No deal with Iran, 'bad news for Tehran': JD Vance
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Washington: US Vice President JD Vance announced that marathon negotiations with Iran in Islamabad ended without agreement after over 20 hours, cautioning that Tehran's rejection of Washington's terms spells "bad news for Iran much more than it's bad news for the United States of America."
Speaking to reporters in the early hours of Sunday, Vance said: “We have been at it now for 21 hours, and we've had a number of substantive discussions with the Iranians. That's the good news. The bad news is that we have not reached an agreement.”
He explained that US negotiators had clearly stated their red lines—what they could accommodate and what they could not—but Iran refused to accept. The core US goal remains preventing Tehran from gaining nuclear weapons capability, with Vance stressing the need for “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.”
Washington seeks long-term assurances, not short-term ones. “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,” he added.
Despite the impasse, Vance described the US team as flexible and acting in good faith under presidential instructions. “I think that we were quite flexible. We were quite accommodating. The President told us, You need to come here in good faith and make your best effort to get a deal. We did that, and unfortunately, we weren't able to make making headway.” The team consulted President Trump frequently—up to a dozen times—and the broader national security apparatus during the talks.
Vance confirmed Washington has tabled its “final and best offer,” leaving the door ajar for future moves.
The collapse represents a setback for reviving diplomacy on Iran's nuclear programme, amid longstanding disputes over verification, sanctions relief, and enrichment limits.
(Inputs from IANS)