Islamabad: United States Vice President James David Vance departed Pakistan on Sunday after announcing that intensive negotiations with Iran had failed to produce an agreement, despite more than 21 hours of discussions. JD Vance said that Pakistan played a constructive role in the peace talks with Iran.
JD Vance boarded Air Force Two at 7:08 AM and waved to Pakistani officials from the top of the stairs. Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar, Chief of Army Staff and Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, Interior Minister Senator Syed Mohsin Raza Naqvi among others were present on the occasion.
His departure came almost an hour after he addressed a press conference after the trilateral 'Islamabad talks', mediated by Pakistan, which continued for almost 21 hours after they began on Saturday.
During the press conference, JD Vance said talks with Iran lasted around 21 hours and covered a range of critical issues. '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,' he added.
'We have made very clear what our red lines are, what things we are willing to accommodate them on and what things we are not willing to accommodate them on,' said Vance, adding that the Iranian delegation had 'chosen not to accept our terms'.
At the outset of the presser, Vance thanked Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir for their hospitality, acknowledging Pakistan's efforts to bridge differences between Washington and Tehran.
He said any shortcomings in the negotiations were not due to Pakistan, which had 'done an amazing job' in facilitating dialogue.
Responding to questions, Vance said Washington's core demand remained an "affirmative commitment" from Iran that it would neither pursue nuclear weapons nor develop capabilities enabling rapid weaponisation.
'That is the core goal of the President of United States, and that's what we've tried to achieve through these negotiations,' he added.
He said the key issue remained a long-term commitment from Iran, stating: '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 hope that we will.'
On the scope of discussions, Vance said: 'We talked about all those issues... and we talked about a number of issues beyond that,' adding, 'we just could not get to a situation where the Iranians were willing to accept our terms.'
He maintained that the US delegation had shown flexibility: 'I think that we were quite flexible. We were quite accommodating.'
Vance said the team remained in close contact with Washington throughout the negotiations. 'We were talking to the president consistently... a half dozen times, a dozen times over the past 21 hours,' he said, adding that they were also in touch with the wider national security team.
He said Washington was leaving Islamabad with what he described as its 'final and best offer,' adding that it remained to be seen whether Iran would accept it.