Iran tells Munir no talks with Washington until its demands are met

Iran has said it will not hold talks with Washington to end their war until its demands are met, relaying the position directly to Pakistan’s army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, during his visit to Tehran. The semi-official Iranian outlet Nournews reported the message on Tuesday, according to Reuters (https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/most-gulf-shares-retreat-iran-us-diplomacy-stalls-2026-10-21/).

Munir is in Tehran as part of mediation efforts between the two sides. Pakistan, a key US-Iran mediator, helped secure the interim Islamabad Memorandum in June, but that deal faltered within weeks as fighting resumed, Reuters reported.

Qatar said on Tuesday that diplomatic contacts and exchanges of messages between Washington and Tehran were continuing through mediation channels. Ibrahim bin Sultan Al-Hashmi, director of media and communications at Qatar’s Foreign Ministry, told a weekly press briefing that both sides remained engaged in diplomacy, according to CGTN (https://news.cgtn.com/news/2026-10-21/Qatar-says-US-Iran-talks-continue-as-Tehran-prepares-for-fourth-war—1RpOtdoOa2c/share_amp.html).

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told Munir on Monday that Tehran remained willing to engage in dialogue, but Washington must first remove its threats and sanctions. Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, separately told Munir that Iran would not enter negotiations until the United States took steps to rebuild trust by meeting Tehran’s conditions, adding that Iran’s enriched nuclear material would remain in the country.