Negotiations

The concept encompasses any structured dialogue aimed at ending or managing armed conflict. In practice, wartime negotiations rarely begin with formal talks; they start with backchannels, intermediaries, and deniable contacts that allow both sides to explore terms without admitting weakness. Pakistan has positioned itself as the primary go-between, ferrying Trump's 15-point terms to Tehran and hosting both sides in Islamabad.

negotiations have been the ghost at the feast of the 2026 Iran conflict: constantly invoked, never confirmed. Ghalibaf was identified as Iran's interlocutor with US envoys while publicly denying any talks, and Donald Trump claimed a deal while Iran categorically denied negotiations existed. Oil markets swung violently on each rumour. The 8 April Ceasefire collapsed within hours when Iran launched 94 drones and 30 missiles at Gulf States, ending the pause before it began. The Islamabad talks that followed ended after 21 hours across two days with no agreement, no joint text, and no next meeting scheduled, on 12 April. Iran tabled a 10-point plan listing enrichment rights as non-negotiable, a position the US cannot accept.

Pakistan pledged to continue mediating alone despite the collapse, but Trump's declaration of a naval blockade via Truth Social on 12 April, with no executive order and no UN authorisation, structurally foreclosed any near-term diplomatic track. The pattern, talking and fighting simultaneously, is consistent with how most modern conflicts end: not with a clean Ceasefire but with both sides negotiating under fire until the costs of war exceed the costs of a deal. The enrichment gap and the blockade declaration together suggest that point has not yet been reached.