US Vice President JD Vance said Washington failed to secure a deal with Iran after 21 hours of talks in Islamabad, saying Tehran had “chosen not to accept our terms” and that the United States was leaving behind its “final and best offer”.
Speaking after the marathon negotiations, Vance praised Pakistan’s leadership for hosting the talks but said the two sides remained apart on core issues, especially Iran’s long-term nuclear intentions.
Here are the key takeaways from Vance’s remarks:
1. No agreement emerged after 21 hours of talks
Vance said the United States and Iran had been negotiating for 21 hours and held “a number of substantive discussions”, but still failed to reach an agreement.
2. Pakistan praised for trying to bridge the gap
Vance thanked Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir, saying the failure to secure a deal “wasn’t because of the Pakistanis”, who he said “did an amazing job’ and “really tried to help us and the Iranians bridge the gap”.
3. Vance said Iran did not accept US terms
According to the vice president, Washington had made its red lines and areas of flexibility clear, but “they have chosen not to accept our terms”.
4. Iran’s long-term nuclear intentions remain the core issue
Vance said the main US demand was “an affirmative commitment” that Iran would not seek a nuclear weapon and would not seek “the tools that would enable them to quickly achieve a nuclear weapon”.
5. Washington wants a lasting commitment, not a temporary one
Vance said the key question for the US was whether Iran would make “a fundamental commitment of will” not to develop a nuclear weapon “not just now, not just two years from now, but for the long term”.
6. Frozen assets and other issues were discussed
Asked whether Iranian frozen assets came up, Vance said “we talked about all those issues” and also discussed “a number of issues beyond that”, but the talks still did not produce an agreement.
7. US says it approached the talks in good faith
Vance said President Donald Trump had told the US team, “you need to come here in good faith and make your best effort to get a deal.” He added: ‘We did that,” and said Washington had been “quite flexible” and “quite accommodating’.
8. Trump stayed closely involved throughout the negotiations
Vance said the US team was “talking to the president consistently” during the talks and was also in touch with “Admiral Cooper, to Pete, to Marco, to the entire national security team” as well as Scott Bessent.
9. The US says its “final and best offer” is now on the table
Vance said Washington was leaving Islamabad with “a very simple proposal, a method of understanding” that amounted to “our final and best offer”.
10. Vance said the failed outcome was worse for Iran
The vice president argued that the lack of a deal was “bad news for Iran much more than it’s bad news for the United States of America.”
