Iranian delegation claims it was 'under attack' en route to Islamabad

The Iranian delegation reportedly faced urgent security threats while en route to Tehran after ceasefire talks with the United States failed in Islamabad, Pakistan. Iranian political analyst Mohammad Marandi told the Lebanese news outlet Al-Mayadeen that amid heightened caution, the group, including Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Parliamentary Speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, switched their flight midway and took an alternative route to reach Tehran by bus and train.

Marandi, a professor at Tehran University, has accompanied the Iranian delegation to Islamabad. He told the Lebanese news outlet that the Iranian delegation felt seriously threatened during their return from negotiations in Pakistan.

He noted that the Iranian delegation faced direct security threats while heading for negotiations with the United States in Islamabad, stating, "We received direct threats while en route to Islamabad that our plane might be attacked," prompting heightened caution during and after the visit.

"On our way back, we did not fly to Tehran. It's a very long story, but we all believed that there was a significant chance that they would down our plane, that they would shoot down our plane, that they would fire a missile at our plane," Marandi said.

He explained that on the way back from the talks, the Iranian delegation "secretly got into a different plane, and that plane on the way to Tehran suddenly diverted and landed very swiftly in Mashhad. And then we all came to Tehran by train, by car, and by bus.

"We don't trust the United States," Marandi told Al-Mayadeen on Tuesday, "and we are also being very busy preparing ourselves for the next round of war."

Iran "always knew the United States was deceitful", he continued, adding that the regime is bolstering its military capabilities "while we are at the negotiating table".

Negotiations may continue

Negotiating teams from the US and Iran could return to Islamabad, four sources said on Tuesday, days after the highest-level talks between the two countries since the 1979 Islamic Revolution ended in the Pakistani capital without a breakthrough.

Among the slew of issues at stake last weekend was the Strait of Hormuz, a major transit point for global energy supplies that Iran has effectively blocked, but the US has vowed to reopen, as well as Iran's nuclear program and international sanctions on Tehran.

During the negotiations, the US made clear that it would need to take possession of the enriched uranium Iran has in its possession, and that mechanisms would need to be put in place to ensure that Iran would be unable to enrich uranium again, Vance said.

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