An Iranian member of Tehran's negotiating team has revealed new details about the April talks between Iran and the United States in Pakistan, saying Vice President JD Vance demanded the full reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and the removal of Iran's stockpile of 60% enriched uranium from the country.
Mohammad Nabavian, a member of Iran's negotiating team, said the talks took place in Islamabad on 10 April and involved the Iranian parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, and Vance.
According to Nabavian, the Iranian delegation insisted that any agreement must include the lifting of sanctions and recognition of Iran's right to uranium enrichment.
He said Vance pushed to prioritise discussions on the Strait of Hormuz, but Ghalibaf responded that four major issues were on the table and needed to be addressed together, not separately.
Nabavian also revealed that Ghalibaf met with Asim Munir before meeting Vance. Despite saying he personally had reservations about negotiations with Washington, Nabavian described Ghalibaf's presence in the talks as highly influential.
Speaking to Iran's ISNA news agency, Nabavian said Ghalibaf warned the US side that although Washington could destroy Iranian infrastructure, Iran could also "flatten all infrastructure in the region in less than half a day".
He added that during a second round of talks, both sides agreed to continue negotiations across four separate tracks. Alongside renewed demands on Hormuz and enriched uranium, the US side also proposed releasing $6 billion in frozen Iranian assets if Tehran cooperated.
Nabavian said Vance spoke dismissively about the scale of Iranian assets during the negotiations, prompting Ghalibaf to respond that whether Iran's money amounted to "one dollar or one hundred billion dollars", it belonged to the Iranian people and no outside party had the right to interfere.
According to Nabavian, a third session saw Vance, after consulting with Donald Trump , propose continuing talks based on the US plan presented earlier. Ghalibaf reportedly agreed to study the proposal.
However, Nabavian claimed that after both sides moved closer to an understanding, Vance suddenly announced that Trump would reject the agreement. When Ghalibaf asked why Washington was rejecting its own proposal, Vance allegedly replied that the plan had, in fact, originated with Pakistan Army chief Asim Munir.
Nabavian argued this showed the United States "never entered negotiations with the intention of reaching an agreement".
He also said Vance resorted to threats several times during the talks, but claimed Ghalibaf remained firm and did not allow the pressure to alter the course of negotiations.
Separately on Wednesday, Vance told reporters at the White House that negotiations with Iran aimed at ending hostilities were making progress despite Trump rejecting Tehran's latest proposal as "unacceptable".
"I think we're making progress," Vance said. "The basic question is whether we are making enough progress to reach the president’s red line."
He added that Trump's red line was ensuring "Iran never obtains a nuclear weapon".