Iran-US Talks in Islamabad End Without Deal After 21 Hours of Negotiations
Pakistan urges both sides to uphold fragile two-week ceasefire as Washington presents ‘final and best offer’ and Tehran cites ‘excessive demands’
ISLAMABAD — April 12, 2026 — The United States and Iran failed to reach an agreement in historic face-to-face peace talks in Pakistan’s capital on Sunday, April 12, after more than 21 hours of marathon negotiations, leaving a fragile two-week ceasefire in limbo and raising concerns about a return to hostilities.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance, who led the American delegation, announced at a press conference in Islamabad that the talks had concluded without a breakthrough, though he left the door open for Tehran to reconsider Washington’s “final and best offer.”
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“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,” Vance told reporters following the negotiations at a luxury hotel in Islamabad’s heavily fortified Red Zone .
The Iranian delegation, led by Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, departed Pakistan after what Iranian officials described as “intensive and constructive” discussions that nevertheless failed to bridge gaps on several key issues .
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Core Disagreements: Nuclear Program and Hormuz
The primary point of contention was Iran’s nuclear program. Vance said the United States sought an “affirmative commitment” from Tehran that it would not seek nuclear weapons “not just now, not just two years from now, but for the long term” .
“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 said. “That is the core goal of the president of the United States, and that’s what we’ve been trying to achieve through these negotiations” .
While Vance did not explicitly highlight disagreements over the Strait of Hormuz — the strategic waterway through which approximately one-fifth of the world’s oil normally passes — Iranian officials indicated that control of the strait remained a central issue .
Iran has effectively controlled access to the strait since the war began on February 28, when the United States and Israel launched joint attacks on Iran. The de facto closure has sent global oil prices soaring and disrupted energy supplies worldwide .
Iran Cites ‘Excessive Demands’ and ‘Deep Mistrust’
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei blamed the lack of an agreement on what he described as U.S. “excessive demands” and “unlawful requests,” while emphasizing that the atmosphere of “deep mistrust” following 40 days of war made a single round of talks insufficient .
“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,” Baqaei posted on X .
He said discussions had covered “various dimensions of the main negotiation topics, including the Strait of Hormuz, the nuclear issue, war reparations, lifting of sanctions, and the complete end to the war against Iran and in the region” .
Baqaei described it as “natural” that no agreement was reached in a single meeting, given the complexity of the issues and the climate of suspicion. “These talks were held in an atmosphere dominated not only by distrust but also by doubt and suspicion, following a 40-day war initiated for the second time within nine months by the US and Israel,” he told Iranian state television .
Iran’s Pre-Conditions and 10-Point Plan
Before the talks began, Ghalibaf had set two pre-conditions for negotiations: a ceasefire in Lebanon and the release of Iran’s frozen assets overseas . The Iranian parliament speaker posted on X that “two of the measures mutually agreed upon between the parties have yet to be implemented: a ceasefire in Lebanon and the release of Iran’s blocked assets prior to the commencement of negotiations” .
Tehran presented a 10-point peace proposal ahead of the talks, which included demands for:
- A guaranteed end to the war
- Iranian control over the Strait of Hormuz
- Payment of war reparations
- Full lifting of sanctions
- A ceasefire across the region, including in Lebanon
The United States reportedly presented its own 15-point proposal, which included restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program and the reopening of the strait .
The Lebanon Disagreement
A fundamental disagreement over whether the ceasefire extends to Lebanon further complicated the talks. While Iranian and Pakistani mediators maintain that Lebanon was included in the April 8 ceasefire agreement, Washington and Tel Aviv have explicitly denied this, insisting that Israel’s campaign against Hezbollah continues separately .
Israel pressed ahead with strikes in Lebanon during the Islamabad talks, with its military announcing on Friday that it had struck 10 rocket launchers in Lebanon . Since the war began, Lebanese health authorities report that more than 2,000 people have been killed in Israeli strikes, with over 1,000 wounded .
Hezbollah joined the war in support of Iran in the conflict’s opening days. Israel has demanded that Lebanon’s government assume responsibility for disarming the militant group — a condition Lebanon has not accepted .
