Peace Talks With Iranian Regime Have Failed, Vance

After 21 hours of negotiation with whatever is left of the Iranian regime, Vice President JD Vance emerged from the assembly in Islamabad, Pakistan, with a somber update: The talks have failed. 

While talking to the press, Vance explained that the Iranians weren’t prepared to make the mandatory commitments not to pursue nuclear weapons in the future, even as he famous their current capability to do so had been destroyed during Operation Epic Fury. He and the remaining of the American delegation will now depart Pakistan, having given the regime a last offer they show no indicators of accepting. 

BREAKING: Vice President JD Vance says, after 21 hours of negotiations, the U.S. and Iran have NOT reached any type of settlement

“We have been at it now for 21 hours. And, we’ve had a number of substantive discussions with the Iranians. That’s the good news. The bad news is that… pic.twitter.com/DRFieUUH5m

— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) April 12, 2026

VANCE: We have been at it now for 21 hours, and we’ve had a number of substantive discussions with the Iranians. That’s the good news. The bad news is that we have not reached an agreement, and I think that’s bad news for Iran much more than it’s bad news for the United States of America. So we go back to the United States having not come to an agreement. We’ve made very clear what our redlines are, what things we’re willing to accommodate them on, and what things we’re not willing to accommodate them on, and we’ve made that as clear as we possibly could. And they have chosen not to accept our terms.

In later questioning, Vance specifically mentioned not being able to garner any long-term commitments regarding Iran’s nuclear ambitions despite describing the United States as being “fairly accommodating.”

CBS’s @JenniferJJacobs: “Was there a framework on anything, and also, did the Iranian frozen assets come up, and did you reach any conclusions on those frozen assets?”

Vice President Vance: “We talked about all those issues, Jen, and we talked about a number of issues beyond… pic.twitter.com/PQuwtWruuA

— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) April 12, 2026

VANCE: But again, we just could not get to a situation where the Iranians were willing to accept our terms. I think that we were quite flexible. We were quite accommodating. The President told us, “You need to come right here in good religion and make your best effort to get a deal.” We did that, and unfortunately, we weren’t able to make any headway.

The second-to-last sentence in the above excerpt tells the tale, in my opinion. I don’t think President Donald Trump expected these talks to succeed, something his pretty obvious dismissal of them earlier on Saturday likewise signaled. So why hold these talks if the regime was obviously going to remain locked in its apocalyptic, delusional stupor? To check the box. To say we tried before cranking things back up. 

See: Iran Tries to Play Games With Talks

Since the moment the “ceasefire” was announced, and I exploit quotes around that phrase on objective because Iran has blatantly violated it a number of occasions, the regime has arrogantly rattled its saber. Instead of searching for some kind of de-escalation after a month of destruction, they’ve declared victory, apparently believing they’ll win this battle on the backs of social media engagement farming and online memes. I would not rely on that, though. 

As I’ve said before, Trump likes to make offers, and I believe he legitimately desires an off-ramp right here. But what Trump hates more than he likes offers is being embarrassed, and to have his staff go to Pakistan and bend the knee to Iran on issues like unfreezing belongings and lifting sanctions would have been a legacy-defining embarrassment. That was never going to occur, even if Iran’s management appeared to imagine that they had the higher hand.

With the current news that the US Navy is now navigating the Strait of Hormuz and that a new delivery lane has been established, Iran is in the method of dropping its last level of leverage. That was always inevitable. A extremely depleted terrorist regime was never going to have the option to preserve its blockade, which was already largely dependent on threats vs. real capabilities. With oil shipments shifting again, Iran has nowhere left to go. They can stick their head in the sand and keep posting statements for the online bot farms, or they’ll be a part of the remaining of us in actuality. 

I suspect they will do the previous, and the capturing will start again soon enough, and this time, the group of Iranian leaders who have been allowed to survive this battle for sensible causes, including the loud-mouthed overseas minister, might not take pleasure in that safety anymore. 

Editor’s Note: For many years, former presidents have been all speak and no motion. Now, Donald Trump is eliminating the risk from Iran once and for all.

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