The US and Iran ended the third round of historic, direct talks on Sunday in Pakistan, days after two-week ceasefire was announced, following more than a month long war that has killed thousands of people.
The discussions are likely to resume after a break, two Pakistani officials told the Associated Press, while some technical personnel from both delegations are still meeting.
US Vice President J D Vance, however said, the talks have failed after 21 hours of discussion, and the negotiators will return without an agreement.
"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, and I think that's bad news for Iran much more than it's bad news for the United States of America," PTI quoted Vance. "So we go back to the United States having not come to an agreement," he added.
ALSO READ: Iran Maintains Hardline As First Phase Of US Talks Concludes
The US has clarified "red lines" and laid out the conditions that it is willing to accomodate.
"We've made very clear what our redlines are, what things we willing to accommodate them on, and what things we're not willing to accommodate them on, and we've made that as clear as we possibly could, and they have chosen not to accept our terms," Vance said.
Meanhwile, Iranian state media blamed the US for the failure of the histioric talks in Islamabad, claiming that the “unreasonable demands” by Washington derailed efforts to finalise an agreement.
Iranian state broadcaster IRIB said that the negotiations, which lasted over 21 hours, concluded without any agreement despite what it called as sustained efforts by the delegation from Tehran.
“The Iranian delegation negotiated continuously and intensively for 21 hours in order to protect the national interests of the Iranian people,” IRIB said in a statement on Telegram. It further noted that Iran has proposed "various initiatives" during the negotiations, which were noy accepted by the US. “The unreasonable demands of the American side prevented the progress of the negotiations. Thus, the negotiations ended,” the broadcaster said.
ALSO READ: Iran Can't Find Its Own Mines In The Strait of Hormuz — Why That's The Real Problem
(With inputs from PTI)
Essential Business Intelligence, Continuous LIVE TV, Sharp Market Insights, Practical Personal Finance Advice and Latest Stories — On NDTV Profit.
