Pezeshkian Blames US for Iran Interim Deal Failure
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has blamed the United States for the Iran interim deal failure. He still wants a new attempt at concluding an agreement, he said in remarks broadcast on Iranian state television on Saturday.
“We were having negotiations, the cowards (Americans) messed everything up…I still think we should go and conclude it,” Pezeshkian said.
The remarks came as fighting intensified on another front. Yemen’s Iran-allied Houthis said they launched attacks on Saudi oil facilities and airports on Saturday, while the Saudi-led coalition said it shot down two missiles.
What Pezeshkian said
Pezeshkian did not set out the terms of the interim deal or explain in detail why the talks collapsed. His message was blunt: Washington wrecked the negotiation, but diplomacy should get another chance.
The comments leave the door open to talks even while the language stays hostile. Pezeshkian paired blame with a call to try again, which suggests Tehran wants to keep a negotiating track alive despite the breakdown.
Houthi attacks and Saudi response
Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the group targeted King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, an Aramco facility in Yanbu, the Rabigh oil refinery, crude oil pumping stations and the East-West Pipeline. He also said the group targeted King Fahd International Airport in Dammam, an airport in Najran and an airbase in Khamis Mushait.
The Saudi-led coalition said earlier that it destroyed two ballistic missiles fired by Houthis towards Yanbu and Taif. Saudi Civil Defense said debris from intercepted missiles fell in the Makkah and Medina regions, including Wadi al-Mughammas in Mecca and areas in Jeddah, Taif and Rabigh.
It was not immediately clear whether any of the reported attacks hit their targets or were intercepted. The Houthis denied attacking Mecca and Medina, saying their operations target Saudi oil facilities and military bases.
Yemen’s Saudi-backed government said the Houthis also fired three ballistic missiles at coast guard sites in the southern Yemeni port city of Aden. Its interior ministry said two missiles struck a coast guard headquarters, while a third hit a coast guard building in the Tawahi district.
Why the Iran interim deal failure matters for Pakistan
Pakistan has a direct stake in whether Washington and Tehran talk again. Iran’s ambassador to Islamabad, Reza Amiri Moghadam, was reported on Saturday as saying Tehran remains open to talks with Washington under a Pakistan-brokered interim deal.
The ambassador was also reported as saying Iran had conveyed through Pakistan that it was prepared to reopen the Strait of Hormuz if Washington lifted its naval blockade. That link gives Islamabad a mediating role in a conflict that affects its energy supplies, its western border and regional stability.
Feature Pakistan has already covered Pakistan’s place in this diplomacy. An earlier report examined Iran’s Hormuz offer to Pakistan, while another covered Pezeshkian’s earlier rejection of US talks as oil prices jumped.
A shattered truce in Yemen
The renewed fighting has shattered a 2022 UN-brokered truce that largely halted cross-border attacks between the Saudi-led coalition, which backs Yemen’s internationally recognised government, and the Houthis, who control the capital Sanaa.
Saudi Arabia’s Civil Defense briefly issued alerts on Saturday warning residents of potential danger in Taif and Yanbu, as well as in Mecca and Jeddah. About 10 minutes later, the agency said the threat had passed.
The escalation has opened another front in the wider conflict, with Gulf states meeting in Riyadh over military readiness and Egypt pledging to defend Saudi territory.
What happens next
Pezeshkian’s remarks do not say when talks might resume or what would need to change for a deal to succeed. Washington has not publicly responded to his call for a new attempt, and the fighting in Yemen points the other way.
For Pakistan, the question is whether its mediating channel stays open, since a Pakistan-brokered route to talks would matter for energy security and border calm.
For now, the picture is a failed interim deal, a president blaming Washington while calling for another try, and a war widening across the region.
What did Pezeshkian say about the interim deal?
He blamed the United States for its failure but said there should be a new attempt at concluding it.
What did the Houthis target on Saturday?
They said they targeted Saudi airports, an Aramco facility, the Rabigh refinery and pipelines, while the coalition said it downed two missiles.
What is Pakistan’s link to the deal?
Iran’s ambassador to Islamabad was reported as saying Tehran remains open to talks under a Pakistan-brokered interim deal, with a Hormuz reopening offer conveyed through Pakistan.
