News:

The White House announced on Friday (24/04/2026) that envoys Steve Wittkoff and Jared Kushner would depart for Islamabad on Saturday (25/04/2026), morning for direct talks with the Iranian side, mediated by Pakistan. This announcement came as AlJazeera’s correspondent reported that Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had arrived in Islamabad on Friday evening. Fox News quoted White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt as saying that Iran had contacted them and requested a direct meeting, and that there had been “progress” from the Iranian side in recent days. She expressed hope that the talks between the two sides would be fruitful and contribute to advancing an agreement. Later, US President Donald Trump said that Iran intended to present an offer that met US demands. In contrast to the US statements about the anticipated meetings with the Iranians, Iranian television reported on Friday evening, (24/04/2026) that Araghchi did not plan to meet with the US envoys, adding that Islamabad would convey Tehran's observations on de-escalation. Fars News Agency also quoted sources close to Iran’s Supreme National Security Council as saying that there were no negotiations with the United States. The New York Times quoted Iranian officials as saying that Araghchi would travel to Islamabad carrying a written response to the American proposal for a peace agreement, and that he was expected to meet in Pakistan with Wittkopf and Kushner to continue negotiations.

Comment:

It is clear from the course of negotiations between the Iranian and American sides that the Iranian negotiator does not accept what America dictates, and that he wants compromise solutions, not the American ones that seek to subjugate Iran to become a subordinate state, obeying its orders and ending at its beck and call. It is also clear that America's patience with Iran and the length of the negotiations, despite deploying its full diplomatic weight and its agents in the region, most notably the rulers and leaders of Pakistan, indicates that America is in a predicament and does not appear to possess any leverage that it can use or brandish against Iran to subdue it. On the contrary, it seems that Iran possesses leverage that can alter the course and outcome of the negotiations, such as maintaining the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and threatening to close the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. These powerful cards are what led Trump’s America to deny his readiness to use nuclear weapons against Iran; the denial here is a statement of fact, not a denial of reality. In other words, the idea is on the table, and the reason for its introduction is the predicament America has created for itself, from which it seems unable to extricate itself in the foreseeable future. The only way out is to create an exceptional regional and international circumstance, namely, the use of nuclear weapons.

It is true that the Iranian side is being negotiated by the military, not the politicians, as has become clear from the nature of the written response that Araghchi is carrying. The Iranian military has reached a point of distrust, or even refusal to authorize, the American-approved political negotiators, Araghchi and Bazjan. This has led them to entrust Araghchi with written messages only, after preventing Bazjan from accompanying him in the current round of talks, for fear that they might alter or change the text. Nevertheless, the Iranian side's demands remain below what they can realistically achieve, let alone at the negotiating table. The demands of the “stubborn” Iranian side do not exceed their desire for Iran to be accepted into the current international order, without interference or infringement upon its nationalistic sovereignty, including without targeting and eliminating the regime's figures, as America did with the Supreme Leader and his associates. These demands, though seemingly radical and ambitious, are not justified by the fact that the world is unaccustomed to rejecting American demands and fulfilling its desires. Instead, they are not just demands befitting an Ummah of two billion people. Whatever Americans obtains from Iran is considered a gain and an achievement for them, as they are acquiring a matter to which they have no right. Indeed, it is America that owes Iran and the Ummah immense rights.

Negotiating with America and its protégé, the Jewish entity, is a form of political suicide, regardless of the demands, whether based on ten or fifteen points. America and the Jewish entity both are colonialist entities with no right or claim to our lands, their skies, their land, their waters, or what lies above and below the ground. Moreover, these are rogue, criminal states, burdened with countless blood feuds against the Muslim world. How can they negotiate on matters in which they have no right or stake, their hands stained with the blood of millions of innocent Muslims? Therefore, the “radicalism” displayed by the current Iranian leadership is not the way to deal with crusader America and its protégé, the Jewish entity. The only language we have for them is the sword. This is quite possible if the true leadership in Iran were to rightfully adopt the system of Imamate or Khilafah (Caliphate), as stipulated in the authentic Shariah texts of fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence,) which are readily available to everyone. Confronting America and expelling it and the Jews from the lands of the Muslims and their seas is very possible if sincere intentions are combined in the armies of the region, especially the Iranian and Pakistani armies, as they can deliver the region and the Ummah from the targeting of the crusader campaign against the nation by giving support to the shrewd political Hizb and the insightful faqeeh (Shariah jurist) who not only understands the objectives of Shariah, he is also knowledgeable about the secrets of the political cunning plotted by the enemies of Allah (swt), His Messenger (saw) and the believers from all the Western countries, at the forefront of which are America and its protégé, the Jewish entity. This is the righteous deed that if the sincere ones in the Iranian and Pakistani armies carry it out, then they will deliver their Ummah from what it is in, and the pleasure of Allah (swt) is greater. Allah (swt) said,

[مَنْ عَمِلَ صَالِحًا مِنْ ذَكَرٍ أَوْ أُنْثَى وَهُوَ مُؤْمِنٌ فَلَنُحْيِيَنَّهُ حَيَاةً طَيِّبَةً وَلَنَجْزِيَنَّهُمْ أَجْرَهُمْ بِأَحْسَنِ مَا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ]

“Whoever does righteousness, whether male or female, while being a believer - We will surely cause him to live a good life, and We will surely reward them according to the best of what they used to do.” [TMQ Surah An-Nahl: 97].