US–Iran talks in Pakistan falter after 21 hours as Tehran rejects US demands

[Editor's Note: Follow Khaleej Times live blog for the latest regional developments with the US-Israel-Iran ceasefire now in effect.]

US Vice President JD Vance said on Sunday that his negotiating team was leaving Pakistan after not reaching a deal with Iran following 21 hours of negotiations, jeopardising a fragile two-week ceasefire. 

"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 after the talks ended. 

"So we go back to the United States having not come to an agreement. We've made very clear what our red lines are."

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Vance cited shortcomings in the talks and said Iran had chosen not to accept American terms, including to not build nuclear weapons. A short time later, Vance waved goodbye from the top of the stairs as he boarded Air Force Two in Islamabad. 

"We need to see an affirmative commitment that they will not seek a nuclear weapon, and they will not seek the tools that would enable them to quickly achieve a nuclear weapon. That is the core goal of the president of the United States, and that's what we've tried to achieve through these negotiations. " 

Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency said that "excessive" U.S. demands had hindered reaching an agreement and that negotiations had ended. Before Vance spoke, Iran's government in a post on X had said negotiations would continue and technical experts from both sides would exchange documents.

The talks in Islamabad were the first direct US-Iranian meeting in more than a decade and the highest-level discussions since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. 

In his brief press conference, Vance did not mention reopening the Strait of Hormuz, a choke point for about 20% of global energy supplies that Iran has blocked since the war began. 

Vance's delegation included special envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner. Vance said he talked with Trump a half a dozen to a dozen times during the talks. 

Iran's team included Parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Baqer Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi. The Iranian delegation arrived on Friday dressed in black in mourning for late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and others killed in the war. 

They carried shoes and bags of some students killed during the US bombing of a school next to a military compound, the Iranian government said. 

The Pentagon has said the strike is under investigation, but Reuters has reported that military investigators believe the US was likely responsible for it.

"There were mood swings from the two sides, and the temperature went up and down during the meeting," a Pakistani source said in reference to the first round of talks.Mutual distrust is high.

For the US-Iran talks, Islamabad, a city of more than 2 million people, was locked down with thousands of paramilitary personnel and army troops on the streets. Pakistan's mediating role is a remarkable transformation for a nation that was a diplomatic outcast a year ago.

Strait of Hormuz

As the talks started, the U.S. military said it was "setting the conditions" to start clearing the Strait of Hormuz.

The Strait of Hormuz is central to the ceasefire talks. The US military said two of its warships had passed through the strait and conditions were being set to clear mines, while Iran's state media denied any U.S. ships had transited the waterway. 

As well as the release of assets abroad, Tehran is demanding control of the Strait of Hormuz, payment of war reparations and a ceasefire across the region, including in Lebanon, according to Iranian state TV and officials.

Tehran also wants to collect transit fees in the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump's stated goals have shifted, but as a minimum he wants free passage for global shipping through the strait and the crippling of Iran's nuclear enrichment programme to ensure it cannot produce an atomic bomb.

US ally Israel, which joined the February 28 attacks on Iran that launched the war, has also been bombing Tehran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon and says that conflict is not part of the Iran-US ceasefire.