Serdar Dincel
22 April 2026•Update: 22 April 2026
Iran said on Wednesday that "breach of commitments, blockade, and threats" are primary hindrances to "genuine" talks with the US.
Stating that Tehran welcomed dialogue and a negotiated agreement and continues to do so, President Masoud Pezeshkian said: “Breach of commitments, blockade, and threats are the main obstacles to genuine negotiations.”
"The world sees your endless hypocritical rhetoric and the contradiction between claims and actions," he wrote on the US social media company X.
For his part, Iran's Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf said on X that “a full ceasefire is only meaningful if it is not violated by a naval blockade.”
"A full ceasefire is only meaningful if it is not violated through a naval blockade or the hostage-taking of the global economy, and if Israeli aggression is halted on all fronts," he said.
Reopening the Strait of Hormuz is not possible amid a "blatant violation of the ceasefire," Qalibaf argued.
The US and Israel did not achieve their goals "through military aggression, nor will they achieve them through bullying," he claimed, saying that “the only path forward is to recognize the rights of the Iranian people.”
Hostilities in the region have escalated since the US and Israel launched joint strikes on Iran on Feb. 28. In response, Tehran retaliated with strikes on Israel and other regional countries hosting US assets.
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday extended a two-week ceasefire in the war with Iran, a day before it was due to expire on Wednesday, after a request by Pakistan's prime minister and army chief.
Pakistan hosted talks between Washington and Tehran on April 11–12 after brokering the ceasefire on April 8. Efforts for another round of negotiations are underway, though uncertainty remains.
