Iran says ‘deep and significant’ gaps with U.S. remain in talks to end war

May 23, 2026 News

(AL-JAZEERA) Iran says peace negotiations with the United States face “deep and significant” differences and it’s difficult to say if a deal can be reached over the next “weeks or months”.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman says peace negotiations with the United States are not “close”, and it’s difficult to say if a deal will be reached “over weeks or months”.

State media quoted Esmaeil Baghaei as saying the gaps between Tehran and Washington are “deep and significant”.

“We cannot necessarily say that we have reached a point where an agreement is close,” he said. “The focus of the negotiations is on ending the war. Details related to the nuclear issue are not being discussed at this stage.”

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has told the United Nations chief that Washington’s “excessive demands” are the main obstacle to ongoing peace negotiations.

Iran says ‘deep and significant’ gaps with U.S. remain in talks to end war

Vessels sail through the Strait of Hormuz, Musandam, Oman, May 20, 2026. [Stringer/Reuters]

Araghchi, speaking by phone with António Guterres, said the US had repeatedly undermined diplomacy through broken promises, contradictory positions, and military aggression, but Iran is nonetheless engaging seriously in the Pakistan-mediated talks.

Guterres, for his part, rejected the use of force against any state’s sovereignty and called for diplomacy to restore stability in the region, according to a Foreign Ministry readout as reported by the semi-official Tasnim news agency.

A flurry of diplomatic activity is ongoing in Iran in an effort to reach a peace agreement with the United States.

“The current process and the presence of senior Pakistani officials in Tehran means that we have reached a turning point or a decisive situation,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil ⁠Baghaei.

“The reason we don’t talk about the details of nuclear-related discussions is clear. We have done this twice, and the other party’s greed led us into war. We cannot ignore this experience,” said Baghaei.

“Regarding nuclear issues, the matter is very clear – we are a member of the NPT [Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty] and we have the right to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes,” he added.

Meanwhile, Iran said any demand that Iran must hand over its highly enriched uranium to the US is a non-starter, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil ⁠Baghaei says.

“We will not reach a conclusion if we try to delve into details related to highly enriched uranium in Iran,” the official IRNA news agency quoted him as saying.

Baghaei also said a Qatari delegation currently holding talks with Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, ⁠adding ⁠Pakistan remains the main ⁠mediator in ⁠the ⁠negotiations.

Iran’s oil minister is urging Iranians to reduce their fuel consumption following US-Israeli attacks on Tehran’s oil and gas infrastructure.

Mohsen Paknejad said the US and Israel “targeted some of the gas facilities, storage tanks, and fuel supply in Tehran province”.

“Although we quickly restored a large part of what we had lost… we still need the people’s support in efficient fuel consumption,” Paknejad was quoted by the IRNA official news agency.

It is difficult to say right now whether the US and Iran are on a solid diplomatic path or whether the war will resume in some way, says Ross Harrison, senior fellow at the Middle East Institute.

“One of the things I think we should be looking [at] is not just these proximity talks, which occurred in Islamabad four or five weeks ago, or the indirect talks that are taking place now; I think we need to look for more intensive direct negotiation between the parties,” Harrison told Al Jazeera.

The analyst believes that currently “all the parties are trying to establish some kind of framework agreement”, a process being undermined by Trump’s “vitriol” and “bravado”.

This is because the Iranians “are going to be quite sensitive to the optics of … surrendering to some of the threats and potential military action coming from the United States, because from their perspective they believe that … to really end the war, they have to create deterrence,” said Harrison.

Essentially, Iran wants to make sure it’s in a strong position before the war ends, said Harrison, adding that the US, meanwhile, “needs to believe that it gained something that it didn’t have before the war, and that’s the escalation trap that Trump is in”.

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Iran, Strait of Hormuz, Tehran, US-Israeli attacks, war

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