After the failure of the peace talks, the United States delegation had already left Islamabad, Pakistan. Now, it has been reported that the Iranian delegation has also departed from Pakistan. On Sunday (April 12), Iran’s semi-official news agency Mehr News Agency reported that shortly after 9:00 AM local time, the delegation—led by Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi—left the Pakistani capital for Tehran. Following the failure of both sides to reach any agreement in the peace talks, news of the Iranian delegation’s departure from Islamabad came just a few hours after the U.S. delegation, including Vice President JD Vance, had left the city.
Earlier, after failing to reach a peace agreement with Iran, U.S. Vice President JD Vance departed Islamabad for the United States on Sunday morning (April 12) aboard the “Air Force Two” aircraft. According to a report by the BBC, Vance boarded the aircraft at 7:08 AM Pakistan time (2:08 AM GMT). As he climbed the stairs, he waved goodbye to the Pakistani officials present on duty.
After marathon talks with Iran, the U.S. Vice President said in a press conference, “The bad news is that we were unable to reach an agreement. I believe this is much worse news for Iran than for the United States. Tehran has rejected Washington’s proposal.”
Meanwhile, following the U.S. allegations, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei spoke to Iranian media. He stated that Iran and the United States had managed to reach understandings on several issues, but differences still remain on two to three key matters. Baghaei said, “These talks were held after 40 days of imposed conflict, under an atmosphere of mistrust and suspicion. It was not realistic to expect an agreement in a single meeting—no one expected that.”
For the past two decades, tensions have persisted between Iran and the United States over Tehran’s nuclear program and missile activities. Dialogue between Tehran and Washington on these issues took place from February 6 to February 27, but ended without any agreement on February 27.
The following day, on February 28, the United States military launched “Operation Epic Fury” in Iran. Simultaneously, Israel also initiated a military campaign named “Operation Roaring Lion” in coordination with Washington.
To ease tensions through dialogue and diplomacy, both the United States and Iran announced a ceasefire on April 7. As part of that process, official delegations from both countries met in Pakistan for talks, which ultimately concluded without any agreement.
Talks collapse: Iranian delegation leaves Pakistan
