Putin says Russia ready to mediate US-Iran negotiations

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday told his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian that Moscow was ready to mediate a settlement to the US-Iran conflict in West Asia after the recent talks in Islamabad ended without an agreement.

“Vladimir Putin emphasised his readiness to further facilitate the search for a political and diplomatic settlement to the conflict, and to mediate efforts to achieve a just and lasting peace in the Middle East," the Kremlin said in its readout of the call.

This came after US and Iranian negotiators failed to come to an agreement on ending the war after 21 hours of high-level talks in Islamabad, although the two-week ceasefire holds. US and Iranian delegations have held multiple rounds of ceasefire negotiations, marking the first direct talks between Washington and Tehran since 1979.

Differences between both sides arose with regard to Iran’s nuclear programme, control over the Strait of Hormuz and Tehran’s ballistic missile capabilities. All members of the US and Iranian delegations have left Pakistan following the failed talks, a US official told Al Jazeera, denting hopes of any further discussions.

“The bad news is that we have not reached an agreement, and I think that’s bad news for Iran much more than it’s bad news for the United States of America," said US Vice President JD Vance, the head of the American delegation. “So we go back to the United States having not come to an agreement. We’ve made very clear what ​our red lines are."

Iran’s Parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who led his country’s delegation along with Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, blamed the ​US for not winning Iran’s trust despite his team offering “forward-looking initiatives".

Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said ​it was “imperative" to preserve the two-week ceasefire that was agreed last Tuesday as the sides attempt to wind down a war that began on February 28 with air strikes by the US and Israel on Iran.