The negotiations in Islamabad lasted 21 hours, according to J.D. Vance, who led his country's delegation.
"We are going back to the United States without having reached an agreement. We have been very clear about what our red lines are," he told reporters in Islamabad.
The Iranian delegation also left Pakistan on Sunday. Its leader, Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, wrote on X that the US had failed to win the Iranians' trust:
"My colleagues in the Iranian delegation [...] put forward constructive proposals, but ultimately the counterpart failed to gain the trust of the Iranian delegation."
Nuclear weapons and shipping
State television in Iran reported that the United States had made “unreasonable demands” during negotiations to end a war with Iran.
The key issues were, as expected, control over shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, where normally a fifth of the world's oil and gas shipments pass, and Iran's nuclear program.
According to Vance, the US side was “quite flexible”:
We need confirmation that they are committed not to seeking nuclear weapons, and that they are not seeking to obtain the tools that will help them quickly create nuclear weapons.
But after the meeting, President Donald Trump chose to once again intensify the threats against Tehran.
"I could knock out Iran in one day," he said in an interview with Fox News.
He also said he was prepared to impose punitive tariffs of 50 percent on China if Beijing provides military assistance to Iran.
“Unreasonable demands”
Esmail Baghaei, spokesman for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, in turn summed up the talks by saying that the parties were in agreement “on certain issues.” He emphasized that no one in Tehran had expected the negotiations with the United States to lead to an agreement after a single meeting.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards announced at the same time that they continued to have full control over the Strait of Hormuz.
"The enemy will be caught in a deadly maelstrom in the strait if it makes a false move," the Revolutionary Guards said on X
Russia also announced that President Vladimir Putin was ready to mediate in the conflict. The message was conveyed to Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, according to the Kremlin.
The EU and the UK stressed that continued attempts at negotiations must be made.
This weekend's talks between the US and Iran in Pakistan were at the highest level since the 1979 Iranian revolution.
