Tehran misjudged its own leverage in US-Iran talks, official says
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
Peace talks with Iran have collapsed after Tehran seriously misjudged what kind of influence it believed the regime had, a US official told Fox News Digital on Sunday.
As Vice President J.D. Vance left Islamabad, Pakistan, without a deal between the United States and Iran, the official said Vance used the talks to gauge his own assessment of the Iranians’ positions in the negotiations.
Vance said he thought Tehran had a strong hand in the negotiations, according to the official, adding that no agreement could be reached if one side deluded itself into believing it had influence it did not actually have, according to the official.
GENERAL JACK KEANE IS ‘DOUBTABLE’ ABOUT IRAN CEASE CEASE WILL CONTINUE, WARNINGS TEHRAN WILL ‘DELAY AND SHOW’
Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi were welcomed by Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and Chief of General Staff Field Marshal General Asim Munir when they arrived at Nur Khan air base in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, on April 11, 2026. (Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs/AP)
In his statement to Fox News Digital, the US official stated that the talks started off difficult, but turned into a more friendly and productive dialogue during the 21-hour negotiations.
High-stakes talks between the United States and Iran ended without a deal after Iranian officials refused to accept America’s terms, Vance said at a news conference at the Serena Hotel in Islamabad, Pakistan, early Sunday.
Vice President J.D. Vance speaks at a press conference following a meeting with representatives from Pakistan and Iran on April 12, 2026 in Islamabad, Pakistan. (Jacquelyn Martin/AP)
“We’re going back to the United States without reaching an agreement on this,” Vance said at the time. “We’ve made it very clear what our red lines are, what we’re willing to accommodate them on, and what we’re not willing to accommodate them on.” “And we made that as clear as we could, and they chose not to accept our terms.”
TRUMP ANNOUNCED THAT THEY MADE A ‘SIGNIFICANT OFFER’ AFTER IRAN’S ULTIMATE, BUT IT WAS ‘NOT GOOD ENOUGH’
The US official said that during the talks, the Washington delegation made clear that the Iranians did not understand that the essence of any peace agreement depends on Iran never obtaining a nuclear weapon.
Vice President J.D. Vance speaks at a press conference in Islamabad, Pakistan, April 12, 2026, after meeting with representatives from Pakistan and Iran. Jared Kushner and special envoy for peace missions Steve Witkoff listened during the event. (Jacquelyn Martin/AP)
While this point remains the main goal of any possible peace agreement, the United States has other red lines on which it will not budge.
The official said the US and Iran have failed to agree on all of Washington’s red lines; these include: Iran ending all uranium enrichment; dismantling all of Iran’s major nuclear enrichment facilities; recovery of highly enriched uranium; adoption of a broader peace, security and de-escalation framework that includes regional allies; Ending funding for Iran’s terrorist proxies, Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis; and Iran fully opens the Strait of Hormuz with no transit fees.
CLICK TO DOWNLOAD FOX NEWS APPLICATION
The official added that Vance underlined that it was up to Tehran to accept the terms while the deal was still on the table.
“And we’re leaving here with a very simple proposal, a method of understanding that is our final and best proposal,” Vance said at a press conference before leaving Pakistan. “We’ll see if the Iranians accept it.”
