Iran's ballistic missiles were 'never on the table' in US talks
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Tue, 06/23/2026 - 16:53
Pakistan says one of the main objectives of the US-Israel war on Iran was not even a topic of discussion during negotiations
Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian shaking hands with Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif during his ceremonial reception at the Prime Minister House in Islamabad on 23 June 2026 (Pakistan's Prime Minister Office/AFP)
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Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Tuesday that Iran's ballistic missiles were "never on the table" during US-Iran talks, despite the US and Israel citing it as one of the primary reasons for going to war with the Islamic Republic.
"This MOU does not mention ballistic missiles. It was never on the table, it was never on the agenda and the Iranian side never even wanted to discuss it. This is not an impression, but a fact of [the] matter," Sharif said, referring to the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).
Speaking during Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian's visit to Islamabad, Sharif said that there should be no double standards.
"So I want to make it abundantly clear that, of course, there cannot be double standards; that some countries can have ballistic missiles and Iran shouldn't have [them]. You cannot digest this kind of duplicity."
Pezeshkian went further, stating that not only was Iran's missile programme not part of negotiations, it would never be part of any agreement, saying Iran would "never compromise on our missile programme and capabilities and this shall never be part of any agreement between Iran and any other party".
"If the missiles we have for our defence did not exist, Israel and the United States would have ploughed Iran just like Gaza, showing no mercy to either the old or the young," Pezeshkian added.
During the G7 summit in Paris last week, US President Donald Trump conceded that putting Iran's ballistic missile programme on the negotiating table was an unrealistic demand.
"I'm saying that if other countries have them, it's a little bit unfair for them not to have some," Trump said in Paris.
But this was not always the US position, and was stated as one of the primary objectives of the US-Israel war in Iran.
A US presidential memo from 1 April states: "From day one, the objectives have been clear and unwavering: obliterate Iran’s ballistic missile arsenal and production capability... The United States is conducting an operation to eliminate the threat of Iran's short-range ballistic missiles and the threat posed by their navy… That is the clear objective of this mission."
The US's initial stated positions on the objectives of the war have shifted significantly since military operations ceased, with the majority of their primary objectives, including regime change, destroying the ballistic missile programme, the destruction of their navy and seizing uranium stockpiles, not having been achieved.
Talks and the Lebanon issue
The US has prioritised the opening of the Strait of Hormuz - which was free to traverse before the US launched its war - and preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon as the two main objectives of its negotiations with Iran.
On Monday, the US suspended sanctions against Iran, as the two sparred over nuclear and weapons inspections during a day of talks that US Vice President JD Vance characterised as "good progress".
The lifting of sanctions will be a boon for Iran, which used to produce around 4.6 million barrels of oil per day, and export around 1.5 million barrels per day, before the US imposed its own blockade to compete with Iran's closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
The US and Iran held talks in Switzerland under the auspices of the Islamabad MOU that was signed between the two countries, bringing hostilities to a halt for a 60-day period to allow for "technical negotiations".
US suspends Iran sanctions after 'good progress' in talks
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Monday's talks concluded the first High-Level Committee Meeting under the framework of the Islamabad MOU, with Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif hailing it a success and announcing that a roadmap towards a final deal within 60 days had been achieved during the summit.
Pakistan and Qatar are mediating the talks, with Vance leading talks from the US side, while Iran's chief negotiator is Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.
On Tuesday, Trump said that the US was trying to work out a fair deal with Iran and that the two countries were getting along well.
The MOU also commits to ending all hostilities in Lebanon, but that has been a tougher nut to crack with Israel openly defying US attempts to end that conflict, and parallel negotiations taking place between Israel and Lebanon beyond the US-Iran talks.
Lebanon and Israel began a fifth round of direct negotiations in Washington on Tuesday, with Beirut seeking to revive proposals for an Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon.
The three-day negotiations come after four previous rounds failed to produce a lasting ceasefire or bridge the wide gap between the two sides.
Lebanon is expected to press for a timetable for an Israeli withdrawal, the return of hundreds of thousands of displaced people, the release of Lebanese prisoners and the beginning of reconstruction.
Israel, meanwhile, has tied any withdrawal to the disarmament of Hezbollah, and has insisted that its forces retain control of a wide security zone inside southern Lebanon until it is satisfied that the Lebanese army can prevent the group from rebuilding its military presence.
A memorandum of understanding signed between the US and Iran placed the Lebanese front within a wider regional ceasefire framework. Subsequent talks near Lake Lucerne in Switzerland also produced plans for a mechanism intended to reduce tensions between Israel and Hezbollah.
The development means the Washington negotiations are no longer the only diplomatic forum dealing with the war in Lebanon.
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