Iran-US peace talks fail to reach deal as Washington issues 'final offer' — BBC News

[0:00] U.S. and Iranian delegations meeting in Pakistan have failed to reach a deal to end the conflict [0:06] in the Middle East. After talks that ran through the night, the U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance [0:11] said the Iranians have not accepted what he called the U.S.'s final offer. Iranian media [0:16] blamed what it called unreasonable demands by the U.S. Our South Asia correspondent Azadeh [0:21] Mishiri is in Islamabad. The U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance left in the early hours of the morning [0:28] after he said that the United States had needed a fundamental commitment from Iran not to develop [0:35] nuclear weapons. Iran, for its part, has called the U.S. demands unreasonable. Now, what has actually [0:43] been achieved here in Pakistan? Our correspondent Joe Inwood has this report on high-stakes talks [0:49] that seem to have reached an impasse. After 21 hours of negotiations, the U.S. Vice President [0:57] left without a deal. The face-to-face meeting had been historic, but may be remembered as [1:03] a failure of diplomacy. J.D. Vance had arrived in Pakistan for talks with the Speaker of Iran's [1:09] Parliament and Foreign Minister, trying to bring more than a month of fighting to an end. [1:15] The press were kept well away amidst heavy security. No one was saying much. [1:20] An intense struggle is underway on the diplomatic front. I assure our good people that we will [1:27] use all our capacities to consolidate our country's achievements and to defend Iran's existence. [1:35] After 40 days of fighting and nearly 50 years of hostility between the U.S. and Iran, there [1:41] was a lot to discuss. For Iran, avoiding a repeat of the destruction of the last month was [1:48] high up their agenda. They want guarantees it will not happen again. [1:53] Top of the U.S. agenda is the reopening of this vital waterway, the Strait of Hormuz. [2:00] Iran has selectively but effectively blocked it. It's given them huge leverage that they [2:05] did not have before the war. Iran wants something very different here. International recognition [2:11] of its rights over the strait, maybe including the ability to charge tolls to pass. Yesterday, [2:19] the U.S. claimed two naval destroyers had got through clearing mines. Iran denied that, [2:24] saying they'd driven the warship off. [2:27] There are many other issues. For the U.S., nuclear weapons, Iran's ballistic missiles, [2:34] as well as their regional proxies. While Iran wants reparations for the damage done by the [2:39] war, the release of frozen assets, as well as an end to attacks on its allies in the region. [2:45] And that final point looked like it could derail talks before they even began. Israel continued [2:51] its attacks on the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah, even as the delegations were meeting in Pakistan. [2:57] The health ministry here says more than 2,000 people have now been killed. As the talks went [3:03] into the night, this was President Trump's assessment. [3:05] Regardless what happens, we win in that country. And so let's see what happens. Maybe they make [3:14] a deal, maybe they don't. From the standpoint of America, we win. [3:20] NICK SCHIFRIN, President of the United States of America, then an update. After 21 hours of talks, [3:23] the two sides had failed to reach a deal. The U.S. said the main sticking point was nuclear weapons. [3:29] DAVID BROOKS, U.S. Secretary of Defense, United States of America, [3:30] We have not reached the agreement. And I think that's bad news for Iran much more than it's bad news for the United States of America. [3:36] So we go back to the United States having not come to an agreement. [3:40] We've made very clear what our red lines are. [3:44] As the U.S. vice president drove to the airport, Iranian state media said negotiations broke down due to unreasonable demands. [3:52] These talks began amidst a spiraling war and apocalyptic threats. [3:57] If their failure leads to a return to fighting, the consequences will be felt around the world. [4:03] Jo Inwood, BBC News. [4:05] Well, as Joe said there, the talks went on long into the night, but also long into the early hours of the morning. [4:13] We were all waiting for an update. [4:15] And here's more of what J.D. Vance had to say when that finally came. [4:18] We've been at it now for 21 hours. [4:21] And we've had a number of substantive discussions with the Iranians. [4:26] That's the good news. [4:27] The bad news is that we have not reached an agreement. [4:30] And I think that's bad news for Iran much more than it's bad news for the United States of America. [4:34] So we go back to the United States having not come to an agreement. [4:38] We've made very clear what our red lines are, what things we're willing to accommodate them on, and what things we're not willing to accommodate them on. [4:45] And we've made that as clear as we possibly could. [4:48] And they have chosen not to accept our terms. [4:52] Questions? [4:53] Nick Roberts of CNN. [4:55] Well, I