United States Vice President JD Vance on Sunday said he was in constant touch with President Donald Trump as he and his team were engaged in peace talks with Iranian leaders in Pakistan. The talks hit a wall for now.
“We were talking to the President consistently. I don’t know how many times we talked to him — a half dozen times, a dozen times over the past 21 hours,” Vance told reporters as he left for the US after saying the talks had collapsed.
He added that, along with Trump, he was also in constant consultations with US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and Admiral Brad Cooper, the chief of the US military’s Central Command.
“We were constantly in communication with the team because we were negotiating in good faith. And we leave here with a very simple proposal, a method of understanding that is our final and best offer,” Vance added.
Why US-Iran talks collapsed
Vance said the talks between Washington and Tehran ended on Sunday with no conclusion. Sharing little detail about the talks, the US Vice President added that the core dispute remained around Iran’s nuclear programme.
Describing it as a “red line” for the Trump administration, Vance stated that Iran was told to end its programme and halt its uranium enrichment.
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“The simple fact is that 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,” said Vance, adding, that it is the “core goal of the President (Donald Trump)”, and that is what they attempted to achieve through negotiations.
Iran, on the other hand, stated that the demands made by Washington are “unreasonable”. Adding to the dispute over its nuclear programme, Iran stated that it was not working to build an atomic bomb.
Ghalibaf blames US for collapse in talks
Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammed Bagher Ghalibaf, who also led the Iranian delegation in Islamabad, blamed the US for the collapse in talks.
“Before the negotiations, I emphasized that we have the necessary good faith and will, but due to the experiences of the two previous wars, we have no trust in the opposing side,” wrote Ghalibaf on X.
He added that the Iranian delegation put forth constructive initiatives, “but the other side was unable to gain the trust of the Iranian delegation in this round of negotiations.”
“America has understood our logic and principles, and now it’s time for it to decide whether it can earn our trust or not?” he added further.
Adding to this, a statement issued by the Iranian embassy in Ghana stated that the talks “are over.” “The Strait is still closed. And the VP is flying home empty-handed,” it said on X.
