ISLAMABAD: Iran and the United States remain in uninterrupted indirect negotiations through mediators including Pakistan and Qatar, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was quoted as saying on Wednesday, despite a deadlock over Tehran’s conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz.

Pakistan helped broker a June agreement aimed at ending the US-Iran war and restoring shipping through the strategic waterway, but the deal subsequently unraveled. Islamabad has since sought to revive diplomacy as Washington and Tehran remain divided over Iran’s nuclear program, sanctions and the sequence of steps needed to end the conflict.

According to the Iranian state media, the Iranian foreign minister discussed the ongoing regional situation with Iraq’s Al Ekhbariya television.

“Speaking to Iraqi media, FM @araghchi stated that negotiations with the United States, conducted via mediators such as Pakistan and Qatar, remain ongoing without interruption,” IRNA News Agency said in a social media post on X.

He said Iran had presented Washington with a seven-day proposal outlining its conditions for resolving the standoff, including fully reopening the Strait of Hormuz on the sixth day.

“The Americans informed us that they agreed to these conditions, but they wanted to add a few more clauses,” Araghchi said.

The Iranian foreign minister said Tehran wanted Washington to honor its commitments under the earlier Islamabad memorandum of understanding before negotiations could move to other outstanding issues.

He maintained that Iran remained open to diplomacy but accused Washington of obstructing progress by failing to implement previously agreed conditions.

Araghchi’s remarks followed a visit to Tehran on Tuesday by Pakistan’s army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, who met Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, the foreign minister and senior security officials as Islamabad sought to revive stalled diplomacy.

During the talks, Supreme National Security Council Secretary Mohsen Rezaei told Munir that Iran would not allow any enriched nuclear material to leave the country, according to IRNA.

The dispute over Iran’s nuclear stockpile remains a major obstacle to negotiations. Washington wants the nuclear issue addressed at the outset, while Tehran insists that steps to ease economic and military pressure and reopen Hormuz must come first.

Pezeshkian also told Munir that Washington must remove pressure, threats and sanctions before negotiations could take place, Iranian state media reported.