Vice President J.D. Vance announced late on Saturday that United States and Iranian negotiators failed to reach a peace agreement following more than 21 hours of intensive discussions in Pakistan.
The talks, which spanned several days and built on a fragile ceasefire that took effect earlier in the week, aimed to establish a path toward ending the ongoing U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, now in its sixth week.
In remarks after the negotiations concluded, Vance described the sessions as involving “substantive discussions,” calling that the positive aspect. However, he noted the absence of an agreement, stating it represented “bad news for Iran, much more than it’s bad news for the United States of America.”
“We’ve made very clear what our red lines are, what things we’re willing to accommodate them on, and what things we’re not willing to accommodate them on,” Vance said. “And we’ve made that as clear as we possibly could. And they have chosen not to accept our terms.”
The U.S. delegation, which included White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law, is now returning home without a deal.
Iranian officials described the U.S. demands as “unreasonable” and said there was no agreement on listed concessions or a permanent end to the conflict.
The discussions had sought to strengthen a ceasefire that went into effect on Tuesday. However, its durability remains in question, with Israel and Hezbollah militants continuing to exchange fire over the weekend. Shipping traffic in the Strait of Hormuz has also remained minimal.
The breakdown leaves the future of efforts to resolve the conflict uncertain, as both sides return to their positions amid ongoing regional tensions. This remains a developing story.