High-stakes peace negotiations between the United States and Iran resulted in failure to end the war early Sunday morning local time in Islamabad after U.S. military warships crossed the Strait of Hormuz in a risky effort to open the waterway.
Vice President JD Vance, who led the U.S. delegation, announced that American negotiators were leaving Pakistan after giving the Iranians their “final and best offer,” which suggested his team had given Tehran a deadline.
“We’ll see if the Iranians accept it,” the vice president said during a brief news conference. U.S. delegates, he said, “could not get to a situation where the Iranians were willing to accept our terms.”
The failure of the face-to-face talks after 21 hours presented President Donald Trump with a stark choice: He can continue negotiations and play for time as part of an effort to stabilize soaring U.S. energy prices and plummeting markets, or he can wage new air strikes to try to reopen the strait by force.
As the two sides met in a marathon session, the U.S. military announced two of its warships had transited the strait and operated in the Persian Gulf as part of a broader operation to clear the vital trade corridor of sea mines that were laid by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.
Iranian forces have threatened to fire on ships that try to transit the strait without their permission. There were no immediate reports of Iranian forces firing on the two U.S. Navy destroyers.
Mark Hertling, a former U.S. Army general and MS NOW contributor, said it appeared the Trump administration was “testing Iran” to see whether its forces would dare fire on U.S. ships during peace talks.
Gregory Brew, a senior Iran and energy analyst with the Eurasia Group, a geopolitical risk consulting firm, said the U.S. military move was dangerous but he predicted, “I don’t think the Iranians will fire on them.”
Vance led the highest-level face-to-face meeting between the two warring adversaries since 1979. Parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf initially said his country would not negotiate unless two key measures — a ceasefire in Lebanon and the release of Iran’s heavily sanctioned assets — were met first.
Sal Mercogliano, a professor at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy and Campbell University, said the U.S. demining operation was a key step in restoring confidence among oil tanker owners that they can move through the strait safely.
“It is also an effort to alleviate the security concerns of the crews, ships and owners stuck in the Persian Gulf,” said Mercogliano, who criticized the administration for failing to send enough U.S. ships to protect the strait.
The Islamic Republic regime is seeking to retain full sovereignty over the strait — it’s greatest strategic advantage — and has plans to charge oil tankers with hefty fees for safe passage.
A foreign diplomat inside Tehran who is close to the talks being held in Islamabad told MS NOW that Iranians felt as though they had the upper hand.
Experts agreed. Nicole Grajewski, an assistant professor at Sciences Po in Paris and an associate at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center, told MS NOW that the Iranian delegation is pleased Vance is leading the talks because they see him as opposing U.S. wars in the Middle East.
“Iran isn’t expecting much but are pleased about Vance,” Grajewski told MS NOW. She said the Iranian delegation is under pressure to secure an agreement regarding Israel’s attacks on Lebanon and she noted that Ghalibaf, a former commander of Iran’s missile forces, is unlikely to agree to reduce Iran’s missile arsenal, a priority for the U.S. and Israel.
Trump said Friday that the U.S. military was readying warships to strike Iran if the negotiations failed.
Iranian officials have demanded that ships each pay a toll of up to $2 million to pass safely through the strait, which could generate up to $100 billion a year. The revenue would benefit the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which operates Iran’s ballistic missile arsenal.
Hundreds of ships trying to pass through the strait remain stranded. After announcing the two-week ceasefire, Trump indicated the U.S. would be willing to ease primary and secondary sanctions on Iran. He had previously floated the idea of joining Iran in collecting tolls from vessels in the strait, but later walked those comments back, telling reporters “we’re not gonna let that happen.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he instructed the Israeli Cabinet to begin direct negotiations with Lebanon in Washington next week after Trump instructed him to scale back the assault on Lebanon amid U.S.-Iranian negotiations and a temporary cease-fire agreement reached on Tuesday. The deal was struck after Trump threatened to end Iranian civilization, stirring MAGA revolt.
But heavy Israeli strikes have continued in Lebanon. Israel struck more than 200 Hezbollah targets across Lebanon overnight, according to The Associated Press. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif asked all warring countries to adhere to the ceasefire amid Israel’s continued bombardment of Lebanon and reports earlier this week of Iranian attacks on countries including Qatar, the UAE and Kuwait.
Vance is joined in Islamabad by special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law, along with Andrew Baker, Trump’s deputy national security advisor, and Michael Vance, the vice president’s national security advisor. Ghalibaf is joined by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
Julia Jester and Emily Hung contributed to this report.
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