“The bad ‌news is that we have not reached an agreement, and I think that’s bad news for Iran much more than it’s bad news for the United States of America,” Vance told reporters after the talks ended.

“So we go back to the United States, having not come to an agreement. We’ve made very clear what our red lines are.”

Vance cited shortcomings in the talks and said Iran had chosen not to accept American terms, including ​to not build nuclear weapons.

A short time later, Vance waved goodbye from the top of the stairs as he boarded Air Force Two in Islamabad.

“We need to ​see an affirmative commitment that they will not seek a nuclear weapon, and they will not seek the tools that would enable them to ⁠quickly achieve a nuclear weapon. That is the core goal of the president of the United States, and that’s what we’ve tried to achieve through these negotiations.”

Asked about what terms Iran had rejected in the talks, the US vice-president said: “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? We haven’t seen that yet.”

“We leave here with a very simple proposal, a method of understanding that is our final and best offer.”

Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency ​said that “excessive” US demands had hindered reaching an agreement and that negotiations had ended.

Iran on Sunday urged the United States to negotiate in “good faith” and avoid what it described as “excessive demands and unlawful requests.”

In a post on X early Sunday, foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei said the outcome of the negotiations depended on Washington recognising “Iran’s legitimate rights and interests.”

He said the discussions addressed key issues, including the Strait of Hormuz, Tehran’s nuclear programme, war reparations, sanctions relief, and a complete end to the conflict in Iran and across the region.

The statement was published shortly before US Vice President JD Vance announced that the talks had concluded without a deal.

Before Vance spoke, Iran’s government in a post on X had said negotiations would continue, and technical experts ​from both sides would exchange documents.

The talks in Islamabad were the first direct US-Iranian meeting in more than a decade and the highest-level discussions since the 1979 revolution.

In his brief press conference, Vance did not mention reopening the Strait of Hormuz, a choke point for about 20% of global energy supplies that Iran has blocked since the war began.

The conflict has sent global oil prices soaring and killed thousands of people.

Vance’s ​delegation included special envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.

Vance said he talked with Trump a half a dozen to a dozen times during the talks.

Iran’s team included ​Parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi.

The Iranian delegation arrived on Friday dressed in black in mourning for the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and others killed in the war.

They carried ‌shoes and ⁠bags of some students killed during the US bombing of a school next to a military compound, the Iranian government said.

The Pentagon has said the strike is under investigation, but Reuters has reported that military investigators believe the US was likely responsible for it.

“There were mood swings from the two sides and the temperature went up and down during the meeting,” a Pakistani source said in reference to the first round of talks.

For the US-Iran talks, Islamabad, a city of more than 2 million people, was locked down with thousands of paramilitary personnel and army troops on the streets.

Pakistan’s ​mediating role is a remarkable transformation for a nation ​that was a diplomatic outcast a year ⁠ago.

Strait of Hormuz

As the talks started, the US military said it was “setting the conditions” to start clearing the Strait of Hormuz.

The Strait of Hormuz is central to the ceasefire talks.

The US military said two of its warships had passed through the strait and conditions were being set ​to clear mines, while Iran’s state media denied any US ships had transited the waterway.

Before the talks began, a senior Iranian source told ​Reuters the US had agreed ⁠to release frozen assets in Qatar and other foreign banks.

A US official denied agreeing to release the money.

As well as the release of assets abroad, Tehran is demanding control of the Strait of Hormuz, payment of war reparations and a ceasefire across the region, including in Lebanon, according to Iranian state TV and officials.

Tehran also wants to collect transit fees in the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump’s stated goals have ⁠shifted, but as ​a minimum, he wants free passage for global shipping through the strait and the crippling of Iran’s nuclear enrichment ​programme to ensure it cannot produce an atomic bomb.

US ally Israel, which joined the February 28 attacks on Iran that launched the war, has also been bombing Lebanon and says that the conflict is not part ​of the Iran-US ceasefire.

Mutual distrust is high.