Vance Says Talks Failed to Reach Deal with Iran
U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance said on Sunday that he left talks with Iran after stating that a deal could not be reached and putting forward the “final and best offer.”
Vance signaled he was still giving Iran time to consider a U.S. offer, and on Tuesday the U.S. said it would pause strikes with Israel for two weeks, pending negotiations.
“We’re leaving here with a very simple offer, a method of understanding that is our last and best offer. We’ll see if the Iranians accept it,” Vance told reporters after 21 hours of talks in Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan.
Vance said the real disagreement was about nuclear weapons. Iran insists it is not seeking an atomic bomb, and the United States and Israel bombed sensitive Iranian areas both in the war launched on February 28 and last year.
“The real truth is that we need to see a positive commitment that they will not seek nuclear weapons and that they will not seek the means to quickly obtain nuclear weapons,” Vance said. he said.
“The simple question is: Do we see a fundamental determination by the Iranians not just now, not just in two years, but in the long term not to develop nuclear weapons?
“We haven’t seen that yet. We hope we will.”
Iran-US Talks in Islamabad Extended by One Day
The United States and Iran wrapped up a historic third round of face-to-face talks before dawn in Pakistan on Sunday, days after a fragile two-week ceasefire was declared, as the war that has killed thousands of people and rattled global markets entered its seventh week.
Two Pakistani officials said that the talks between the heads of delegations will continue after the break.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the press, said that some technical staff from both teams were still in the meeting.
Meanwhile, the US military said that two destroyers passed through the Iranian-controlled Strait of Hormuz before mine-clearing operations, a first since the start of the war. But Iranian state media said the joint military command rejected this.
Speaking to reporters while the talks were continuing, Trump said, “We are sweeping the Strait. It doesn’t matter to me whether we make a deal or not.” he said.
He described the negotiations as “very deep”. Iranian state television noted what it called “serious” differences.
The US delegation, led by Vice President J.D. Vance, and the Iranian delegation, led by House Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, discussed how to advance the ceasefire, which is already threatened by deep disagreements with Pakistan and Israel’s ongoing offensive against Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon, where the health ministry says the death toll has exceeded 2,000.
