Islamabad, Apr 12: High-stakes ceasefire and nuclear negotiations between the United States and Iran ended without a breakthrough, with US Vice President JD Vance saying that he is returning home “without an agreement” after nearly 21 hours of talks in Pakistan.
Addressing the media after the marathon negotiations, Vance said the US had presented what he described as its “final and best offer” to Tehran, but the Iranian side declined to accept the terms.
“We leave here with a very simple proposal… our final and best offer. We’ll see if the Iranians accept it,” he said, adding that the negotiating team remained in constant contact with US President Donald Trump throughout the discussions.
Vance acknowledged that while the talks were substantive and conducted in good faith, they ultimately failed to produce any tangible outcome.
“We’ve been at it now for 21 hours… The good news is we’ve had a number of substantive discussions. The bad news is that we have not reached an agreement,” he said.
He maintained that the US delegation had shown flexibility during negotiations but could not bridge differences with Iran.
“We were quite flexible; we were quite accommodating. But we just could not get to a situation where the Iranians were willing to accept our terms,” he added.
The US vice president said that Washington’s core demand remains an “affirmative commitment” from Iran that it will not pursue nuclear weapons.
“The simple fact is that we need to see a fundamental commitment that they will not seek a nuclear weapon—not just now, but for the long term,” Vance said, without disclosing specific details of the rejected terms.
He noted that while Iran’s existing enrichment infrastructure had been significantly degraded, concerns persist over its long-term intentions.
“We haven’t seen that commitment yet. We hope that we will,” he added.
Vance thanked Pakistan’s leadership for facilitating the talks, describing them as “incredible hosts” who made sincere efforts to bridge differences between the two sides.
“Whatever shortcomings of the negotiation, it wasn’t because of the Pakistanis, who did an amazing job,” he said.
The talks, held under heavy security in Islamabad, were part of a Pakistan-brokered initiative aimed at stabilising tensions following a fragile ceasefire between the US and Iran amid the broader West Asia conflict.
