TEHRAN — Iranians reacted with a mixture of disappointment and defiance Sunday after peace talks with the United States failed to reach an agreement following 21 hours of negotiations.
U.S. officials said the talks collapsed over what they described as Iran’s refusal to commit to abandoning its nuclear program. Iranian officials blamed the U.S. for failing to reach a deal, without specifying the sticking points.
The failure of the high-stakes talks in Pakistan casts doubt over the future of a fragile two-week ceasefire, due to expire April 22.
While the fragile ceasefire seems to be holding, the war is not over and uncertainty remains in the streets of Tehran, where some residents were reluctant to speak to the media.
Iranians have been living in a digital blackout for more than a month after the internet was blocked soon after the start of the war on Feb. 28. Since then, the population has been relying on state-controlled media, with a limited number of people having access to overseas satellite TV channels for access to information.
Standing outside a newsstand in the capital, Tehran, Farhad Simia told the Associated Press he had hoped for successful negotiations and an end to the fighting, but stood with Iran despite the failure of the talks.
“I’m against war. I think negotiation is the better path,” Simia, 43, said. He blamed “inappropriate demands” by the U.S. for the failure to reach a deal.
Mehdi Hosseini, also 43, agreed: “Considering the advantage Iran seemed to have on the battlefield, there was a real concern that we might lose all those gains in the negotiations.
“Whether the talks succeed or not is one matter, but the fact that the Iranian negotiating team managed to preserve what it achieved in the war, while refusing to back down and surrender, gives reason for hope.”
The streets of Tehran were lined up with large Iranian flags and giant billboards glorifying the country’s leaders and military achievements. One large illustration depicted Iranian men in uniform lifting a fishing net out of the sea with a catch of miniature-sized U.S. military aircraft and warships. “The Strait Remains Closed,” the billboard read.
Hamid Haghi, 55, said “America’s overreach” was the reason for the talks’ failure. The U.S. wants “to come to the Strait of Hormuz, which is a legacy from our fathers,” he said. “We can oversee [it] ourselves.”
Like many Iranians, 60-year-old Mohammad Bagher believes Iran should continue to stand strong against the Americans in what he sees as a war of their own making.
“We are a nation of dialogue and negotiation as long as our interests are respected. We have never sought war,” he said. “We will stand firm to the end, we are ready to sacrifice our lives, and will not give them one inch of our land.”
Since the U.S. and Israel launched the war, it has killed at least 3,000 people in Iran, 2,020 in Lebanon, 23 in Israel and more than a dozen in gulf Arab states, and caused lasting damage to infrastructure in half a dozen Middle Eastern countries.
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