Peace talks between the United States and Iran ultimately collapsed without reaching an agreement. Vice President JD Vance, the U.S. lead negotiator, said he would return to the United States, noting that Iran showed no willingness to abandon nuclear weapons.
On the 12th (local time), the New York Times (NYT) reported that Vice President Vance told reporters on the ground that the Iranian delegation did not accept the U.S. conditions to end the war. Vance said, "We held 21 hours of negotiations with Iran, but we are returning to the United States without reaching an agreement," adding, "I think this is far worse news for Iran than for the United States."
Vance said, "We communicated the U.S. red lines very clearly and showed a certain degree of flexibility, but Iran ultimately did not demonstrate its intent not to develop nuclear weapons." He added, "The two sides ultimately failed to agree on Iran permanently not developing nuclear weapons."
After Vance's announcement, Iran's Tasnim News Agency said in a post on the social network X (formerly Twitter) that "excessive U.S. demands prevented a common framework and an agreement."
This meeting was the highest-level face-to-face negotiation in about 47 years since the two countries severed diplomatic ties in 1979. On the U.S. side, Vice President Vance attended along with Jared Kushner, the eldest son-in-law of President Trump, and Steven Witkoff, the Middle East envoy, while on the Iranian side, Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi attended. The bilateral talks reportedly began at about 5:30 p.m. the previous day Pakistan time, proceeded in three rounds including breaks, and concluded at about 3 a.m. that day.