Reports from U.S. and Iranian officials point to growing uncertainty over the future of Tehran-Washington negotiations as disagreements inside Iran and disputes over the Strait of Hormuz complicate diplomatic efforts.
Simay Azadi News Desk – The future of negotiations between Iran and the United States remains uncertain despite the signing of a recent memorandum of understanding (MOU), as officials on both sides signal new disagreements over the next phase of talks. At the same time, reports indicate that internal divisions within Iran’s ruling establishment are increasingly complicating the diplomatic process.
According to Reuters, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said that “no meeting at any level with the U.S. side has been scheduled for the coming days,” clouding prospects for reaching a broader peace agreement.
Meanwhile, U.S. Vice President JD Vance indicated that Washington remains focused on Iran’s actions rather than its public statements.
“We care much more about what Iran does than what Iran says.”
Vance also said President Donald Trump had instructed his team to continue pursuing diplomacy while assessing where negotiations ultimately lead.
۰”What the President has told us is to work on the problem and see where the negotiations lead.”
Despite ongoing tensions, Vance noted that oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz have largely recovered.
“Oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz have returned to pre-war levels, and on some days have even exceeded them.”
The negotiations come as The Wall Street Journal reported that President Trump recently held multiple discussions with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine about the possibility of resuming military strikes against Iran before deciding—for now—to continue diplomatic efforts.
According to the newspaper, the current diplomatic deadlock has also prompted Washington to examine alternative shipping arrangements should negotiations over the Strait of Hormuz fail. At the same time, The Wall Street Journal reported that internal power struggles inside Iran are threatening the U.S.-Iran peace talks, with competing priorities among political leaders and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps complicating Tehran’s negotiating position.
The issue of the Strait of Hormuz has become one of the central points of disagreement.
Speaking on Iranian state television, Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said that sovereignty over the Strait belongs to Iran and Oman and argued that transit through the waterway is subject to arrangements determined by Tehran. He also stated that Iran would hold no further negotiations with the United States until implementation of the memorandum of understanding begins and claimed that toll-free passage through the Strait under the agreement would last only 60 days.
At the same time, Ghalibaf acknowledged the economic importance of keeping the shipping lane open.
“We should not turn the Strait against itself. The Strait is valuable when traffic through it increases day by day, not when it decreases.”
He also warned:
“If we are prevented from selling our oil, then no one will benefit from oil.”
The controversy surrounding Ghalibaf’s remarks deepened after the Parliament’s Media Center accused Iran’s state broadcaster of cutting short a pre-recorded interview before it aired. According to the parliamentary statement, the interview had been delivered to state television two hours before broadcast, but the program was interrupted midway without coordination. The statement said the omitted portions included Ghalibaf’s response to what it described as false claims regarding inspections of Iran’s nuclear facilities and details about efforts to release frozen Iranian assets.
Meanwhile, Reuters reported that Iran’s refusal to hold talks with U.S. representatives has further complicated efforts to transform the temporary understanding into a permanent agreement.
Separately, Germany’s domestic intelligence service said in its latest assessment that the Iranian regime continues to focus a significant portion of its intelligence activities on monitoring and targeting opposition groups and individuals abroad, underscoring Tehran’s continuing emphasis on suppressing dissent beyond its borders.