US-Iran ceasefire: Vance says no agreement with Iran after historic peace talks in Pakistan
Iran said talks were “intensive” and urged the US to avoid “excessive demands”
US Vice President JD Vance said marathon talks with Iran in Pakistan ended without a deal, as Tehran refused to commit to abandoning a nuclear weapon. Discussions covered Iran’s nuclear programme and the Strait of Hormuz, according to Iran’s foreign ministry. US President Donald Trump said the outcome “makes no difference”, while Iran described talks as “intensive” and urged the US to avoid “excessive demands and unlawful requests.” Follow our live coverage for the latest developments in the region.
Iran's foreign ministry said no one had held any expectation that talks with the United States could have reached an agreement within one session after the negotiations in Islamabad stalled on Sunday.
"Naturally, from the beginning we should not have expected to reach an agreement in a single session. No one had such an expectation," ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei said, according to state broadcaster IRIB.
He said Tehran was "confident that contacts between us and Pakistan, as well as our other friends in the region, will continue".
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong on Sunday urged a continuation of the Middle East ceasefire after US-Iran talks ended with no deal.
"The priority now must be to continue the ceasefire and return to negotiations," Wong said in a statement, adding it was "disappointing that the Islamabad talks between the United States and Iran have ended without agreement".
Pakistan Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar called on Iran and the United States to keep their commitment to maintain a ceasefire after the countries ended historic, face-to-face talks without an agreement.
Pakistan will continue to play a mediating role and try to facilitate dialogue between Iran and the US in coming days, Dar said.
We hope that the two sides will continue with the positive spirit to achieve durable peace and prosperity for the entire region and beyond.Ishaq Dar
Pakistan's foreign minister insisted Washington and Tehran must uphold a ceasefire agreement, after marathon talks between the two sides to end the war in the Middle East ended without an agreement.
"It is imperative that the parties continue to uphold their commitment to ceasefire," said Ishaq Dar, whose government hosted the talks and acted as a mediator.
"Pakistan has been and will 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," he said in a brief statement broadcast by state media.
Talks in Islamabad lasted 21 hours but ended without an agreement to halt the war
“We’ve had a number of substantive discussions… but we have not reached an agreement,” Vance said, calling it “bad news for Iran much more than… the United States”
“We just could not get to a situation where the Iranians would accept our terms,” he said
He thanked Pakistan’s leadership, praising Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir for facilitating the talks
Any shortcomings “wasn’t because of the Pakistanis, who did an amazing job”
Halting Iran’s nuclear capability remains Trump’s “core goal”
Trump was closely involved, speaking with Vance “a half dozen” to “a dozen times” during negotiations
The US reiterated its position: “Our final and best offer”
US Vice President JD Vance boarded his government plane at 7:08 a.m. local time in Islamabad, planning to depart Pakistan after he said that Iran declined to back down on developing a nuclear weapon. That’s according to a reporter traveling with Vance.
The war with Iran started at the end of February and the extensive talks ended after 21 hours. The US and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire on April 7 for negotiations.
Iran’s Fars news agency says progress toward a deal depends on Washington changing its “unreasonable demands”, with the Strait of Hormuz among key sticking points.
It said both sides’ experts are working to find common ground, while the Pakistani mediator is trying to narrow differences and bring positions closer.
The agency added that negotiators have paused to consult their technical teams on draft proposals, with talks expected to resume once new texts are prepared.
The U.S. vice president spoke at a podium in front of a pair of American flags, with special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to his side. He spoke for one minute before taking three questions from reporters.
His entire remarks lasted just more than three minutes. He offered thanks and walked away without taking additional questions.
The US vice president said he spoke with Trump “a half dozen times, a dozen times, over the past 21 hours” and also spoke with secretary of state Marco Rubio, Treasury secretary Scott Bessent and Adm. Brad Cooper, head of the United States Central Command.
“We were constantly in communication with the team because we were negotiating in good faith,” Vance said.
Vice President JD Vance said negotiations between the US and the Iranians have ended without a deal after the Iranians refused to accept American terms to not develop a nuclear weapon.
The high-stakes talks ended after 21 hours, Vance said, with the vice president in constant communication with President Donald Trump and others in the administration.
“But the simple fact is that we need to see an affirmative commitment that they will not seek a nuclear weapon, and they will not seek the tools that would enable them to quickly achieve a nuclear weapon,” Vance told reporters. “That is the core goal of the president of the United States. And that’s what we’ve tried to achieve through these negotiations.”
We just could not get to a situation where the Iranians were willing to accept opur terms. 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. We were constantly in communication with the team because we were negotiating in good faith.JD Vance
The success of peace talks between the United States and Iran depends on Washington avoiding "excessive demands" and "unlawful requests," the Iranian foreign ministry's spokesman said early Sunday after marathon talks in Islamabad.
"The success of this diplomatic process depends on the seriousness and good faith of the opposing side, refraining from excessive demands and unlawful requests, and the acceptance of Iran's legitimate rights and interests," Esmaeil Baqaei wrote on X.
He added that the two sides had discussed a range of issues including the strategic "Strait of Hormuz, the nuclear issue, war reparations, the lifting of sanctions, and the complete end of the war against Iran."
A third round of ceasefire talks between the United States and Iran concluded before dawn Sunday local time, and discussions between the heads of the delegations will resume after a break, two Pakistani officials said.
Some technical personnel from both teams are still meeting, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the press.
US President Donald Trump said Saturday he was not bothered about the outcome of US-Iran talks in Pakistan, insisting the United States had come out ahead from the war.
Whether we make a deal or not makes no difference to me. The reason is because we've won. We're in very deep negotiations with Iran. We win regardless. We've defeated them militarily.Donald Trump
Trump was speaking as Vice President JD Vance was leading the US delegation in the Pakistani capital Islamabad, with discussions with Iran heading into a second day.
Trump also repeated the US military's statement that US Navy warships on Saturday transited through the Strait of Hormuz, the vital gateway to the oil-rich Gulf, to begin clearing it of Iranian mines.
The account was denied by Iran, which has exerted power over the narrow waterway and with it the world's oil supply in retaliation for the attack launched on February 28 by the United States and Israel.
"We have minesweepers out there. We're sweeping the strait," Trump said.
"We'll open up the strait even though we don't use it, because we have a lot of other countries in the world that do use it that are either afraid or weak or cheap," Trump said.
He again voiced frustration with allies from NATO, who stayed on the sidelines during the war, and who were not consulted in advance.
"We were not helped by NATO, that I can tell you," Trump said.
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