What's it like to negotiate with Iran? We asked people who have done it

A Pakistani Ranger walks past a billboard for the U.S.-Iran peace talks in Islamabad on April 12, 2026. The talks, led by Vice President JD Vance, produced no concrete movement toward a peace deal.

Experts who spent months negotiating a 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran say mutual mistrust, starkly different negotiating styles, and the complexity of the issues make a quick deal unlikely.

(Image credit: Farooq Naeem)