Islamabad, Apr 12: The US and Iranian delegations left Pakistan on Sunday after the two sides failed to reach an agreement following historic talks in Islamabad to end the West Asia conflict that caused a global energy disruption.
US Vice President JD Vance, who led the American delegation, said the talks failed to reach a peace deal, citing Tehran not forgoing its nuclear programme as one of the key sticking points.
“We leave here with a very simple proposal, a method of understanding that this is our final and best offer. We’ll see if the Iranians accept it,” Vance said at a press conference after the talks.
His departure came almost an hour after he addressed the press conference.
Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, Army Chief Asim Munir and Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi were present at the airport to bid him farewell.
The Iranian delegation, led by Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, has also left Pakistan, according to sources.
There was no official word about the departure of the Iranian delegation due to security reasons.
Iran’s semi-official Mehr news agency also posted on X that the Iranian delegation left Pakistan after several rounds of negotiations.
Iran said that the Islamabad talks failed due to “excessive demands” made by the American side.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei, however, emphasised that “diplomacy never ends.”
The Iranian delegation had arrived in Islamabad on Friday night, while the US delegation arrived early on Saturday.
The Iran-US peace talks were conducted first indirectly through Pakistan and later through direct negotiations between the two sides, official sources said on Sunday.
The Pakistan-brokered negotiations began Saturday, four days after the two sides announced a six-day ceasefire.
It was the first direct, high-level engagement between Iran and the US since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
In a brief statement to the media, Dar, also the Foreign Minister of Pakistan, said his country helped mediate several rounds of “intense and constructive” discussions over the past 24 hours.
Expressing hope for progress, Dar said both sides should maintain a positive spirit to achieve a durable peace and regional stability.
The conflict began after the US and Israel launched attacks on Iran on February 28, paralysing global energy markets and disrupting trade.
Iran had laid out a 10-point plan for the talks that included demands for the withdrawal of US forces from West Asia, the lifting of sanctions against Iran, and allowing it to control the Strait of Hormuz.
The failure to reach an agreement following face-to-face negotiations between the two sides raised doubts about the effectiveness of their fragile two-week ceasefire, as well as the prospect of reopening the Strait of Hormuz to stabilise the global energy market. (PTI)
