The United States leaves Islamabad without an agreement with Iran: "We have left them our best final offer"

WashingtonThe historic and marathon negotiation session in Islamabad has ended without an agreement. After more than 20 hours of face-to-face talks with the Iranian delegation, the United States has walked away from the table because Tehran does not accept Washington's "red lines." "We are returning to the United States without having reached an agreement," announced US Vice President JD Vance at a brief press conference held after 6 a.m. in Pakistan (9 p.m. in Washington).

In contrast, "the bad news is that we have not reached an agreement; and I think this is bad news for Iran, more than for the United States of America." The vice president emphasized that "we have made it very clear what our red lines are: in what aspects we are willing to give in to them and in which ones we are not. And we have expressed it with the utmost clarity possible; however, they have chosen not to accept our terms."

One of these red lines is Iran's nuclear program. Almost paraphrasing

the same words that had already been heard during the negotiations prior to the February 28th attack, Vance insisted on the nuclear issue as the main point of contention: “The issue is that we need to see an affirmative commitment that they will not seek tools that would allow them to rapidly develop a nuclear weapon.”

On the other hand, Vance thanked Pakistan for its efforts as a mediator country. "Whatever the deficiencies of the negotiation, they have not been due to the Pakistanis, who have done a surprising job and have strived to help both us and the Iranians propose and reach an agreement," he stated. Although there was no white smoke, the summit in Islamabad remains a historic milestone: it was the first time a high-level face-to-face meeting had been held between US and Iranian officials since the 1979 Islamic Revolution pitted the two countries against each other for nearly half a century.

The outcome of the talks aligns with the fragility of the ceasefire that frames them. Expectations that the two sides would meet in Islamabad were almost as scarce as the hope that the truce would last the two weeks agreed upon. Vance's appearance gives even more meaning to the words of the US president who, on Saturday afternoon, said he didn't care if an agreement was reached or not. “We won no matter what”, Trump said at the foot of the helicopter, before leaving for Miami. And he added: “We have defeated them militarily”.

The Republican's words also coincided with the hermeticism of the North American side. While the Iranians had been leaking information to the press throughout the day, Washington had maintained absolute silence. Initial reports from Iranian media already indicated that both sides had reached a stalemate, especially regarding the Strait of Hormuz. Although Vance cited the nuclear program as the main stumbling block, the real urgency is to ensure that oil tankers can cross the strait with security guarantees. Despite Iran having opened up to allowing ships to navigate and Trump insisting that it is now possible, the lack of confidence in the situation keeps insurance prices soaring.

Sources from the Iranian delegation had told Al Jazeera that the United States' demands regarding the strait were too “ambitious”. In their 10-point plan, the ayatollahs claim control over Hormuz, while in the American proposal, Washington only mentioned the request to reopen the maritime passage.

Another point of tension has been the situation in Lebanon, which has already accumulated more than 2,000 deaths since Israel began attacking it on March 2nd. Although Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu supported the truce and has stopped attacking Tehran since Wednesday, attacks in the south of the Arab country have not ceased. On Saturday, while talks were starting in Islamabad, Israel launched a new wave of attacks against southern Lebanon, despite risking the pause. Both Pakistan, the mediating country, and Iran have pointed to the attacks as a violation of the agreement.

According to state Iranian media, Tehran would have managed to obtain a kind of guarantee from the United States that Israel will reduce its attacks against the Arab country. But Vance has made no comment on the matter and there has been no confirmation from the American side. Meanwhile, Netanyahu stated on Saturday afternoon in a publication on X that the military campaign against Iran "is not over". "We hit them, and we still have more to do," Netanyahu stated in the video, where he also boasted of the "historic successes" of the last 40 days of war.