U.S.-Iran talks collapse in Islamabad, truce and Hormuz dispute unresolved

Talks between the United States and Iran collapsed in Islamabad after about 21 hours, leaving a fragile ceasefire and the dispute over the Strait of Hormuz unresolved. The breakdown came after nearly two weeks of an uneasy truce and underscored how far apart Washington and Tehran remain on what a workable settlement should look like.

The split is rooted in a simple mismatch. Iran sees American demands as reaching far beyond what it believes it lost in war, while the U.S. is treating its terms as the minimum needed after months of fighting. Tehran is betting it can absorb more bombardment than Washington can tolerate economic chaos, a calculation that has kept both sides at the table even as neither has moved much closer to a deal.

Vice President JD Vance said Washington wanted an affirmative, long-term commitment that Iran would not seek a nuclear weapon or the means to quickly obtain one. Iranian officials called the U.S. position “excessive” and “unreasonable,” and accused Washington of trying to “dictate” the terms. That gap helped sink the talks despite the fact that this was the highest-level U.S.-Iran contact in half a century, according to Reuters.

Former Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who led Tehran’s 2015 nuclear negotiations, said talks fail when they are based on “our/your terms.” Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said the United States had not been able to win Iran’s trust, even though Tehran was willing to engage in good faith. Those comments reflected a deeper Iranian view that Washington is asking for capitulation rather than compromise.

Pakistan’s mediation team had tried to keep the process alive with a two-stage proposal: first secure a ceasefire, then reopen the Strait of Hormuz. That chokepoint remained central to the talks as U.S. naval vessels began mine-clearing operations there. The war that drove the negotiations began on February 28, 2026, with U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran, and the continued fighting has turned diplomacy into a test of which side is more willing to endure costs than to bend.