A senior Iranian parliamentarian, Ebrahim Azizi, has delivered a blunt message on negotiations with the United States: talks are pointless unless Iran’s conditions are addressed first. The position comes as diplomatic efforts remain tangled in disputes over sanctions, the Strait of Hormuz, economic pressure and security guarantees. Recent reporting indicates that Tehran continues to accuse Washington of treating negotiation as an ultimatum rather than a genuine exchange, while the Trump administration maintains pressure on Iran.
Azizi Says the Price of the Negotiating Table Is Already Written
Azizi, who heads Iran’s parliamentary National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, has previously argued that Washington must take concrete confidence-building steps before any meaningful agreement can emerge. Those demands have included ending military action, easing the naval blockade, accepting Iranian arrangements concerning the Strait of Hormuz, suspending oil sanctions and releasing frozen Iranian assets.
In classic diplomatic fashion, Tehran appears to be saying that the door to negotiations is technically open—but somebody has apparently placed a very large list of conditions in front of the doorkeeper. Azizi’s earlier comments also stressed that Iran would not surrender what it considers core interests, including its position on uranium enrichment, sanctions and Hormuz.
Washington Wants Movement, Azizi Wants Guarantees
The disagreement comes at a particularly tense moment. Recent reports say negotiations have struggled to gain momentum, while military and economic pressure on Iran has continued. The United States has intensified pressure on Tehran, and the continuing uncertainty around Hormuz has already created wider concerns for global energy markets and maritime trade.
For Tehran, however, the central issue appears to be trust. Azizi previously said Iran could consider negotiations if it became convinced that the United States was acting sincerely and following the rules of negotiation. Iran’s latest position therefore suggests that simply asking for talks may no longer be enough; Washington may first have to convince Tehran that the proposed negotiations are actually negotiations.
The latest development leaves diplomacy facing the familiar problem of two sides sitting at opposite ends of the table, each insisting the other should move first. With the current president, Donald J. Trump, maintaining pressure on Iran while Tehran continues to demand guarantees and concessions before meaningful talks, the diplomatic road remains crowded with conditions, mistrust and very little room for improvisation. OGM News will continue to watch the situation as the battle over terms increasingly becomes the battle over whether negotiations can happen at all.
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