Iran and the United States failed to reach an agreement to end the war in the Middle East, U.S. Vice President JD Vance said on April 12 after marathon talks in Islamabad, adding that he was leaving after giving Tehran the "final and best offer.”
Vance said Washington was seeking a "fundamental commitment" from Iran that it would not develop a nuclear weapon, but that "we haven't seen that" after holding the highest-level meeting between the two sides since the 1979 Islamic revolution.
However, he signaled that he was still giving Iran time to consider the offer from the United States, which on April 7 said it would pause attacks with Israel for two weeks pending negotiations.
Pakistan, which hosted the talks and whose leadership had ushered the rival sides to the table, said it would keep facilitating dialogue and urged both countries to continue respecting the temporary truce.
Iran's state broadcaster IRIB said negotiations stalled over "unreasonable demands of the American side,” though the country's Foreign Ministry spokesman later noted that "no one" could have expected that after 40 days of war, they would reach an agreement within one session.
The U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28, sparking retaliation from Tehran that has plunged the Middle East into conflict and the global economy into tumult.
Iran and the U. S. had entered the talks mediated by Pakistan with maximalist positions, with Washington piling pressure by saying it had sent minesweeping ships through the vital Strait of Hormuz maritime route.
Signs of strain in the negotiations appeared when Iranian media accused the United States of making "excessive demands" over the strait, through which one-fifth of the world's oil transited before its effective closure by Iran during the war.
After 21 hours of talks in the Pakistani capital, Vance told reporters that no deal could yet be struck.
"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 it," Vance said, before departing for a nearby airport and flying out of Pakistan.
Suggesting efforts to keep the sides talking would continue, Pakistan Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said his government would "continue to play its role to facilitate engagement and dialogue between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States of America in the days to come.”
"It is imperative that the parties continue to uphold their commitment to ceasefire," he added.
The high-stakes meeting had unfolded in Islamabad with intense mistrust by both sides.
Iran was in the middle of negotiations on its nuclear program in February with Trump's real-estate friend Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner when the United States and Israel launched their attack. The first salvos of the war killed Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Both Kushner and Witkoff were part of Vance's team in Pakistan. The 70-strong Iranian delegation was led by Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the powerful speaker of parliament, and included Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
Iranian demands for any agreement to end the war include unfreezing sanctioned Iranian assets and ending Israel's war against Hezbollah in Lebanon, which Vance has said would not be up for discussion in Islamabad.
The opening of the Strait of Hormuz has also presented a key friction point.
