The story in brief
Iran and the United States are at war. Iran says it will not restart peace talks until the United States meets its demands.
Who is involved?
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Iran: A country in the Middle East.
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United States: The country at war with Iran.
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Pakistan: A country trying to help Iran and the United States reach peace.
What happened?
On 20 October, Iran's President met Pakistan's military chief in Tehran, Iran's capital.
Iranian media reported that Iran repeated seven demands it first made last month.
These include ending the United States blockade of Iranian ports. A blockade stops ships from entering or leaving a place.
Iran also wants the United States to remove restrictions on selling Iranian oil to other countries.
Iran wants fighting across the region to end.
What is the background?
Iran and the United States have been at war for about eight months.
Pakistan helped Iran and the United States reach a temporary peace agreement in June.
The agreement broke down a few weeks later. Fighting started again.
Why does it matter?
Peace talks could help bring the fighting to an end.
However, Iran and the United States still disagree about the conditions for peace.
What happens next?
It is not yet known when the two countries will restart peace talks.
Source: Reuters, 20 October 2026