Iran and the United States failed to reach an agreement to end the war in the Middle East, US Vice President JD Vance said on 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 signalled that he was still giving Iran time to consider the offer from the United States, 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.
The United States and Israel attacked Iran on February 28, sparking retaliation from Tehran that has plunged the Middle East into conflict and the global economy into tumult.