Iran has withdrawn from talks with the US following threats issued by US President Donald Trump, cutting off direct diplomatic engagement between the two countries.
According to The New York Times (NYT), Iranian officials said that negotiations could not continue under the threat of force, describing Washington’s statements as coercive.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Iran’s decision to halt negotiations was directly linked to Trump’s remarks threatening to destroy the “whole civilization” of Iran.
“A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. “I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will.”
Trump has warned that Iran must comply with US demands by Tuesday evening US time or face intensified military consequences, including strikes on infrastructure. Hours before the deadline, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard intelligence chief, Majid Khademi, was killed in an airstrike.
Pakistan said it has appealed to the US to extend the deadline by another two weeks to allow potential dialogues, the NYT said, but no alternative negotiations have been announced.
Earlier on Tuesday, Iran said it had delivered a 10-point framework a day earlier aimed at ending the ongoing conflict with the US and Israel. The proposal outlines provisions for safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz, calls for the lifting of sanctions, seeks reconstruction of damaged infrastructure, and demands a broader end to regional hostilities.
The US/Israeli war in Iran has prompted Tehran to close the Strait of Hormuz – a key oil export route from the Gulf States, leading to a global hike in fuel prices; Washington initially said the war aimed to bring about regime change and stop Iran from gaining nuclear weapons.
Iran’s former Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed in an airstrike early in the conflict, while his son and successor, Mojtaba Khamenei, is said to have been wounded in a subsequent strike and is reportedly incapacitated and unable to govern.