On a hot day in July 2015, negotiations between top U.S. and Iranian diplomats descended into a shouting match — a back-and-forth that echoed through the halls of a 19th-century Viennese palace, where they were locked in marathon conversations.
John Kerry and Mohammad Javad Zarif were fighting over what would become a historic nuclear deal between the US and Iran, the result of 20 months of negotiations. The dismantling of this pact in Donald Trump’s first term helped pave the way for the current war between the two countries.
Now Washington and Tehran are preparing for another tough round of talks, this time to try to formally end a two-month conflict that has devastated the Middle East and sent oil prices soaring. The scenario is complicated by the clash of styles between a country led by a real estate tycoon, who prides himself on closing deals quickly, and the revolutionary ideology of the Islamic Republic, a declared enemy of the USA for almost half a century.
“Negotiating with Iran requires a high dose of patience, time and diplomacy,” says Ellie Geranmayeh, senior researcher and deputy director of the Middle East and North Africa program at the European Council for Foreign Relations. “It is also crucial to understand that when Tehran enters a diplomatic process, the image of respect and dignity is decisive for success.”
Iran’s latest proposal — essentially a tentative deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for an end to Washington’s blockade of Iranian ports — is yet another sign that any deal that actually addresses U.S. concerns will take time. More complex negotiations on the nuclear program would be postponed.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz voiced the frustration of US allies, increasingly concerned about the impact of the Hormuz closure on the global economy, by saying Washington is being “humiliated” by Iranian leaders. Tehran’s negotiators, he said on Monday, are acting “with great skill — or, rather, with great skill in not negotiating.”
Continues after advertising
Wendy Sherman, a senior State Department official and one of the lead negotiators of the 2015 nuclear deal, told Bloomberg that the Iranian leadership today is more hard-line than when she was at the table with them. “This means that the concessions that the president thinks will come easily will not come,” he said. “Trump wants them to just capitulate. That will never happen.”
According to a European diplomat who maintains contact with Iranian authorities, Iranians are not afraid of Trump’s military threats, but they consider the president unreliable and unpredictable — which prevents them from taking his word literally. He requested anonymity, following his ministry’s rules.
This time, at stake is not just Iran’s nuclear program, but control of the Strait of Hormuz — a vital maritime route for the global flow of energy, which Tehran has kept practically closed since the start of the conflict at the end of February. If there is no agreement, the risk of resuming the war that has already killed thousands of people, mainly in Iran and Lebanon, grows, and threatens to further increase inflation in the world.
“The Iranian negotiator is often described as someone with exceptional patience, coolness and a very clear focus on priorities,” says Yasser Osman, former head of Egypt’s diplomatic mission in Tehran.
“Concessions don’t come easy,” he says. The attitude “mixes the patience and meticulous work of a Persian carpet weaver with the pragmatism of a traditional bazaar merchant.”
Cultural stereotypes — especially references to haggling and bargaining — are often used by foreign diplomats to talk about Iranians, and sometimes by Iranian officials to describe Tehran’s strategy.
Continues after advertising
“Experienced people linked to the market speak, present arguments, examples and stories to the point where the other side of the table, as they say, ‘becomes numb’ and ends up giving in”, wrote Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in his diplomatic guide, “The Power of Negotiation”.
At times, Iran has taken this approach to the limit. Kerry “put up with lectures” from Zarif about “5,000 years of Iranian civilization” during negotiations for the 2015 agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), recalled former US Deputy National Security Advisor Jon Finer, in an interview with NPR.
This bazaar style contrasts with Trump, whose book “The Art of Negotiation” advocates being aggressive and “a little exaggerated” to pressure the opponent and control the narrative.
Continues after advertising
Trump tries to add urgency to the conversations with posts on social media, imposing deadlines and successive threats — and, at the same time, insisting that he will not be pushed into a bad agreement.
In one message, he even wrote that “an entire civilization will die tonight and will never return.” Sent hours before the US and Iran reached a ceasefire on April 7, the text is seen by some Trump allies as proof that this type of rhetoric is forcing Iran to concede.
Another group of advisers, however, argues that this erratic and undiplomatic tone has made the Iranian leadership less willing to close a deal or even accept new rounds of talks, according to the Bloomberg. A first round in Pakistan in mid-April lasted about 15 hours and ended without any sign of progress.
Continues after advertising
Talks between Tehran and Washington were already difficult before. But the war has further hardened the Iranian stance. The regime sees the conflict as existential — an attempt by the US and Israel to destabilize the country and overthrow the government — and is now fully aware of its asymmetric advantages, especially the ability to block traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, probably the most powerful organization in the country, both militarily and economically, now has decisive weight at the negotiating table. Its leaders threaten to boycott any concession that affects their newly consolidated control over the sea route.
The US and Israel assassinated former Iranian mediators with the West, such as former national security chief Ali Larijani and former foreign minister Kamal Kharazi, removing more pragmatic voices from the scene.
Continues after advertising
With this, hardliners such as the former commander of the Revolutionary Guards Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf — president of Parliament and Iran’s main negotiator in Pakistan — and Ali Bagheri-Kani, linked to the ultraconservative “paydari” faction, openly opposed to any rapprochement with the USA, gain space.
If diplomacy fails, the most likely consequence is a return to war. Both sides say they are prepared for such a scenario, despite the additional destruction and market turmoil that would almost certainly come in the wake of a renewed conflict.
An Iranian diplomat familiar with previous U.S.-Iran negotiations cited the 13th-century Persian poet Saadi Shirazi, who valued dignity over luxury, to explain his country’s stance. It’s important, he said, that negotiators keep their heads up, even if that means eating bread instead of meat. He requested anonymity because it was a sensitive topic.
© 2026 Bloomberg L.P.
