The United States and Iran have failed to strike a peace deal to end the now six-week war, Vice President JD Vance announced early on Sunday in Pakistan.
“The bad news is that we have not reached an agreement,” Vance said at a press conference following the peace talks. “And I think that’s bad news for Iran much more than it’s bad news for the United States of America.”
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Vance suggested Iran wasn’t willing to budge on its nuclear program, specifically a pledge not to pursue nuclear weapons production in the future.
“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?” he said. “We haven’t seen that yet. We hope that we will.”
Vance added that he and the other U.S. negotiators, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, are now heading home after over 15 hours of discussions in Islamabad. He said that despite the lack of progress, the U.S. part of the deal still stands.
“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,” he concluded before departing the presser.
The lack of a peace deal leaves the state of the already fragile two-week ceasefire in the war deeply uncertain.
President Donald Trump tabled his strikes on civilian infrastructure in Iran earlier this week to pursue the peace option. But the lack of a deal could mean those are inevitable.
When announcing the ceasefire, Trump suggested those strikes could still happen if Iran continued its chokehold over the Strait of Hormuz.
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Earlier Saturday, the U.S. began “clearing out” the strait itself, Trump said. Two U.S. Navy destroyers transited the waterway to eliminate sea mines laid by Iran, with more U.S. forces on the way.
U.S. Central Command Cmdr. Brad Cooper said the goals of the operation are to establish a “new” and “safe” pathway that will free up global shipping.
