The United States and Iran have failed to reach a peace agreement after more than 21 hours of high-stakes negotiations in Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad, with the core dispute over Tehran’s nuclear programme emerging as the defining obstacle to a deal that both sides had described as critical.
US Vice President JD Vance, who led the American delegation alongside special envoy Steve Witkoff and presidential adviser Jared Kushner, announced the breakdown in talks on Sunday before boarding Air Force Two to depart Pakistan.
“The bad news is that we have not reached an agreement, and I think that’s bad news for Iran much more than it’s bad news for the United States of America,” Vance told reporters in Islamabad.
Vance said the US had presented its final and best offer and that Iranian negotiators refused to accept American terms, which he insisted had been quite flexible. He identified Iran’s failure to commit to forgoing a nuclear weapon as the central sticking point, saying Washington needed a fundamental commitment from Tehran not to develop nuclear weapons now, in two years, or for the long term.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry struck a different tone, with spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei saying no one should have expected a deal to be reached in a single session. He acknowledged that the two sides did reach agreement on some issues but said there was a gap in viewpoints on others, and added that diplomacy never comes to an end.
Iran’s state broadcaster said that after 21 hours of talks and diplomatic efforts, excessive US demands prevented any agreement, with the two sides unable to find common ground on the Strait of Hormuz and Tehran’s nuclear technology.
The Iranian delegation was led by Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf. Pakistan served as mediator, with Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar and Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi heading the Pakistani side. Officials from China, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Qatar were also present in Islamabad to indirectly facilitate the talks.
The negotiations took place against the backdrop of a fragile two-week ceasefire that began on April 8, with the conflict now entering its seventh week. The war began on February 28 when the United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran, which retaliated by choking the Strait of Hormuz, the waterway through which roughly 20 percent of the world’s oil and gas exports pass.
During the talks, two US Navy destroyer ships conducted operations in the Strait of Hormuz, marking the first American warship transit since the conflict began, as part of efforts to clear Iranian mines from the strategic waterway.
Iran’s 10-point framework demanded an end to Israeli attacks on Lebanese group Hezbollah, lifting of sanctions, war reparations, and control over shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. The US 15-point counterproposal required Iran to restrict its nuclear programme and reopen the strait.
Following the breakdown, Trump threatened a full naval blockade on Iran, while Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said he intended to hold consultations with European partners in Berlin, Paris and London. Pakistan said it would continue playing its mediator role in the days ahead, leaving open the possibility of further engagement despite Sunday’s impasse.
The Islamabad talks marked the first direct, face-to-face meeting between the two governments since Iran’s Islamic Revolution in 1979.
