Islamabad — The United States and Iran failed to reach an agreement at the end of historic direct talks after the United States said Tehran refused to commit not to develop a nuclear weapon, leaving a fragile ceasefire in limbo for two weeks.
Vice President J.D. Vance, who led the US delegation, said the talks lasted 21 hours in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, but in the end they did not see a “positive commitment” from Iran “that they will not seek a nuclear weapon.”
Vance’s comments did not indicate what would happen after the 14-day ceasefire initially agreed to by the United States, Iran and Israel, but Pakistani mediators called on the United States and Iran to maintain the ceasefire.
Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said, “It is necessary for the parties to continue to adhere to the ceasefire,” adding that his country will try to facilitate a new dialogue between Iran and the United States in the coming days.
Iran did not immediately provide an official comment.
Discussions began in Islamabad on Saturday, a few days after the fragile ceasefire was announced War Which claimed the lives of thousands of people and shook global markets She entered her seventh week.
Vance said he remained in constant contact with US President Donald Trump and others in the administration during the negotiations.
“But the simple fact is that we need to see a positive commitment that they will not seek a nuclear weapon, they will not seek the tools that will enable them to achieve a nuclear weapon quickly,” Vance told reporters. “This is the primary goal of the President of the United States. This is what we tried to achieve through these negotiations.”
The vice president said he spoke with Trump “six times, dozens of times, in the last 21 hours” and also spoke with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bescent, and Admiral Brad Cooper, head of U.S. Central Command.
“We were negotiating in good faith,” Vance said, speaking on a podium in front of two American flags alongside special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. “And we leave here, and we leave here with a very simple proposal, a way of understanding, and this is our last and best offer. We will see if the Iranians accept it.”
While the talks were taking place in Islamabad, the US military said that two destroyers had crossed the Iranian-controlled area Strait of Hormuz Before mine clearance work, which was the first since the start of the war. But Iranian official media said that the joint military command denied this.
“We’re surveying the Strait. Whether we make a deal or not, it makes no difference to me,” Trump told reporters as the talks continued and time approached in Islamabad. He described the negotiations as “very deep.” Iranian state television referred to what it described as “serious” disagreements.
The American delegation was headed by Vance The Iranian government is led by the Speaker of Parliament Muhammad Baqir Qalibaf It discussed with Pakistan how to move forward with a ceasefire already threatened by deep disagreements and ongoing Israeli attacks against Iran-backed Hezbollah in 2018. LebanonThe Ministry of Health said the death toll exceeded 2,000.
Since Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, the most direct US contact was in 2013 when President Barack Obama called newly elected President Hassan Rouhani to discuss Iran’s nuclear program. Obama’s Secretary of State, John Kerry, and his counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif, later met during negotiations over the 2015 Iran nuclear deal — a process that lasted more than a year.
Now the broader conversations included Vance, A.J Hesitant defender Ghalibaf, a former commander in Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guards who has issued some of Iran’s most incendiary statements since the fighting began, has little diplomatic experience and warned Iran not to “try to manipulate us.”
The official Iranian news agency said that the tripartite talks began after meeting Iranian preconditions, including reducing Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon.
The Iranian delegation told state television that it presented “red lines” in its meetings with Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, including compensation for damage caused by the US-Israeli strikes that started the war on February 28 and the release of frozen Iranian assets.
The war resulted in the deaths of at least 3,000 people in Iran, 2020 in Lebanon, 23 in Israel and more than a dozen in the Arab Gulf states, and caused permanent damage to infrastructure in six countries in the Middle East. Iran’s grip on the Strait of Hormuz has largely isolated the Persian Gulf and its oil and gas exports from the global economy. Sending energy prices soaring.
Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz has proven its greatest strategic advantage in the war. About a fifth of the world’s traded oil passes through more than 100 ships every day. Only 12 crossings have been recorded since the ceasefire.
On Saturday, Trump said on social media that the United States had begun “clearing” the Strait.
“Today, we began the process of establishing a new corridor and will soon share this safe path with the maritime industry,” US Central Command Commander Adm. Brad Cooper later said. The US statement regarding the destroyers added: “Additional US forces, including underwater drones, will join the clearance efforts in the coming days.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said that Tehran entered the negotiations with “deep suspicion” after that Strikes regarding Iran during previous talks. Araqchi, a member of the Iranian delegation in Pakistan, said on Saturday that his country is ready to respond if it is subjected to another attack.
Iran’s 10-point proposal ahead of the talks called for a guaranteed end to the war and sought control of the Strait of Hormuz. It included ending the fighting against Iran’s “regional allies” and explicitly calling for an end to Israeli strikes on Hezbollah.
The United States’ 15-point proposal includes restricting Iran’s nuclear program and reopening the Strait.
Israel continued its strikes in Lebanon after that Saying that there is no ceasefire there. Iran and Pakistan disagreed.
The office of Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said that negotiations between Israel and Lebanon are expected to begin on Tuesday in Washington, after the Israeli escalation. A surprise announcement allows talks to take place Although there are no official relations between the two countries.
But as thousands in Lebanon protested against the planned negotiations on Saturday, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said he postponed a scheduled trip to Washington “in light of the current internal circumstances.” His absence should not affect the talks, as the first round is expected to be at the ambassadorial level.
Israel wants the Lebanese government to assume responsibility for disarming Hezbollah, as envisioned in an agreement November 2024 ceasefire. But the militant group has weathered efforts to limit its power for decades.
Hezbollah joined the war to support Iran in the early days. Israel followed with air strikes and Ground invasion.
The day the ceasefire agreement was announced with Iran, Israel Beirut was bombed with air strikesKilling more than 300 people on the bloodiest day in Lebanon since the start of the war, according to the country’s Ministry of Health.
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Castillo reported from Beijing and Finley and Binkley reported from Washington. Josh Bock in Washington, Samy Magdy in Cairo, Kara Anna in Lovell, New York, and Christopher Weber in Los Angeles contributed.