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TEHRAN, Iran — <\/span>Iranians reacted with a mixture of disappointment and defiance on Sunday after peace talks with the United States failed to reach an agreement<\/a> following hourslong negotiations. <\/p>\n U.S. officials said the talks collapsed over what they described as Iran\u2019s refusal to commit to abandoning its nuclear program<\/a>. Iranian officials blamed the U.S. for failing to reach a deal, without specifying the sticking points.<\/p>\n The failure of the high-stakes talks in Pakistan after 21 hours casts doubt over the future of a fragile two-week ceasefire<\/a>, due to expire on April 22. <\/p>\n While the fragile ceasefire seems to hold, the war is not over and uncertainty remains on the streets of Tehran where some residents were reluctant to speak to the media.<\/p>\n Iranians have been living in digital blackout for over a month after the internet was blocked shortly after the war started on Feb. 28. Since then, the population has been relying on state-controlled media, with a limited number of people having access to overseas satellite TV channels for access to information.<\/p>\n Standing outside a newsstand in the capital, Tehran<\/a>, Farhad Simia told The Associated Press he had hoped for successful negotiations and an end to the fighting, but stood with Iran despite the failure of the talks. <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m against war. I think negotiation is the better path,\u201d Simia, 43, said. He blamed \u201cinappropriate demands\u201d by the U.S. for the failure to reach a deal. <\/p>\n Mehdi Hosseini, also 43, agreed: \u201cConsidering the advantage Iran seemed to have on the battlefield, there was a real concern that we might lose all those gains in the negotiations. <\/p>\n \u201cWhether the talks succeed or not is one matter, but the fact that the Iranian negotiating team managed to preserve what it achieved in the war, while refusing to back down and surrender, gives reason for hope.\u201d<\/p>\n The streets of Tehran were lined up with large Iranian flags and giant billboards glorifying the country’s leaders and military achievements. One large illustration depicted Iranian men in uniform lifting a fishing net out of the sea with a catch of miniature-sized U.S. military aircraft and warships. \u201cThe Strait Remains Closed,\u201d the billboard read. <\/p>\n Hamid Haghi, 55, said \u201cAmerica’s overreach\u201d was the reason for the talks’ failure. The U.S. wants \u201cto come to the Strait of Hormuz, which is a legacy from our fathers,\u201d he said. \u201cWe can oversee (it) ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n Like many Iranians, 60-year-old Mohammad Bagher believes Iran should continue to stand strong against the U.S. in what he sees as a war of their own making.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are a nation of dialogue and negotiation as long as our interests are respected. We have never sought war,\u201d he said. \u201cWe will stand firm to the end, we are ready to sacrifice our lives, and will not give them one inch of our land.\u201d<\/p>\n Since the U.S. and Israel launched the war<\/a> on Feb. 28, it has killed at least 3,000 people in Iran, 2,020 in Lebanon, 23 in Israel and more than a dozen in Gulf Arab states, and caused lasting damage to infrastructure in half a dozen Middle Eastern countries. <\/p>\n Iran\u2019s grip on the Strait of Hormuz has largely cut off the Persian Gulf and its oil and gas exports from the global economy, sending energy prices soaring<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n