US Vice President JD Vance and his team of negotiators have departed Pakistan after he announced that there’s still no deal on ending the war despite over 23 hours of talks.
Speaking to reporters shortly before boarding Air Force Two in Islamabad, Vance acknowledged his team’s failure to secure a breakthrough.
He said the United States had clearly outlined its non-negotiable conditions, particularly demanding firm guarantees that Iran would neither develop nuclear weapons nor acquire nuclear weapons capabilities.
Vance claimed Iranian negotiators declined to accept those terms, leaving the talks at an impasse despite the diplomatic efforts throughout the negotiations. He added that US President Donald Trump had been closely involved and held multiple consultations with the American team during the discussions.
Iran Calls Bluff
Iranian state-linked media offered a different assessment that Trump’s team pushed for excessive demands, which prevented progress.
Earlier statements from Tehran suggested dialogue would continue through technical channels.
The Islamabad meeting marked the first direct engagement between senior US and Iranian officials in more than a decade and the highest-level contact since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
The US delegation included special envoy Steve Witkoff and senior adviser Jared Kushner, while Iran was represented by Parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi.
Reporters who attended the sessions described them as tense exchanges all over, saying negotiations fluctuated between cautious optimism and sharp disagreement.
Regardless, Vance did not address whether negotiations had advanced toward reopening the Hormuz strait, which remains affected by the war and continues to influence global energy markets.
