Iran’s president blames US for deal collapse, urges new try

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian blamed the United States on Saturday for the collapse of an interim agreement between the two countries, but said Tehran should make a new attempt to conclude it. "We were having negotiations, the cowards (Americans) messed everything up…I still think we should go and conclude it," Pezeshkian said in remarks broadcast on state television, Reuters reported.reuters.com

The remarks show Tehran keeping diplomacy open as economic strain builds at home. Washington has recently scaled back military operations and leaned on economic pressure instead, while the conflict sits in a stalemate, AFP reported.nampa.org

Hardship at home

Pezeshkian also said many Iranians were struggling to put food on the table as economic pressure from the war mounts, according to AFP. He called the country's situation one of "neither war nor peace" and said the uncertainty made planning difficult. He also named discrimination and inequality as major sources of public discontent, asking why some people had access to resources while others could not meet their basic needs, Arab Times reported.arabtimesonline.com+1

A deal that unraveled

Trump and Pezeshkian signed the interim deal in June. It was meant to set up a 60-day ceasefire and a framework for a permanent peace agreement, but it fell apart within weeks amid new fighting and disputes over control of the Strait of Hormuz, The Washington Post reported. After Iran fired on vessels using a US-overseen shipping route near Oman, the US struck Iran, canceled the oil-sale waivers granted under the deal and brought back its blockade of Iranian ports, Arab News reported.washingtonpost.com+1

Iran later offered a faster seven-day plan at the UN General Assembly that closely followed the collapsed agreement. The US rejected it, though the two sides have stayed in contact through mediators, according to the AP.apnews.com

Washington holds firm

Pezeshkian spoke a day after US Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz told the Financial Times that "the president and the US Navy can maintain this blockade for the foreseeable future." Waltz said Washington still hoped Iran would return to talks and reach a "meaningful agreement" on its nuclear program, Iran International reported. He added that the US would not consider its goals met until Iran's highly enriched nuclear material was dealt with and a deal on domestic uranium enrichment was in place, according to Iran International. Waltz later said the newspaper had misrepresented his comments and stressed that decisions on the blockade rest with Trump, Ynet reported.iranintl.com+2

Trump has said the US could take control of Iran and seize its oil, while also saying the war could end soon, Moneycontrol reported.moneycontrol.com