won't go into all the details because I don't want to negotiate in public after we've negotiated for 21 hours in private. [5:09] But the simple fact is that we need to see an affirmative commitment that they will not seek a nuclear weapon, [5:16] and they will not seek the tools that would enable them to quickly achieve a nuclear weapon. [5:20] That is the core goal of the President of the United States, and that's what we've tried to achieve through these negotiations. [5:26] Again, their nuclear programs, such as it is, the enrichment facilities that they had before, they've been destroyed. [5:35] But the simple question is, do we see a fundamental commitment of will for the Iranians not to develop a nuclear weapon, [5:42] not just now, not just two years from now, but for the long term? [5:45] We haven't seen that yet. [5:46] We hope that we will. [5:47] Jen. [5:48] We talked about all those issues, Jen, and we talked about a number of issues beyond that. [6:00] And so certainly those things came up. [6:01] But again, we just could not get to a situation where the Iranians were willing to accept our terms. [6:09] I think that we were quite flexible. [6:11] We were quite accommodating. [6:11] The President told us, you need to come here in good faith and make your best effort to get a deal. [6:18] We did that. [6:18] And unfortunately, we weren't able to make any headway. [6:22] Preston. [6:22] Mr. Vice President, how often did you communicate with President Trump throughout the negotiations? [6:27] There were reports that there were multiple rounds where there were breaks in between negotiations. [6:32] How often did you communicate with the President throughout those rounds? [6:35] And what was he saying as you were going through these negotiations that you said fell short? [6:39] Yeah, obviously, we were talking to the President consistently. [6:42] I don't know how many times we talked to him, a half dozen times, a dozen times over the past 21 hours. [6:47] We obviously also talked to Admiral Cooper, to Pete, to Marco, to the entire national security team. [6:52] We talked to Scott Besson a number of times. [6:54] So, look, we were constantly in communication with the team because we were negotiating in good faith. [6:59] And we leave here, and we leave here with a very simple proposal, a method of understanding that is our final and best offer. [7:09] We'll see if the Iranians accept it. Thank you. [7:13] Final and best offer there. [7:14] Well, it was a long 21 hours since J.D. Vance had arrived, which meant that here in Islamabad, [7:19] there was some hope that perhaps the two sides were seeing points of agreement or at least points they could work on. [7:25] Our correspondent, Caroline Davies, our Pakistan correspondent, [7:29] was there when J.D. Vance and the American delegation were leaving their hotel. [7:33] Here's her take. [7:34] The white building just behind me is the hotel where these talks were taking place. [7:39] And in the moments after the press conference finished, [7:42] we and other journalists ran from inside the conference centre just across the road to this point here [7:46] to see what was happening with the U.S. delegation. [7:48] By the time we reached this point, there was already a convoy of cars lined up down the side of the hotel, [7:55] including Pakistan security and the security that the American vice president travels with. [7:59] That convoy moved off fairly quickly, including an American flagged car and away, [8:04] taking the vice president and the rest of the delegation away from the hotel and away from Islamabad. [8:12] There was a palpable sense of disappointment in the hall when it was announced by vice president J.D. Vance [8:18] that there was no deal between the U.S. and Iran. [8:20] I think many people thought that it was a very long shot to try to find some form of longer lasting peace settlement [8:28] or some form of longer lasting deal between the two sides, [8:32] given that their publicly stated position seemed to be miles apart and there was zero trust really between the two sides. [8:39] But the fact that both had sent such senior delegations had led some hope that there was a genuine and sincere effort [8:46] to try to find some form of deal in the hope that they could find some form of common ground. [8:49] But, of course, now the Americans are leaving Islamabad with no deal that has been agreed between the U.S. and Iran [8:56] and at the moment no certainty about what becomes next. [9:01] That was Caroline Davis there as the U.S. delegation was leaving. [9:06] Now, there had been perhaps an expectation on the U.S. side that Iran's regime was so weakened by weeks of war [9:13] that they would be willing to make certain concessions. [9:17] Perhaps that perception has now changed. [9:19] For its part, Iran has called U.S. demands unreasonable and throughout the negotiations, [9:26] they had called on the United States to refrain from making unlawful demands, as they put it, as well as excessive ones. [9:35] Now, amidst all of this, even before the delegations had arrived here in Islamabad, [9:40] the leader of Iran's