Vance’s Assessment: ‘Bad News for Iran’
Vance delivered a blunt assessment of the outcome, suggesting that failure to reach a deal was worse for Tehran than for Washington.
“We’ve had a number of substantive agreements with the Iranians — that is the good news. The bad news is that we have not reached an agreement, and I think that’s bad news for Iran much more than it’s bad news for the United States of America,” Vance said .
He said the U.S. delegation had negotiated “in good faith” and had been in constant communication with President Donald Trump, speaking with him “a half dozen times, a dozen times, over the past 21 hours” .
Vance confirmed that the U.S. had made clear its “red lines” and areas of flexibility, but that Iran “chose not to accept our terms” .
Trump’s Role and Comments
President Trump, who had set a Tuesday deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz before announcing the two-week ceasefire on April 8, appeared to cast doubt on the truce’s effectiveness even as talks progressed.
On Thursday, Trump posted on social media: “Iran is doing a very poor job, dishonorable some would say, of allowing oil to pass through the Strait of Hormuz. That is not the agreement we have!”
As the Islamabad talks stretched into the early hours of Sunday, Trump told journalists that the negotiations were “very deep,” adding: “We’re sweeping the strait. Whether we make a deal or not makes no difference to me” .
U.S. Military Moves in the Strait
While diplomats negotiated, the U.S. military announced that two destroyers had transited the Strait of Hormuz — the first such transit since the war began — ahead of planned mine-clearing operations . U.S. Central Command commander Adm. Brad Cooper said “additional U.S. forces, including underwater drones, will join the clearance effort in the coming days” .
Iran’s state media, however, denied that any U.S. ships had successfully transited the waterway, highlighting the continued information war accompanying the diplomatic efforts .
Pakistan’s Mediation Role
Pakistan, which emerged as a key mediator in the conflict, hosted the talks as a neutral venue, with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif personally inspecting security arrangements and meeting separately with both delegations .
Following the talks’ inconclusive outcome, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar urged both sides to uphold the temporary ceasefire agreed upon on April 8.
“It is imperative that the parties continue to uphold their commitment to the ceasefire,” Dar said in a statement. “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” .
Historical Context
The Islamabad talks marked the highest-level direct engagement between the United States and Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution . While U.S. and Iranian officials had met during negotiations for the 2015 nuclear deal — known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) — those meetings were conducted by secretaries of state and foreign ministers, not by a vice president and a parliamentary speaker.
The talks took place against a backdrop of deep mutual distrust. Iran has not forgotten the U.S. withdrawal from the JCPOA in 2018 under Trump’s first administration, nor the US-Israeli strikes on Iranian territory in June 2025 and February 2026 .
“We have not forgotten and will not forget the experiences of America’s breaches of promise and malicious acts,” Baqaei said .
What Comes Next
Neither side has announced a schedule for further talks. Iranian officials have indicated that “the ball is in the U.S. court” and that Tehran is in no hurry to resume negotiations .
The two-week ceasefire, agreed upon on April 8, remains in effect for now, but its future is uncertain. Pakistan has urged both sides to uphold their commitments, but Washington has made clear that its “final and best offer” has been presented.
Meanwhile, the humanitarian toll of the conflict continues to mount. The war has killed thousands of people in Iran and Lebanon, displaced hundreds of thousands, and caused extensive damage to critical infrastructure across the Middle East. The Strait of Hormuz remains largely closed to commercial shipping, keeping global oil prices elevated and threatening to tip the world economy into recession .
Negotiations between Israel and Lebanon are expected to begin in Washington next week, though Lebanon’s Prime Minister Nawaf Salam has postponed his planned trip “in light of the current internal circumstances” .
For now, the world waits to see whether Tehran will accept Washington’s terms — or whether the fragile ceasefire will collapse, returning the region to full-scale war.
SOURCES / INPUTS
BERNAMA: Pakistan asks US and Iran to uphold ceasefire after Islamabad peace talks end without deal
ThePrint/Reuters: US says no deal so far after Iran did not accept terms
China.org.cn/Xinhua: No deal reached after hours of rare high-level US-Iran talks in decades
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