Officers maintain security at a checkpoint close to signage related to the US-Iran peace discussions in Islamabad, Pakistan, on April 11. Farooq Naeem/AFP/Getty Images
Over the past weekend, representatives from the US and Iran convened in Islamabad for an extensive 21 hours of discussions, but ultimately departed Pakistan without an agreement to resolve the conflict.
US Vice President JD Vance pointed out that Iran’s unwillingness to give up its nuclear program was the main obstacle, whereas Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the chief Iranian negotiator, stated that the US did not earn the trust of the Iranian team.
As a new series of discussions is expected to start in the next few days, here’s an in-depth look at the events of last weekend:
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Vance reached Islamabad and had individual meetings with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif before commencing the in-person discussions on Saturday afternoon.
A few hours into the discussions, specialists in economic, military, legal, and nuclear matters from both parties convened, according to Iran’s government.
In the early hours of Sunday morning local time, Iran’s semi-official Tasnim News Agency announced that the delegations had commenced a new phase of trilateral discussions, noting that considerable obstacles persisted.
Hours later, Vance conducted a news conference, during which he revealed that no agreement had been reached by the parties, despite what he described as “substantive discussions” and the US presenting its “final and best offer.”
In the meantime, Iran’s Tasnim attributed the failure to establish “a common framework and agreement” to “US overreach and ambitions.”
Xenix News Laura Sharman, Lex Harvey, Betsy Klein, Sophia Saifi, Sophie Tanno, Issy Ronald, Mohammed Tawfeeq, Kevin Liptak, Tim Lister and Aida Karimi contributed to this reporting.
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