delegation, Mohammad Bar-Ghalibaf, the leader of Iran's parliament, the speaker of parliament, [9:47] he had said that one of their red lines is a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon as attacks continue against Hezbollah. [9:57] Now, he had said that was a red line, a precondition that had to be met before negotiations could even be made. [10:03] So let's speak to Nick Beak, our correspondent in Jerusalem. [10:09] Nick, it's good to have you. [10:11] What does all of this mean for what's going on between Israel and Lebanon? [10:16] Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had said that he was looking ahead to potential peace talks on Tuesday, [10:22] but may there be a recalculation there now? [10:27] Good morning, Azadeh. [10:27] Well, so far, no official reaction from the Israelis. [10:32] There's been some report in the Israeli media that they were an official source, unnamed, [10:37] saying that they weren't surprised that these talks have ended without an agreement [10:41] and that Israel remains ready to resume the war with Iran if needs be. [10:47] And although that's not an official statement, I think it reflects the thinking in Israel. [10:52] They didn't like this process in the first place, [10:54] the fact that they saw Pakistan as not being an honest middleman in the midst of these discussions. [11:01] Israel, of course, not invited to the negotiating table, [11:04] even though it was shoulder to shoulder, as it saw itself, with the Americans in hitting Iran. [11:10] So they didn't really want this process to exclude them any further. [11:15] In terms of what happens next, you're absolutely right. [11:18] What we've seen overnight is a continuation of what's been going over the past few days or so, [11:23] certainly, with the IDF, the Israeli military, hitting the south of Lebanon, [11:28] saying they're striking Hezbollah positions there, [11:30] talking about hitting a rocket launcher that was primed and ready to go. [11:34] Meanwhile, Lebanese media reporting that five people have been killed in southern Lebanon. [11:38] So this dynamic continues. [11:41] More people being killed. [11:42] The IDF attacks continuing. [11:44] And, Nick, we often talk about what the goals were to begin with about this war, [11:52] but what is your sense of what Benjamin Netanyahu's goals are when it comes to this war with Iran? [12:01] Well, he had some quite clear goals, and he hasn't tried to assert or claim that he's fulfilled all of them. [12:08] And in a way, they chimed with what the Americans said they wanted to be doing. [12:11] So, for a start, they wanted to put an end to the Iranian nuclear capability, [12:16] any suggestion or any ability of the Iranians to get a nuclear weapon in the future. [12:21] They wanted to massively degrade the ballistic weapons capability, [12:25] and they also wanted regime change. [12:28] Now, Mr Netanyahu has not tried to claim that those have been fulfilled, [12:31] and certainly he's got a lot of opposition politicians here saying that he's failed in all of his aims, [12:36] that he managed successfully to bring Mr Trump and the Americans into the war, [12:40] but it's been ended at a time of the White House's choosing, [12:43] and really Israel is stuck in the middle, not at the top table, [12:46] and is not really a party to the direction of travel. [12:49] So we'll have to see what happens next. [12:51] But certainly he will have to recalibrate whether he intensifies attacks in Lebanon. [12:56] It's worth pointing out, Azadeh, that, as you said right at the start, [13:00] the Israelis have said that what's going on between them and Hezbollah, [13:04] a group, of course, that's backed by Iran, [13:07] what's happening there in Lebanon is completely different. [13:10] from their strikes with the Americans on Iran. [13:14] And, of course, Iran says that that's not the case, [13:17] that it's fundamentally linked. [13:19] And they've said that they will resume attacks on American interests, [13:22] also maybe some of their Gulf state neighbours, [13:25] if this continues, if the Israelis continue to hit Hezbollah positions in Lebanon. [13:32] All right, Nick, thank you for that update. [13:33] Nick Beak there. [13:34] Now, as a reminder, these were historic peace talks, [13:38] even if they have ended with this impasse, [13:42] because it's the highest-level face-to-face talks we've seen [13:45] between the United States and Iran since the Islamic Revolution in 1979. [13:50] Questions remain. [13:52] We started with a lot of unanswered questions, and that continues. [13:55] What does this mean for the ceasefire after six weeks of war [13:59] that had sent oil prices soaring, [14:02] had caused extensive damage to energy infrastructure in the region, [14:07] and had led to thousands of deaths in the region as well. [14:10] Today, our team is going to be continuing to monitor events here in Islamabad, [14:15] watching for any further reaction from all parties involved, [14:20] as we try to make sense of what has actually been achieved here [14:23] and what could come next. [14:26] Azadeh Mishiri for us there in Islamabad.