US Vice President JD Vance departed Pakistan after high‑stakes negotiations with Iran failed to produce a peace deal to end the war.
Standing alongside US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and White House adviser Jared Kushner, Vance addressed reporters briefly before boarding his flight, reports BBC.
Key takeaways from his remarks:
- After 21 hours of talks in Islamabad, the US and Iran did not reach an agreement to end the conflict.
- Vance said, “We’ve had a number of substantive discussions with the Iranians — that’s the good news. The bad news is we have not reached an agreement, and I think that’s worse news for Iran than for the United States.”
- He added, “We just could not get to a situation where the Iranians would accept our terms.”
- The vice president praised Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir, stressing that any shortcomings in the talks were not due to Pakistan’s role, which he described as “amazing.”
- The press conference was brief, with only a handful of questions.
- Asked about Iran’s nuclear programme, Vance said preventing Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons — now or in the future — remains US President Donald Trump’s “core goal.”
- He revealed that Trump was directly engaged, speaking with him “half a dozen to a dozen times” during the negotiations.
- Vance concluded, “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.”
