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US and Iranian negotiators ended marathon talks in Islamabad on Sunday without reaching an agreement, leaving a fragile two-week ceasefire in doubt and prompting Pakistan to step up its mediation efforts.

The talks, the highest-level direct engagement between Washington and Tehran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, concluded after more than 12 hours of negotiations, according to Al Jazeera. France 24 reported that the talks lasted about 21 hours. Both sides blamed each other for the breakdown, with US officials saying Iran refused to commit to abandoning its nuclear program, while Iranian officials accused Washington of overreach without specifying the exact sticking points.

With the ceasefire set to expire on April 22, Pakistani mediators, who had brokered the truce earlier this week, urged both sides to preserve it. "Pakistan has been and will continue to play its role to facilitate engagements and dialogue between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States of America in the days to come," Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said in a statement, as reported by Al Jazeera.

Coverage comparison

Coverage of the talks varies in focus and emphasis. Al Jazeera highlighted Pakistan's continued mediation role and quoted US and Iranian officials extensively, framing the outcome as a setback but not a failure. Dawn, a Pakistani newspaper, centered its coverage on reactions from analysts and journalists, with several experts suggesting the talks were a starting point rather than a definitive failure. Deutsche Welle provided two reports: one focused on the structural incompatibility of the two sides' demands, and another that emphasized the human cost of the war inside Iran, featuring testimonies from Tehran residents. France 24 balanced the mutual blame and added context on the broader conflict, including Israeli strikes on Lebanon and the status of the Strait of Hormuz. The Jerusalem Post, drawing heavily on an analyst from the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, took a more pessimistic view, suggesting the talks were doomed from the start and that the ceasefire was merely a fragile truce.

Key claims

The central facts are consistent across multiple outlets: talks ended without agreement; both sides blame each other; the nuclear program was a major point of contention; and Pakistan urged continuation of the ceasefire.

Specifically, US Vice President JD Vance, who led the American delegation, said, "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," as quoted by Al Jazeera, France 24, and others. Vance also called the US offer the "final and best offer," leaving a narrow opening for resumption.

Iran's Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, who headed the Iranian delegation, said, "It is time for the United States to decide whether it can gain our trust," according to Deutsche Welle and France 24. Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said the delegations reached an understanding on several issues but were far apart on "2-3 important issues," as reported by Dawn.

Both sides presented competing narratives about what went wrong. US officials said Iran entered negotiations misreading its leverage, and Vance spent time correcting what they described as Iranian misperceptions, according to Al Jazeera's account. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote on X: "When just inches away from an Islamabad MoU, we encountered maximalism, shifting goalposts, and blockade," as cited by Al Jazeera. US President Donald Trump's announcement of a naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz was described by US officials as pre-planned to remove the strait as an Iranian bargaining tool, per Al Jazeera.

Iran's Tasnim news agency reported that "excessive" US demands blocked progress, a claim carried by multiple outlets. A hardline Iranian lawmaker, Mahmoud Nabavian, claimed on X that Washington demanded a share of Strait of Hormuz revenues, removal of all 60% enriched uranium, and a 20-year halt to enrichment — however, these claims have not been independently verified.

Perspectives

The breakdown highlights deep structural differences. Analyst Fatemeh Aman told Deutsche Welle: "The conflict was structural, not tactical. The US sought limits on Iran's nuclear program, regional de-escalation, and secure navigation... Iran demanded sanctions relief, recognition, and protection." This view is echoed by others who argue that the two sides' goals were fundamentally incompatible.

From the American perspective, as articulated by Vance, the talks failed because Iran would not commit to giving up its nuclear program. Iran's position, as stated by officials and media, is that the US demands were excessive and that shifting goalposts prevented a deal.

Pakistan's role as mediator is seen as a strategic win, even if no agreement was reached. Analysts told Dawn that the talks did not collapse but stalled, with journalist Kamran Yousaf calling them the "most serious effort yet" to reach a deal. However, some caution that the ceasefire is fragile. Janatan Sayeh of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies told The Jerusalem Post that the outcome was not unexpected, describing Iran as viewing the ceasefire as a victory and possibly exploiting Washington's eagerness to end the war.

The human cost of the conflict is also a factor. Deutsche Welle reported that the war has killed at least 3,000 people in Iran, 2,020 in Lebanon, 23 in Israel, and more than a dozen in Gulf Arab states. Residents of Tehran described unemployment and unaffordable basic goods, with the internet shut down since the war's outbreak.

Looking ahead, analysts are cautiously optimistic that the ceasefire will hold, but they note that immediate resumption of talks is unlikely. Aman suggested that future talks, if any, would likely start with narrower technical steps. With eight days remaining until the ceasefire expires, the window for diplomacy is narrow, and both sides have positioned themselves for further escalation if it fails.