It seems that mind games were at play before and during the ceasefire talks between Iran and the US in Pakistan. Reports suggest that Tehran had prepared a blueprint regarding the likely attitude and behaviour of the members of US delegation during the meeting, as psychological warfare and high-stakes brinkmanship highly influenced the diplomatic standoff between the two countries.

Citing a source in Iran, the US media outlet Drop Site has claimed that the Islamic Republic added two senior psychologists to its advisory circle after the initial round of talks in Islamabad in April 2026 in order to help Iranian negotiators assess President Donald John Trump’s personality and shape written messages sent to Washington DC through regional intermediaries. Although the US President did not attend the peace talks, Tehran took an unconventional approach to get ahead of his transactional and aggressive negotiating style.

“We added two senior psychologists so that we can shape messages for him from the perspective of managing what we regard as psychopathic behaviour patterns,” a senior Iranian official told Drop Site on condition of anonymity. He stressed: “(Trump’s) reactions have improved noticeably since we began incorporating the recommendations of these advisers into our messages and written communications.”

Drop Site reported that members of the Iranian delegation proceeded the negotiation process as per the psychologists’ advice. Tehran also incorporated their advice into its negotiation strategy and it worked, as behavioural experts successfully decoded decision-making patterns of the US, apart from refining Iran’s diplomatic messaging.

It may be noted that although the first round of peace talks collapsed in Pakistan, the US extended the truce to buy time for a unified proposal and signed an initial Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). Furthermore, Trump gradually shifted away from an aggressive strategy and began pursuing a path towards a settlement even after exerting pressure on Iran at the initial stage. Israel repeatedly advised the US President to adopt an aggressive strategy against Iran. However, Trump did not fall into that trap and the two countries reached an agreement on June 14, 2026.

Meanwhile, defence experts are of the opinion that President Trump launched an aggressive military and maximum pressure campaign early in the conflict to force capitulation. However, the escalating costs and global economic disruptions led his administration to pivot toward a negotiated settlement with Iran.

Meanwhile,

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das