Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said on Friday that peace negotiations between Iran and the United States are not close to an agreement.
"The ongoing diplomatic process and the senior Pakistani officials' presence in Tehran do not mean that we have reached a turning point or determining situation," Baghaei told state-run IRIB TV, as Pakistan's Army Chief Asim Munir and Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi are in Iran's capital for bilateral message exchanges.
"We cannot say to have reached a point where an agreement is close; not necessarily, that is not the case," he said, noting that differences between Iran and the United States are such "deep and numerous," and that diplomacy takes time.
Baghaei emphasized that talks aim to end hostilities on all fronts, including Lebanon, adding that Iran's nuclear program is not on the agenda at this stage.
The situation of the Strait of Hormuz and U.S. attacks on Iran-linked ships must also be reviewed and discussed, he said.
Baghaei has been formally appointed as the spokesman for the Iranian delegation in talks with the United States, the IRIB reported on Friday.
In a decree issued on Friday, Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, who leads the negotiating team with the United States, named Baghaei as the spokesman for the "Minab 168" delegation.
Iran, the United States and Israel reached a ceasefire on April 8 after 40 days of fighting that started with U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran on February 28.
Following the truce, Iranian and U.S. delegations held one round of peace talks in Pakistan's Islamabad on April 11 and 12, which failed to yield an agreement.
Over the past weeks, the two sides have reportedly exchanged several proposed plans outlining conditions for ending the conflict through Pakistani mediation.
Iran says peace talks with U.S. not close to agreement
Iran says peace talks with U.S. not close to agreement
U.S. stocks closed higher on Friday, capping off a volatile trading week ahead of the Memorial Day weekend.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 294.04 points, or 0.58 percent, to finish at a new record of 50,579.70. The Standard and Poor's 500 added 27.75 points, or 0.37 percent, to 7,473.47, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index increased by 50.87 points, or 0.19 percent, to 26,343.97.
Nine of the 11 primary Standard and Poor's 500 sectors finished the session in positive territory. Healthcare and utilities climbed 1.19 percent and 0.8 percent, respectively. On the other hand, communication services and consumer staples paced the laggards, dropping 0.68 percent and 0.09 percent, respectively.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note shed nearly three basis points to settle around 4.56 percent on Friday afternoon, while the 30-year bond yield lost more than four basis points to trade near 5.06 percent.
U.S. consumer sentiment fell for the third straight month in May as supply disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz continued to drive up gasoline prices.
The U.S. Consumer Sentiment Index released Friday by the University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers fell to 44.8 in the May 2026 survey, down from 49.8 in April and below last May's 52.2.
In corporate news, Estee Lauder soared nearly 12 percent after the cosmetics giant announced it had terminated its pursuit of an acquisition of Spanish beauty group Puig, a decision investors cheered as a capital-preservation victory.
Meanwhile, IMAX shares jumped over 15 percent following reports that the large-format cinema company is actively exploring a potential sale of its business.
Zoom Communications surged more than 9 percent and enterprise software provider Workday advanced over 5 percent after posting strong quarterly results. Off-price apparel retailer Ross Stores gained over 8 percent on robust discount-driven consumer traffic.
Conversely, BJ's Wholesale Club plunged 8.25 percent after warning of tightening margins, while video game publisher Take-Two Interactive Software declined 4.42 percent.
U.S. stocks close higher ahead of holiday weekend
