Iran rejects second round of talks with US: state media

• Says US excessive, shifting demands and naval blockade are main reasons to halt talks

 TEHRAN: Iran on Sunday rejected the second round of talks with the United States, saying it would not take part in dialogue after President Donald Trump announced that US representatives would be in Islamabad on Monday for negotiations, the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported.

The development came after Trump confirmed that US representatives would travel to Islamabad for the second round of talks with Iran aimed at addressing the Middle East crisis. “My representatives are going to Islamabad, Pakistan — they will be there tomorrow evening for negotiations,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

In a post on X, the state news agency said: “Iran stated that its absence from the second round of talks stems from what it called Washington's excessive demands, unrealistic expectations, constant shifts in stance, repeated contradictions, and the ongoing naval blockade, which it considers a breach of the ceasefire.”

Iran stated that its absence from the second round of talks stems from what it called Washington's excessive demands, unrealistic expectations, constant shifts in stance, repeated contradictions, and the ongoing naval blockade, which it considers a breach of the ceasefire.

— IRNA News Agency ☫ (@IrnaEnglish) April 19, 2026

Earlier Reuters said that there was currently no decision by Iran to send a negotiating ⁠delegation to Pakistan "as long as there is a naval blockade," Iran's ⁠Tasnim news agency reported on Sunday, ⁠citing its reporter.

On April 12, US and Iranian officials hold first round of peace talks in Islamabad without any conclusion.

United States Vice President JD Vance said on Sunday that intensive 21-hour discussions with Iran did not reach an agreement. He also appreciated Pakistan’s efforts for a deal. The US and Iranian delegations have left Islamabad to return home.

Earlier, President Donald Trump announced that representatives from Washington were heading to Islamabad and they would be “there tomorrow evening for negotiations”.

The US president made the announcement in a Truth Social post, where he also insisted that Washington was offering Tehran “a very fair and reasonable” deal.

“And I hope they take it because, if they don’t, the United States is going to knock out every single Power Plant, and every single Bridge, in Iran,” he warned. “NO MORE MR. NICE GUY! They’ll come down fast, they’ll come down easy and, if they don’t take the DEAL, it will be my Honour to do what has to be done, which should have been done to Iran, by other Presidents, for the last 47 years. IT’S TIME FOR THE IRAN KILLING MACHINE TO END!”

The first round of historic direct US-Iran talks, held in Islamabad on April 11 and 12, had ended without an agreement, but also without a breakdown.

The talks were held as a Pakistan-brokered two-week ceasefire between Washington and Tehran remained in effect. The ceasefire, which is set to end on April 22, paused hostilities that began with the US-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28.

In his Truth Social Post on Sunday, Trump alleged that Iran had “decided to fire bullets yesterday in the Strait of Hormuz — A Total Violation of our Ceasefire Agreement! Many of them were aimed at a French Ship, and a Freighter from the United Kingdom. That wasn’t nice, was it?”

He recalled that Iran recently announced that they were closing the Strait of Hormuz, which he said was “strange, because our BLOCKADE has already closed it”.

“They’re helping us without knowing, and they are the ones that lose with the closed passage, $500 Million Dollars a day! The United States loses nothing. In fact, many Ships are headed, right now, to the US, Texas, Louisiana, and Alaska, to load up, compliments of the IRGC, always wanting to be ‘the tough guy!,” he insisted.

Meanwhile, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei posted on X that the US naval blockade on Iranian ports was a violation of the ceasefire as well as an “unlawful and criminal” act.

“The United States’ so-called ‘blockade’ of Iran’s ports or coastline is not only a violation of Pakistani-mediated ceasefire but also both unlawful and criminal,” he said.

Baqaei added, “By deliberately inflicting collective punishment on the Iranian population, it amounts to a war crime and crime against humanity.”

It has been reported that the first round of US-Iran talks remained inconclusive, with unrestricted navigation through the Strait of Hormuz being one of the issues at the core of the impasse.

The US has also sought long-term commitments on Iran’s nuclear programme, including constraints on enrichment and safeguards against weaponisation.