New Delhi: More than 21 hours of direct face-to-face negotiations between the United States and Iran in Islamabad ended in the early hours of Sunday (April 12) without an agreement, with both sides publicly blaming each other for the failure and the fate of a fragile two-week ceasefire now uncertain.

What were the talks and how did they come about?

The talks took place at the Serena Hotel in Islamabad on Saturday, with Pakistan as the host. They were the highest-level direct engagement between Washington and Tehran since the two countries severed diplomatic relations in 1979 following the Islamic Revolution, when Iran’s new government stormed the US Embassy and took American diplomats hostage.

On February 28, joint US-Israeli strikes killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and triggered a wave of Iranian retaliatory attacks against Israel and US military installations across the Gulf. Iran responded by shutting the Strait of Hormuz to most commercial shipping, a closure that analysts have described as the largest oil supply shock on record, cutting off an estimated 12 to 15 million barrels of crude per day.

The strikes came after earlier rounds of indirect negotiations, brokered by Oman, in February. The Pentagon has said more than 13,000 targets were hit over 40 days of operations and claimed to have destroyed 80% of Iran’s Air Defence system.

A ceasefire was eventually announced on April 7 by US President Donald Trump, Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi and the Pakistan prime minister Shehbaz Sharif, hours before a deadline set by Washington to start intensive bombardment in Iran threatening civilisational erasure. It was set to run for two weeks, expiring April 21.

International reactions

French President Macron, writing on X as the talks got under way, said he and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had agreed to remain in close contact to support de-escalation efforts and freedom of navigation in the Strait. He also spoke with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on securing a lasting diplomatic outcome. Earlier, Macron had condemned Israeli strikes on Lebanon as indiscriminate and said they posed a direct threat to the ceasefire’s survival. “Lebanon must be fully covered by it,” he said. Macron also told Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian directly to use the Islamabad talks as an opening toward a lasting de-escalation and a robust agreement providing solid regional security guarantees.

China’s foreign ministry welcomed the ceasefire ahead of the talks. “China has consistently advocated for an immediate cease-fire and cessation of hostilities, as well as the resolution of disputes through political and diplomatic channels,” a ministry spokeswoman said. Trump told AFP he believed Beijing had encouraged Tehran toward the ceasefire, and the Associated Press reported, citing unnamed sources, that Chinese officials had been in direct contact with Iranian counterparts during the lead-up to the talks.

The UAE, whose territory had been struck by Iranian missiles and drones during the war, called for a concrete mechanism to address Iran’s ballistic missile programme and nuclear activities. Its state energy chief Sultan Al Jaber said the strait was not open and needed to be opened without conditions. The European Commission called for swift progress toward a negotiated settlement, saying it would protect Iranian civilians and prevent a wider global energy crisis. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni called for unconditional restoration of maritime freedom in the Strait.

Russia’s foreign ministry, in a statement carried by TASS, called on all parties to take a responsible approach, said the talks represented an opportunity to advance a Gulf settlement, and expressed concern that unnamed forces were working to obstruct the process.

The US delegation was led by Vice President J.D. Vance, accompanied by Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, both of them been involved in the failed Geneva round in February. 

Iran’s team numbered around 70 people. Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf led the delegation, with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and senior negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani alongside him. Araghchi has been Iran’s principal interlocutor on nuclear questions with Western governments for more than a decade, including the 2015 JCPOA talks.

The Pakistani leadership – Sharif, Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and Munir were also present inside the room throughout, actively facilitating the exchanges, as per reports.

Dar later confirmed publicly that he and Munir had helped mediate several rounds of what he described as intense and constructive negotiations between the two sides. Both delegations had met separately with Sharif before direct talks began, with Sharif’s office saying Islamabad intended to keep facilitating both sides toward durable peace.

Where did both sides stand before the talks began?

Both delegations arrived carrying very public reservations alongside conditional willingness to talk.

Ghalibaf set the tone on landing in Islamabad. “Unfortunately, our experience of negotiating with the Americans has always been accompanied by failure and breaches of commitments,” he said, as per Tasnim news agency. “Twice within less than a year, in the middle of negotiations, despite the goodwill of the Iranian side, they attacked us and committed multiple war crimes.” He also set out conditions for........

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