The US and Iran are ending ceasefire talks without an agreement and are accusing each other – nationally
ISLAMABAD (AP) – The United States and Iran ended face-to-face talks on Sunday without an agreement, leaving no doubt that an end to the two-week standoff could be reached.
US officials said the talks broke down over what they described as Iran’s refusal to commit to abandoning its path to a nuclear weapon, while Iranian officials blamed the US for the collapse of the talks without clarifying the sticking points.
Neither side has indicated what will happen after the 14-day ceasefire expires on April 22. Pakistani mediators have urged all sides to continue. Both said their positions are clear and put the onus on the other side, emphasizing how the gap is narrowing during the negotiations.
“We need to see a firm commitment that they will not seek a nuclear weapon, and they will not seek the tools that will enable them to quickly acquire a nuclear weapon,” Vice President JD Vance said after the 21-hour talks.
Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, who led Iran in the negotiations, said it was time for the United States to “decide whether to trust us or not.”
He did not address the core conflicts in the series of social media, although Iranian officials have previously said that the talks broke down over two or three key issues, blaming what they called the US.
Iran has long denied that it is seeking nuclear weapons but has insisted that it has the right to a nuclear program. Experts say its stockpile of enriched uranium, while not weapons-grade, is a short technological step away.
Since the US and Israel started the war on Feb. 28, killed at least 3,000 people in Iran, 2,020 in Lebanon, 23 in Israel and more than a dozen Gulf Arab countries, and caused permanent damage to infrastructure in half a dozen Middle Eastern countries. Iran’s seizure of the Strait of Hormuz has largely cut off the Persian Gulf and its oil and gas exports to the world economy, causing energy prices to rise.
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Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said his country will try to hold a new dialogue between Iran and the US in the coming days.
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“It is important that the groups continue to comply with their commitment to end the fire,” said Dar.
The deadline — and Vance’s proposal that Iran end its nuclear program — foreshadowed February’s nuclear talks in Switzerland. Although President Donald Trump said the ensuing war was aimed at forcing Iran’s leaders to abandon their nuclear ambitions, each side appeared unchanged in negotiations following six weeks of fighting.
There has been no word on whether they will start again, although Iran has said it is open to continuing talks, said Iran’s state-run IRNA media.
“We have never wanted war. But if they try to win what they failed to win on the battlefield through negotiations, it is totally unacceptable,” said 60-year-old Mohammad Bagher Karami in the city of Tehran.
The US is moving to change the status quo in the Strait of Hormuz
The United States and Iran entered the talks with very different proposals and conflicting views on their ability to end the war. Before the talks began, the ceasefire was threatened by deepening tensions and Israel’s continued offensive against Iranian Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Iran’s 10-point proposal before the talks called for a guaranteed end to the war and demanded control of the Strait of Hormuz. It included an end to hostilities with Iran’s “regional allies,” clearly calling for an end to Israeli strikes on Hezbollah.
Pakistani officials told the Associated Press in March that the US’s 15-point proposal includes measures to monitor and roll back Iran’s nuclear program. Speaking on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to discuss details, they said it also included reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
Indeed, Iran’s closure of the strait proved a major strategic advantage in the war. About a fifth of the world’s traded oil typically passed through more than 100 ships a day.
During the talks, the US military said two destroyers passed a key road ahead of a mine clearance operation, the first time since the war began. Iran’s state media, however, reported that the country’s military denied it.
“Whether we make a deal or not makes no difference to me,” Trump said as talks continued early Sunday morning.
Israel advances on Lebanon
The conflict raises new questions about fighting in Lebanon. Israel has continued to strike since the ceasefire was announced, saying the agreement does not apply there. Iran and Pakistan say otherwise.
Lebanon’s National News Agency reported that six people were killed Sunday morning in an Israeli strike in Maaroub, a village near the southern coastal city of Tyre. Although Israel’s attacks on Beirut have slowed down in recent days, its attacks on southern Lebanon have intensified and ground attacks have been renewed after Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel in the early days of the Iran war.
Talks between Israel and Lebanon are expected to begin on Tuesday in Washington, said the office of Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, after a surprise announcement by Israel authorizing talks despite the lack of formal relations between the countries. Protests erupted in Beirut on Saturday over the planned talks.
Israel wants the Lebanese government to take responsibility for disarming Hezbollah, as envisaged in the November 2024 ceasefire. But the terrorist group has survived efforts to curb its power for decades.
On the day the ceasefire deal with Iran was announced, Israel hit Beirut with airstrikes, killing more than 300 people in Lebanon’s worst day since the war began, according to the country’s Health Ministry.
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Metz reported from Ramallah, the West Bank, and Magdy from Cairo. UE. Eduardo Castillo in Beijing, Collin Binkley and Ben Finley in Washington and Kareem Chehayeb in Beirut contributed.
© 2026 The Canadian Press
