lifting the US naval blockade of Iranian ports and reopening the Strait of Hormuz.

“There are still many differences between the Iranian and US positions, but diplomacy is continuing,” the official said.

The diplomatic exchanges took place against the backdrop of increasingly strong public statements from both governments, as well as growing international concern over the impact of the conflict on energy supplies and shipping.

Pezeshkian Says Iran Will Not Bow to Pressure

Addressing the 193-member United Nations General Assembly in New York, Pezeshkian focused heavily on the US blockade of Iranian ports and the strategic importance of the Strait of Hormuz.

He argued that Iran could not accept a situation in which other countries benefited from shipping through the waterway while Iran was denied access to maritime trade.

“The Iranian people will not bow to pressure,” Pezeshkian said during his address.

The Iranian president also criticised what he described as a “bullying mentality” from US President Donald Trump. Trump had used his own UN address a day earlier to threaten that the United States could “annihilate” the Islamic Republic if no agreement was reached to end the conflict.

Pezeshkian reiterated Iran's position that Tehran is not seeking nuclear weapons, while maintaining that Iran would resist US demands that it considers unacceptable.

The conflicting positions demonstrated the gap between the two governments even as diplomatic contacts resumed through intermediaries.

Tehran Wants Strait of Hormuz Reopened

The Strait of Hormuz remains at the centre of the dispute. The strategically important waterway carries a substantial share of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments.

Before the war, roughly a fifth of global oil and LNG shipments moved through the strait, according to the Reuters report.

Iran has sought greater control over the waterway and wants to collect fees from vessels using it. The United States has rejected that position and maintains that the strait should remain fully open to international shipping.

The disagreement has significant implications for global energy markets. Oil prices rose by almost 2% on Wednesday in volatile trading as investors assessed the latest statements from Pezeshkian and Trump.

Markets have been closely monitoring developments around the strait because any prolonged disruption could affect the availability and cost of crude oil and other energy products internationally.

First Indirect Talks Since July Ceasefire Collapse

The latest diplomatic exchanges were the first known indirect talks between Iranian and US officials since a ceasefire collapsed in July.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi communicated with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner through mediators. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said Tehran had conveyed its conditions during an approximately two-hour exchange of messages conducted through Qatar.

According to Baghaei, Iran's demands included an end to the war on all fronts, a halt to what Tehran describes as US “acts of aggression” and the release of frozen Iranian assets.

The talks did not immediately lead to a public agreement. Instead, both governments continued to emphasise positions that remain difficult to reconcile.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said reaching an agreement with Iran would require considerable work over time. He also said that Trump continued to have military options available.

The comments underscored the combination of diplomatic and military pressure surrounding the negotiations.

Threat Over Iranian Civilian Flights

Another major point of tension involves Iranian civilian aviation.

The United States has said it will impose secondary sanctions against countries that allow Iranian flights after Wednesday. In response, Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, warned that Iran would take action against neighbouring countries if they prevented Iranian flights from operating.

Rezaei told Iranian state television that Tehran would ensure airports in neighbouring countries could not function if those countries stopped Iranian flights.

The warning added another layer to the dispute, extending tensions beyond the immediate questions of the naval blockade, the Strait of Hormuz and the wider war.

Diplomatic Contacts Face Domestic Opposition in Iran

The diplomatic exchanges also triggered criticism from hardliners inside Iran.

Iranian media outlets associated with hardline political circles criticised the contact between Iranian and American representatives. An opinion article published by the semi-official Tasnim news agency, which Reuters described as being associated with Iran's Revolutionary Guards, criticised Araqchi's communications with Witkoff and Kushner.

Iranian sources told Reuters that Iran's delegation had been instructed by the Supreme National Security Council not to hold face-to-face meetings with American officials.

The diplomatic activity in New York therefore faced scrutiny not only from Washington but also from political factions within Iran.

Reuters also reported that some Iranian hardliners viewed the Iranian delegation's presence in New York negatively, with one Iranian journalist saying that some regarded the visit as disrespectful to the memory of the late Iranian leader Ali Khamenei.

These reactions illustrate the domestic political pressures surrounding any possible negotiations with the United States.

Strait of Hormuz Remains Under Pressure

The war has also created major risks for commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

Britain's UK Maritime Trade Operations agency reported that a cargo ship was hit by projectiles in the latest reported incident in the strait. Two crew members were reported to have been affected, and the crew was evacuated while the vessel remained on fire and adrift.

Despite continuing attacks, traffic through the waterway has increased in recent weeks.

According to the Reuters report, oil producers have been paying shipping companies substantial fees to undertake the risks associated with transporting cargo through the strait during wartime. Some operators have sailed with transponders switched off before transferring crude to other vessels beyond the strait near the coast of Oman.

The measures highlight the extraordinary risks being taken by commercial shipping companies to maintain energy flows despite the conflict.

Gulf Oil Supplies Continue to Face Disruptions

Some Gulf oil exports have recovered despite the ongoing disruption.

Exports from the United Arab Emirates have returned to pre-war levels, while Saudi Arabia has sold 60 million barrels of Gulf oil for September and October delivery, with the cargoes scheduled to be transferred beyond the Strait of Hormuz off the coast of Oman.

However, Reuters reported that an estimated one-third of Gulf oil remains absent from global supplies.

The disruption has been particularly significant for refined products such as diesel. Shortages have contributed to inflationary pressures and have affected interest rates, according to the Reuters report.

The energy disruption has therefore become an important economic consequence of the conflict, extending its impact well beyond the countries directly involved.

No Immediate Breakthrough in Sight

The latest developments suggest that diplomacy between Iran and the United States has resumed, but major disagreements remain unresolved.

Iran is seeking an end to the war, the removal of the US naval blockade, reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and the release of frozen Iranian assets. Washington, meanwhile, continues to maintain pressure on Tehran while keeping military options open.

Pezeshkian's UN address also showed that Iran's public position remains firmly opposed to surrendering to US pressure.

At the same time, the decision by Iranian and US representatives to communicate through intermediaries indicates that diplomatic channels remain open despite the sharp public rhetoric.

The coming negotiations are likely to focus on the issues that have emerged as central to the conflict: the status of the Strait of Hormuz, the US naval blockade, sanctions, Iran's nuclear programme, frozen Iranian assets and the conditions required to end hostilities.

For now, Iranian officials say substantial differences remain between the two sides. While both countries continue to exchange messages through mediators, there has been no publicly announced agreement to end the war.

The continuing uncertainty around the talks is also being closely watched by energy markets and the international shipping industry, with the Strait of Hormuz remaining a critical factor in the global economic consequences of the conflict.