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 Sunday 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 U.S., which on Tuesday 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.
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.”
Meanwhile, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards threatened to deal “severely” with any military vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz, state TV reported Sunday, after the US Central Command said two US Navy warships had transited the strategic waterway to clear mines laid by Tehran. (AFP)
