Peace talks between the United States and Iran in Islamabad have failed to reach an agreement. The negotiations were an attempt to defuse the Middle East conflict that began in late February after the US and Israel started bombing Iranian targets.
US Vice President JD Vance left the Pakistani capital on Sunday after 21 hours of negotiations with the Iranian delegation and said Washington had put its final and best offer on the table.
“We are negotiating in good faith, and we leave here with a very simple proposal — a method of understanding that is our final and best offer. We’ll see if the Iranians accept,” Vance told reporters in Islamabad before departing for Washington.
He termed it “bad news” that the negotiating sides failed to reach an agreement.
Iran, on the other hand, said the talks failed because of the US’s excessive demands. However, officials of the Gulf nation remain hopeful that negotiations will continue.
Esmaeil Baqaei, the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman, said both sides had reached an understanding on a number of issues and that there were “differences of opinion on two to three important matters.”
“These negotiations were held after 40 days of imposed war and were held in an atmosphere of mistrust and suspicion. It is natural that we should not have expected from the beginning to reach an agreement within one meeting,” he said. “No one expected that either.”
Pakistan initiated the dialogue between Iran and the US after US President Donald Trump last week threatened to obliterate Iranian civilization unless Iran accepted his conditions.
Trump also announced a ceasefire to facilitate the negotiation at a time when the global oil economy was tottering, with Iran blocking the Strait of Hormuz for shipping lines carrying crude oil and natural gas.
The Strait of Hormuz accounts for one-fifth of global oil shipments. The blockage of this vital route caused a serious global energy crisis with massive hikes in oil prices.
After the negotiation, Vance said Washington had made its red lines “as clear as we possibly could,” but Iran had “chosen not to accept our terms.” Pressed on which demands Tehran had rejected, he declined to negotiate in public, while pointing again to the core US insistence on a long-term commitment from Iran not to pursue a nuclear weapon.
Press TV reported that no framework was reached after the US pushed too far on issues including the Strait of Hormuz, Iran’s nuclear rights, and other core disputes.
Iranian officials previously accused Washington of making “excessive and unlawful demands” as the talks stretched into a second day on Sunday.
Despite the impasse, neither side appears to be declaring the process — or the ongoing ceasefire — dead. Earlier reports suggest that lower-level technical contacts and further diplomatic efforts may continue after the failed marathon round, even as the main sticking points remain unresolved.
