Three main points of dispute dominated the Iran-US talks in Islamabad, The New York Times reported, citing two senior Iranian officials familiar with the negotiations: reopening the Strait of Hormuz, the fate of Iran's stockpile of enriched uranium and Tehran's demand for the release of about $27 billion in frozen assets held overseas.
According to the Iranian officials, the US demanded that Iran immediately reopen the strait to all maritime traffic. Tehran refused, saying it would do so only as part of a final agreement.
Iran also demanded compensation for war damage and called for the release of frozen oil revenues held in Iraq, Luxembourg, Bahrain, Japan, Qatar, Turkey and Germany for reconstruction purposes. The Americans rejected those demands.
Another point of contention is the president's demand that Iran hand over its entire stockpile of enriched uranium. Iran presented a counterproposal, but the sides were unable to reach a compromise. In the past, ideas such as diluting the material to a low enrichment level or converting it into nuclear fuel were raised in an effort to ensure it could not be used for a nuclear weapon.
At the end of the talks, an Iranian source told Tasnim, the news agency affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, that Iran had presented "reasonable initiatives" and that the ball was now in the American court. According to the source, Iran is in no rush, and as long as the US does not agree to a "reasonable deal," there will be no change in the situation in the Strait of Hormuz. The source added that no date or location had yet been set for the next round of negotiations.
